Don’t take our word for it

The Salvation Army has responded to criticism for its stance against non-heteronormative identities. Their defense of their actions is more damning than anything we could write about them.

This public statement supports many of the accusations against them, justifying these actions with claims of “religious liberty” and clarifying that while they may engage in these activities, they don’t interpret these activities as discrimination. The Salvation Army does not deny that religious persuasion takes place at its facilities while providing services to those in need, it merely asserts that “our position statement could not be more emphatic – our Mission is to ‘preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human needs in his name without discrimination.’” They don’t seem to grasp that the unrequested preaching and the prejudice go hand in hand.

When answering the question: “In 2012, Did a Salvation Army officer in Australia suggest in a radio interview that the Army’s theology calls for gays and lesbians to be put to death?” The Salvation Army clarifies that yes, this did happen, but that “In this instance the scripture was, unfortunately, misinterpreted.” Hopefully their officials have stepped up their critical reading skills.

The same document addresses whether the Salvation Army discriminates against employees with same-sex spouses. The organization makes it clear that they stand for “the traditional definition of marriage,” but that they will provide health benefits to relevant families of employees “which may include same sex partners according to applicable law.” The Salvation Army does not claim to be non-discriminatory against its own employees, but they won’t make it their official policy to break state or federal law in the pursuance of doing so. How charitable of them…