Posted on 12/14/2009 12:45:15 PM PST by SmithL
The halls aren't the only thing getting decked this holiday season.
The Salvation Army, the country's biggest charity, is taking it full on the chin from a social media network mobilized against the organization's position on homosexuality and other social sins. Twitter, Facebook and gay Web sites are lit up with protest and calls for donor boycotts.
The Army's official same-sex statement suggests it's unlikely those cheery volunteers ringing bells over red kettles will be donning gay apparel anytime soon.
While homosexuals are not "blameworthy," ... "Scripture forbids sexual intimacy between members of the same sex." The Army is an unabashedly evangelical, religious entity, after all, and has also resisted domestic partner benefits for its employees.
Last month, there was another stink about the Army's Houston division demanding to see Social Security cards of needy parents before providing toys for their kids. Angry protesters claimed this was discrimination against cardless illegal immigrants.
Before we take the predictable San Francisco, to-the-barricades view on all this, let's consider the Catholic concept of "proportionalism." This means (roughly, my interpretation) that bad conduct can be acceptable if a much greater good is being accomplished.
The Salvation Army served 33 million people in the United States last year. It raises about $2 billion a year and spends an impressive 89 percent of that on services - food, shelter, foster care and HIV programs.
It is a consistent and reliable disaster relief group.
"The first hand that reaches to pull you from the rubble of our next earthquake," Shea O'Neill wrote on the SFAppeal Web site last week, "will be the anti-gay hand of the Salvation Army."
There's no whitewashing their beliefs, if you oppose them, though the Army mission also is clear that its relief services are available to anyone "without regard to sexual orientation."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Their leadership has also signed the Manhattan Declaration.
Your dad is gonna be pissed when he finds out you posted in his name...
“And what if there is no God? Please stop projecting your moral code on others.”
I’ve been waiting for you to post that one.
Is it in YOUR moral code that we should not murder?
This is a yes/no question.
“Welcome to my parlor.” said the spider to the fly.
It is a mental disorder, which people with mental disorders are fine until they start affecting other people negatively.
I have OCD, and as long as I don’t spend all my time at work washing my hands then I am fine and gainfully employed, If I do it at home, which i do, I do nothing more than make my skin really dry. It is a harmless mental disorder as i don’t hurt other people.
If minors are involved then the Law Enforcement definitely need to be involved. And the book should be thrown at the offenders so hard it boots them into the next decade/century.
Should we get involved in arresting people who eat too much and confiscating their forks? There is reasonable government intrusion and then there is absolute control and tyranny. Protecting minors is reasonable, keeping consenting adults from one another in the privacy of their own home is tyranny.
Do they deny services to homosexuals because they are afraid of them? That is news to me, and I'll bet they help homosexuals out just like anyone else.
“For years I have boycotted for paying bell ringers...”
I have boycotted stores that keep the bellringers from collecting money. Tight boycott.
When my Dad was in the Battle of the Bulge on the front line, a truck would come barreling up, some people would jump out, drop the tailgate and hand out steaming hot coffee and donuts to the troops. The donuts were still hot and delicious. It was the Salvation Army. You had to travel 10 to twenty mile to the rear to find the Red Cross.
And yet you judge people for their religious conviction.
I honor you.
Pray.
Please add them to your prayer list.
They are a great organization, lift people, train, rehab, and provide goods and services...and, they are a Christian church in a way.
Pray...lift them up.
Pray.
Please add them to your prayer list.
They are a great organization, lift people, train, rehab, and provide goods and services...and, they are a Christian church in a way.
Pray...lift them up.
Best post so far!!
When I was a teen and had a connection to the local fire department, it was The Salvation Army who was there serving free hot coffee and food to the firemen in the middle of windy below-freezing nights. The Red Cross was waiting for the appropriate paperwork to be filed. The Salvation Army was there, too, to make sure the family had a place to stay, clean clothes, food, and helped resupply things like blankets, and even Christmas presents for children.
All this reminds me, I have some donations of warm clothing I need to get to The Salvation Army ASAP.
Pray.
Please add them to your prayer list.
They are a great organization, lift people, train, rehab, and provide goods and services...and, they are a Christian church in a way.
Pray...lift them up.
“The problem with your little scenario. I’m not gay, lol.”
I find it interesting that you feel a need to point that out.
Are you afraid of being considered a homosexual?
Maybe you are a homophobe yourself?
Are we not all sinners in the eyes of the Lord? How can we not accept any human being if we do not also accept their sins?
zot
That should read: How can we accept ANY human being if we do not also accept their sins?
MEMO to Self: Triple Christmas contribution to SA this year.
What do you consider homophobic? The are true to the Biblical admonition to "Hate the sin but love the sinner." They have a strong HIV program and they refuse care or services to no one.
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