American
Family Association Action Alerts
Regarding
Salvation Army Plan to Extend DPB's to Gays and Lesbian Employees
Action
Alert ~ 11/12/01
Old Friend Has Betrayed Us
"The Army has surrendered to a
foe which seeks to turn the meaning of marriage and Biblical morals upside down.
They have sold their soul for a mess of pottage. They have turned their back on
their fellow evangelical Christians. And they did it for money. Government
money. Thirty pieces of silver." AFA President Dr. Donald E.
Wildmon
November 12,
2001
Dear Friend of the
Family,
The Salvation Army has taken a stab at the very heart of
evangelical Christianity and given the homosexual movement the largest boost it
has ever received. The Army has turned its back on evangelical Christianity in
pursuit of the money it receives from governmental sources. And, says one Army
official, they did it “on the basis of strong ethical and moral
reasoning.”
The Army has surrendered to a foe which seeks to turn the
meaning of marriage and Biblical morals upside down. They have sold their soul
for a mess of pottage. They have turned their back on their fellow evangelical
Christians. And they did it for money. Government money. Thirty pieces of
silver.
What the Army has done will have a very negative effect on the
whole of Christendom. From all the sources we expected it, the Army was one of
the last.
While saying it condemns homosexual activity, the Army supports
it in practice. Army spokesman Colonel Philip Needham said that they needed to
make the change due to “the dramatic changes in family structure in recent
years.” Needham went on to say offering benefits to same-sex partners is
“reflecting a trend that has grown in recent years among Fortune 500 companies,
academic institutions, and non-profit organizations.” [ The
Domestic Partner Issue - A Rationale For Response by Phil Needham ]
While that may be true, the Army is a Christian denomination, not a
Fortune 500 company. The Church is supposed to march to the sound of a different
Drummer. The Army elected not to do that, but to march in lockstep with the
ranks of the politically correct crowd.
Rather than giving a big, big
boost to those who support unbiblical changes in family structure, the Army
should be lifting up the New Testament definition of family.
Regardless
of the ultimate outcome of the Army’s decision, the damage has been done. The
Army has turned its back on scripture and embraced money. Scripture says you
can’t serve two masters–God and mammon. The Army made the decision to serve
mammon. From this day forward, when homosexuals want to bash Christians
attempting to help homosexuals out of their lifestyle, the Army’s decision will
be used as a club to beat Christians into submission.
No doubt the top
officials who made this decision prayed about it long and hard. Sometimes prayer
is an exercise in listening. It is evident that the Army listened more to those
promoting this lifestyle than they did to the God whose Son hung on a
cross.
It is debatable that the Army has helped itself financially in the
long run, but what is not debatable is the damage done to the cause of
Christ–the very Christ they seek to serve.
What the Army has done doesn’t
make me mad. It hurts. Deep. I have been betrayed by an old friend.
For
our families,
Don Wildmon
Dr. Wildmon is a United Methodist
minister and President of American Family Association.
ACTION NEEDED
Please
contact The Salvation Army and advise them that you are shocked that The Army
has turned its back on evangelical Christianity in pursuit of the money it
receives from governmental sources. Politely advise Commander Busby that rather
than giving a boost to those who support unbiblical changes in family structure,
the Army should be lifting up the New Testament definition of family. Politely
remind Commander Busby that the Army is a Christian denomination, not a Fortune
500 company and that the Church is supposed to march to the sound of a different
Drummer. In addition, contact your local Salvation Army units and express your
shock.
Let's pray that God will use our collective contacts with the
Salvation Army to change their heart on this vital matter.
The Salvation
Army National Headquarters
Commissioner John Busby
National Commander
615 Slaters Lane
P.O. Box 269
Alexandria, VA 22313
Telephone:
(703) 684-5500
Fax: (703) 684-3478
Email
Action Alert - 11/12/01
Salvation Army Rescinds Domestic Partner Benefit
Policy
Today, November 12, 2001, the Commissioners’ Conference established a
national policy to extend health benefit access to an employee’s spouse and
dependent children only.
November 12, 2001
Please
contact Commander Busby of The Salvation Army and thank him for supporting the
New Testament definition of family by the decision to rescind a policy allowing
the extension of health benefits to the sex partners of its homosexual
employees.
Let's also give thanks to God for answering our collective
prayers by changing the heart of The Salvation Army on this vital
matter.
The Salvation Army National Headquarters
Commissioner John
Busby
National Commander
615 Slaters Lane
P.O. Box 269
Alexandria, VA 22313
Telephone: (703) 684-5500
Fax: (703) 684-3478
Email(AgapePress)
- A divisional commander with The Salvation Army says he is saddened and shocked
-- and may have to leave the organization if officials don't reverse an order
which grants "domestic partner" benefits to homosexual employees in the Western
Territory.
Earlier this week, officials in
The
Salvation Army's Western Territory announced they were offering domestic partner
benefits to its employees, including homosexuals. While the policy applies
only to the Western Territory, Lt. Col. Donald Canning, divisional commander of
The Army's Southern Territory, says the decision goes against everything the
organization stands for.
"I would ask that Christians who may hear this
message ... would join with us and pray for The Salvation Army ... which I
believe God has raised up [and] which I believe God has blessed," Canning says.
"I want to believe that God still has His hand on us and that with prayer we'll
be brought back to our foundational beliefs, and that we will hold to
that."
Canning says officials in the Western Territory need to base their
decisions on God's Word instead of on the laws of man.
As part of its
rationale, the Western Territory says it changed its stance to be in agreement
with a City of San Francisco policy that demands groups doing business with it
have a domestic partner benefits program. Indeed, an e-mail message being
distributed by The Salvation Army states the decision is merely a contractual
requirement and not an endorsement of homosexuality.
The message from
Major John Jones, The Army's Community Relations and Development Secretary, says
the policy change allows local units to retain certain government contracts,
applies only to those contracts, and is not a general provision to all
employees. "After weighing this issue for sometime," the message reads, "The
Salvation Army felt it should not sacrifice its service to the thousands of
persons who receive assistance through this funding source in exchange for
denying access to benefits to the very few employees who choose to exercise this
option."
But the rationale may seem hollow to at least one Salvation Army
officer, who asked not to be identified. He says he has received several letters
of resignation from corps members and expects as many as ten couples to leave
their ministry positions over the issue. He says he expects to lose up to
three-quarters of his congregation in the coming weeks.
There is also a
report out of Pennsylvania that some holiday volunteers have changed their mind.
According to Diane Gramley, director of the American Family Association of
Northwestern Pennsylvania, the local chapter of the Christian Motorcyclists
Association has decided to boycott The Salvation Army. The group had volunteered
to ring bells at Salvation Army collection points during the week preceding
Christmas.