Giving to the Salvation Army- Let me ask this:

[Cresent City Kid]

4. I received "help" from the Salvation Army

They do technically provide food and shelter, but that is not their purpose. Their reason for being is to promote and propagate their brand of Christianity. It is not cleverly hidden, or devious but the image they portray as simply a charity is not the case. It could be argued that they prey on the unfortunate, but they really believe that the problems the people they help have are the result of a Jesus deficiency.

They serve up unadulterated fundamentalist Christianity, the view that accepting the facts of the case, that God sent Jesus to save us is what life is all about. I'm not going to recommend what to do or not do with your charity dollars. This is just insight based on personal experience.