Friendly reminder to ignore Salvation Army bell ringers this year....

[Cooley Hurd]

1. From the Wikipedia page about the Salvation Army:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Salvation_Army#Controversy

Stance on homosexuality
Some in the United States have alleged that The Salvation Army discriminates against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals in its hiring practices.[50][51] The Salvation Army states that it does not "discriminate against hiring gays and lesbians for the majority of its roughly 55,000 jobs".[52] Because The Salvation Army is a church, Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 allows it to inquire into people's religious beliefs in its hiring practices.

The Salvation Army Western Territory approved a plan in October 2001 to start offering domestic-partnership benefits to gay employees.[53] Members of various evangelical Christian interest groups protested the decision. Focus on the Family founder James Dobson excoriated the Salvation Army for abandoning its "moral integrity" and urged his radio listeners to bombard the organization's offices with phone calls and letters.[53] The American Family Association also accused the Salvation Army of a "monstrous ... appeasement of sin" that resulted in a "betrayal of the church."[53] In November 2001 The Salvation Army nationwide rescinded the Western Territory's decision with an announcement that it would only provide benefits coverage for different-sex spouses and dependent children of its employees.

In 2004, The Salvation Army said they would close operations in New York City unless it was exempted from a municipal ordinance requiring them to offer benefits to gay employees’ partners. The City Council refused to make the exemption. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's administration chose not to enforce the ordinance. The administration's right to decline to enforce the ordinance was upheld by the New York State Court of Appeals in 2006.

On December 15, 2012, in Canada, Andrea Le Good noticed a Salvation Army bell-ringer carrying a sign reading "if you support gay rights: please do not donate." While the bell-ringer claimed he had permission from the charity to wear the sign, Salvation Army spokeswoman Kyla Ferns said that it had no part in the sign, and that the bell-ringer was pulled away immediately when the charity learned about it.[55] The charity's website describes marriage as heterosexual by definition, and a previously published document called on homosexuals to embrace celibacy as a way of life. The same document also states that there is no scriptural support for the mistreatment of homosexuals.

In February 2000, the Salvation Army in the United Kingdom publicly (in their publication known as "War Cry" and in a letter to a Scottish Parliament committee) opposed the repeal of Section 28 of the Local Government Act (1988)[56] However, The Salvation Army in the UK and Ireland website refers to the organization offering 'unconditional assistance and support regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual choices, respecting the identity and choices of all those referred to them....As well as having a right to be dealt with professionally, people can expect from us encouragement and a respect for their individual beliefs, ambitions and preferences.'

Before the passing of the Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986 by the New Zealand Parliament, the Salvation Army was active throughout New Zealand gathering signatures for a petition seeking to prevent the bill's passing. In 2006 the Army released a statement regretting the ill feelings that persisted following this activity. It stated in part "We do understand though that The Salvation Army’s official opposition to the Reform Bill was deeply hurtful to many, and are distressed that ill-feeling still troubles our relationship with segments of the gay community. We regret any hurt that may remain from that turbulent time and our present hope is to rebuild bridges of understanding and dialogue between our movement and the gay community."

Despite documented events of Salvation Army's volunteers and their views, the organization has issued an LGBT Statement as a response. The statement does not address any documented news events of discrimination and claims to debunk these events as urban myth.

In November 2013 it was made known that the Salvation Army was referring LGBT individuals to one of several conversion therapy groups.[59] As a response the Salvation Army removed such referrals from their website.

A positional statement on the Salvation Army UK and Ireland site states:
The Salvation Army teaches that sexual acts should take place only in a monogamous heterosexual marriage, believing that this reflects God's intentions for sexual behaviour and provides the best environment for raising children.

The positional statement is, however, intended explicitly for members of the Salvation Army[62] and the Salvation Army mission statement as of 2013 states:
The Salvation Army stands against homophobia, which victimises people and can reinforce feelings of alienation, loneliness and despair. We want to be an inclusive church community where members of the LGBT community find welcome and the encouragement to develop their relationship with God...Our international mission statement is very clear on this point when it says we will 'meet human needs in [Jesus'] name without discrimination '. Anyone who comes through our doors will be welcomed with love and service, based on their need and our capacity to provide.

As of late 2013, activists were still calling on the Salvation Army to change its stance on LGBTQ issues, citing ongoing discrimination.

Canadian charity work
During the 2010 Christmas season, The Salvation Army in Calgary, Alberta, refused to accept toys based on the Harry Potter and Twilight franchises because of a perceived conflict with the organization's religious principles. One volunteer claimed that the toys were destroyed instead of being given to other agencies. The volunteer also criticized The Salvation Army for accepting violence-themed toys such as plastic rifles while not accepting Harry Potter or Twilight toys. A Salvation Army captain said that the toys were given to other organizations, not disposed of.[67] This policy is not universal. The Wetaskiwin chapter of The Salvation Army has accepted Harry Potter toys. One captain called the series "a classic story of good winning over evil".

Also during the 2010 Christmas season, The Salvation Army in Vancouver, BC, came under fire for a program that provides goodie bags to federal inmates for Christmas by playing Santa to incarcerated criminals.[69] This was however simply an extended outreach as part of The Salvation Army's prisoner visitation program established over a century ago.

Proselytizing during government-funded social service in New York
In 2004, the Salvation Army's New York division was named in a lawsuit filed by 18 current and former employees of its social service arm, claiming that the organization asked about the religious and sexual habits of employees in programs funded by local and state government. One member claimed the organization forced them to agree "to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ."[70] Proselytizing or otherwise pursuing religious motives in a government-funded program is generally considered a violation of the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution. While the employment-discrimination portion of the lawsuit was dismissed in 2005, government agencies agreed in a 2010 settlement to set up monitoring systems to ensure that the Army did not violate church-state separation in its publicly funded projects. The organization did not dispute allegations that 9-year-olds in a city-funded foster care program were put through a "confirmation-like" ceremony, where they were given Bibles and prayed over.

Australian sex abuse cases
From the 1940s to the 1980s the Salvation Army in Australia sheltered approximately 30,000 children. In 2006 the Australian Salvation Army acknowledged that sexual abuse may have occurred during this time and issued an apology. In it, the Army explicitly rejected a claim, made by a party unnamed in the apology, that there were as many as 500 potential claimants.

In 2013 it was reported that private settlements totalling $15.5 million had been made in Victoria relating to 474 abuse cases; a Salvation Army spokesman said that "This should not have happened and this was a breach of the trust placed in us" and that they were "deeply sorry" whilst claiming that the abuse was "the result of individuals and not a culture within the organisation."

On the 28th of January 2014, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse began an investigation into abuse cases at Alkira Salvation Army Home for Boys, Indooroopilly, QLD, Riverview Training Farm (also known as Endeavour Training Farm), Riverview, QLD, Bexley Boys’ Home, Bexley, NSW, and Gill Memorial Home, Goulburn, NSW. The investigation will also examine The Salvation Army’s processes in investigating, disciplining, removing and/or transferring anyone accused of, or found to have engaged in, child sexual abuse in these homes.

On the 27th of March 2014, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse began an investigation into The policies, practices and procedures of The Salvation Army (Eastern Territory), between 1993 and 2014, for responding to claims of child sexual abuse at children’s homes it operated or elsewhere, the application and adequacy of these policies, practices and procedures between 1993 and 2014, the experience of people who made complaints to The Salvation Army (Eastern Territory) between 1993 and 2014, the policies, practices and procedures between 1989 and 2014 concerning the disciplining of officers of The Salvation Army (Eastern Territory) who were the subject of allegations of child sexual abuse.