American Samizdat

Wednesday, October 05, 2005. *
The Salvation Army
I don't mind that when I worked for the Salvation Army they disallowed same-sex couples to go to the homeless teenager prom. I don't mind that a federal court in New York has ruled that the Salvation Army may hire and fire employees according to their religious beliefs [link], or that the Salvation Army refused aid to a victim of September 11th because she wasn't straight [link]. I don't think charity is something anyone should be forced to provide - that kind of makes it not charity, doesn't it?

What I do mind, greatly, is that the Salvation Army uses tax dollars to discriminate. If they want to raise private funds and spend them as they see fit, more power to them. If they want to use federal funds, they need to follow federal law. Taxes are taken from everyone, so everyone should benefit from them.

My solution: either (a) I get to stop paying taxes or (b) the Salvation Army stops getting federal funds or (c) the Salvation Army keeps getting funds but follows anti-discrimination legislation. My expectation: (d) if you say an invisible monster that lives in the sky told you to do something you can get away with anything, no matter who pays or who suffers. To them it's religious discrimination to forbid religious people to discriminate (with federal funds). To me it's theistic pigs at the public troft.
posted by Trevor Blake at 11:52 AM
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