Operation: U'nited S'alvation A'rmy

[Ibby]

the Salvation Army kill people. You will never, ever hear me stick up in support of them.

[Lamplighter]

Originally Posted by Ibby

the Salvation Army kill people. You will never, ever hear me stick up in support of them.

The Salvation Army is a religious organization,
and so is probably not going to change it's beliefs (soon).

But I urge some balance on a decision whether to support them or not.
Remember, the SA was the first large relief organization in the New Orleans disaster
after Hurricane Katrina. The Red Cross eventually sent in some volunteers days or weeks later.

OTOH, I agree with you about not supporting private organizations
that have such horrific policies as in the 2010 incident in your post.
Clearly the SA should be held to "civic" rules, not religious beliefs,
in situations of housing, etc.

I was pleased to see that there is a national wave of change
happening with respect to the Boy Scouts of America.

Recently, the Intel Corp (computer chips mfg) made the following announcement here in Oregon.

The Oregonian
Mike Rogoway,
11/10/12
Intel will end support for Oregon Boy Scouts over Scouts' policy on gays

Boy Scouts in Oregon have few benefactors more generous than Intel,
which has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars to Boy Scout troops
and Cub Scout packs over the past few years.

It's not that Intel has a particular affinity for Scouting; its employees do.
By volunteering as scoutmasters and in other roles, they trigger a $10 corporate donation
for each hour spent helping a troop.

And with close to 17,000 employees in the state, those hours
-- and dollars -- really add up. In 2010 alone they came to $180,000,
according to the Intel Foundation's most recent tax filings.

The donations, though, are now drying up.
They're a casualty of a change in Intel's requirements
-- which attaches a nondiscrimination pledge to the donation --
and the Boy Scouts of America's ban on gay members and troop leaders.

And just a couple of days ago there was this article...
Atlanta Journal Constitution
Arielle Kass
Nov. 12, 2012
UPS no longer funding Boy Scouts

UPS will no longer be giving money to the Boy Scouts of America,
becoming the latest company that has stopped funding or has spoken out against
the organization’s policy of prohibiting gay members or leaders.

Maybe "gay" has not yet been expanded to include "trans" in everyone's conscience. (yet)
But I think it is a process that is coming, and spreading wider
... maybe even into some religious organizations that have not yet seen the light.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Ibby

the Salvation Army kill people.

I read the article, and wonder if you ever noticed that the new policies implemented at the shelter, post this event, would allow a sexual predator to "present" as the opposite gender in order to gain immediate access to an extremely vulnerable population of potential rape victims?

I'm guessing that the policy in place was there for a reason, and not because the administrators were hateful bigots. Probably their experience with the very complex logistical problems that they deal with on a dialy basis has afforded them considerably more insight and wisdom than you are willing to give them credit for. this would be representative of what I call "adult" thinking, i.e. life isn't cut and dried, black and white. It's dirty, prohibitively complex, and ultimately you have to implement the best solution that does the least harm. The correct choice for an organization trying to service a large, diverse population of disadvantaged people would be to make every possible move to prevent the most likely occurance: violent (heterosexual) sex crimes. Giving any moderatlely motivated rapist the option of putting on a dress and sleeping in the women's area would be criminally stupid.



Also, "irregardless" isn't a word.