If you were applying for a management position at General Motors you would be wise to simply answer "yes".
Mr. Clark was not applying for a leadership job with a Catholic Charity, he was applying for a leadership position at a non-Catholic and more or less non-denominational Christian charity.
His parochial answer of "I'm a Catholic" would be the same as an idiot who would proudly answer "I own a Ford" when he was applying for a management position with GM.
If you don't understand that, then I can't help you, Sundance.
Dear P-Marlowe,
"If you were applying for a management position at General Motors you would be wise to simply answer 'yes'."
I thought you just got through telling me what an ecumenical and non-denominational crowd the folks over at the Salvation Army?
The better comparison is to a multi-brand car dealership. Thus, the question of, "Do you own a motor vehicle," is quite properly answered by, "I own a Ford."
Conversely, even if the Salvation Army folks are really quite uptight about having folks of their own denomination, then the gentleman's answer is still appropriate, as a matter of complete disclosure. If these folks are going to have a problem with a Catholic in the position, he ought to be upfront about it.
If he suspects that Catholics aren't welcome in the position (as apparently they aren't), then if they ask, "Are you a Christian," the RIGHT thing to do is to answer, "I'm a Catholic." Otherwise, if he's hired under the mistaken impression that he's NOT a Catholic, it'll be ugly the day someone in his office sees him leaving Mass on a Sunday.
If they didn't want Catholics, they could have made it clear from the start. They didn't. Furthermore, the assumption that the answer "I'm a Catholic" is a "no" to the question "Are you a Christian?" is anti-Catholic bigotry.
All that being said, I think that the Salvation Army has the right to refuse to hire Catholics.
If you don't understand that, I'd be happy to continue to try to enlighten you.
;-)
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