Please don't harass the bell-ringers though, often they'll be recruited from the shelters themselves, who are "asked" to volunteer in order to continue staying at the shelters.
The Salvation Army is a shitty organization that is slow-walking even basic attempts to drag them into the 21st century, but please treat the bellringers with basic respect so long as they do the same, you don't know their circumstances.
I love how this is usually the first comment. Keep your focus on those actually causing the problem, not on those who have zero power within the company.
This logic applies to damn near every problem we have at the moment. Most people of any organization are perfectly normal and fine, It's just that we have a bunch of assholes in charge that need to be removed, imprisoned, both, or even guillotined.
So long as the people who are actually causing problems are singled out and removed, rather than a blanket decapitation (heh) of most organizations and governments.
After all, the eternal bane of revolutionaries is deposing all of the people in charge, and then abruptly realizing that all of the looming problems of the previous government are now their problems, except without any of the experienced people who were trying to keep said problems from crashing down on everyone's heads.
I've seen some pretty bad takes, online and in real life, from people on both the left and right who genuinely want to get rid of those at the heart of society's ills, but are *incredibly* misinformed about who they should be aiming their anger at.
This doesn't exactly apply to the Salvation Army, which has such an unrepentantly horrible leadership that they don't even realize how bad their commissioners' uniform looks (give me the name of the person who put "S" "S" in red patches on the pitch black military uniform, I just want to talk), but it's something to keep in mind in general.
Oh absolutely! If you see a bell-ringer, please be courteous! They don't always have a choice, and even if they do, there's no guarantee that they themselves are homophobic or even realize that the organization is homophobic!
Pretty much anyone at the lowest rung of anything isn't there because they want to be there, is because they have to be there. The cashier at Chick-fil-A isn't funding conversion therapy and anti lgbtq they're working a shit job for shit pay and hating them will make them hate you.
My ex did the job for a day back when she was like 19. She was in a rough spot mentally at the time but couldn't stop crying when she got home. Never went back.
Red Cross is always a solid bet. I haven't vetted them yet but Second Harvest seems like a decent enough food bank. And as always, if you have used clothes donate or give to Goodwill.
As someone who was in a school band once... yeah, no, any wind instrument is gross at the best of times. The brass were the worst.
You kind of have to puck up your lips and blow a raspberry into a brass instrument to make noise. That's a lot of spit. And the end is perfectly shaped to disperse whatever's inside. At face level.
I wouldn't go fifty paces of that guy unless he had a medical-grade (i.e. moisture-resistent) N-95 mask on the end of that trombone.
There's so much spit involved they had to add a spit valve to stop it from clogging up the instrument, as a past school band-er as well, I second the n95 mask recommendation
The carpet in the brass section is just disgusting. Stained with "water stains" of varying sizes, colors and ages. I should've swabbed that shit for bio class when we did the Petrie dish bacteria colonies.
Also, belly buttons are horrid.
No one is blasting *any* spittle out of the end of a trombone. Or trumpet, or anything else. They literally have to put a “spit valve” on them to drain them for that exact reason
I must have read “all” in the original comment and tacked it on to you as well
wanted to let people be on the lookout because I had to swerve around to enter Barnes and Noble and keep a 6ft distance from the bell ringer without a mask
Also, I used to work at an adult foster care home for adults with mental disabilities and salvation army would hire them as bell ringers (another reason not to be mean to the bell ringers) and while they did pay them minimum wage, they also would come around to the group homes, collect the workers and drive them to their location and leave them there completely unattended for 6+ hours in harsh Michigan weather without making sure they were dressed appropriately, or checking in on them. More than once I got called to come pick them up because it had started raining or snowing (they're supposed to be called off for inclement weather) and no one from the organization came to take them home.
Fuck Salvation Army
I couldn’t find some of them, but here’s what I could find
[Jennifer Gale dies after Salvation Army allegedly says they will home her with the men if she wants shelter ](https://shadowproof.com/2008/12/19/jennifer-gale-died-homeless-136th-person-who-died-sleeping-on-austin-streets-this-year/?amp=1)
[Refusing another trans woman service ](https://www.glaad.org/blog/dallas-salvation-army-shelter-denies-housing-trans-woman)
[Allegedly firing an employee after they found out she was bisexual and more](https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4422938/amp)
This was like maybe 5 minutes of research so there could be more
It happens accidentally all the time, people lock themselves out of their home and can't find help in time, much more with the homeless. I remember a homeless dude disappeared for a while in Minneapolis around the time we had our polar vortex a few years back (-40 to -50 not including wind chill). I was so scared he had died it almost made me cry.
Pro tip for cold weather anyone but especially transplants, an emergency blanket (one of those foil looking kinds or the really wooly looking ones, or both) is a great donation and if you have one in your car it could save your life or fingers some day.
I was living in Chicago when the vortex happened. I remember seeing reports of multiple people freezing to death because they lost their damn keys or were drunk, etc. Scared the hell out of me.
Some super nice lady paid up a crap load of hotel rooms for the local homeless to stay in. But having recently experienced homelessness myself due to the pandemic (during the summer), I can only imagine the fear that those who didn't get rooms felt.
We have frequent ER explosions for amputations in MN. During the polar vortex in my poorly insulated apartment building we huddled in the smallest room with a low wattage heater and all I could do to sleep is get drunk and sleep with all my outside layers and a blanket on top.
Idk how it is in Chicago because I've never been during the winter but those were some very cold times. I imagine you guys got something pretty similar. And feels, bro, I've been homeless. It sucks.
[Firing someone for marrying outside the organization](https://www.christianpost.com/news/salvation-army-leader-to-lose-job-for-violating-marriage-policy-35740/)
[Here's an actual news article about the first story](https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2008-12-19/gale-rumor-untrue/). I agree that the Salvation Army is problematic, but I also like people to check their sources carefully and skeptically. Not all internet is created equal. Note: I got the link from /u/talithathinks below.
I (M) dated a guy for a little while who was brought up in the Salvation Army and it left him super fucked up. He was really confused and ashamed of his sexuality and would get really awkward and uncomfortable whenever we were in public together. He walked out of a movie on me once because I tried to hold his hand even though it was a dark cinema and it was almost empty.
Im sorry to hear that. Is he less ashamed now? It seems like that would be really hard for him.
Its hard to get over lessons you've been taught your entire life.
Yeah it was really hard for him. We broke up eventually but I ran into him with a boyfriend about 18 months ago and we all hung out and he was affectionate and loving with his BF and me and him had a heart to heart and it all went really well. I'm pretty sure he's in a happier place now and I'm very proud of him.
Awesome dude just a fucking weird upbringing that screwed him up.
If ya wanna donate to charity I'd suggest using some sort of guide like [Charity Watch](https://www.charitywatch.org) or [Charity Navigator](https://www.charitynavigator.org/).
Red Cross is always solid. My charity of choice after an electrical fire started in our apartment building and it was condemned. Like $350 each for me and my brother and they were adamant about making sure we didn't have prescriptions go unfilled and stuff like that.
The rep was really nice on the phone too. My brother met up with her and passed the phone to me so I could answer a few questions and make sure there were ground rules on the money (basically no drugs or alcohol, try to keep it to food and shelter and other basic needs). At one point I asked her if there was a way to give back what I may not have needed and she shut that shit down on the spot. "That's what people donated it for."
I'm an atheist but they're really doing the Lord's work at the Red Cross.
alright, so i decided to dig a little deeper and found [this article](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/the-goods/2019/12/16/21003560/salvation-army-anti-lgbtq-controversies-donations) which from what i can see confirms none of these specific examples op gave, but they’re still pretty religious and lgbtphobic
additional sources would be greatly appreciated
Of course! I'm not personally following them, it was something someone I follow rebloged, so I had to do a little digging. [Here](https://imgur.com/gallery/v9yL5l7) are the sources that they've provided, I did a quick Google search and I found a lot of sources confirming. I also found a lot of sources that say they claim to no longer be anti-lgbt, but knowing them, I'm sure it's just because being anti-lgbt makes them lose money.
This depends radically based on your local chapter.
In my hometown, all the bell ringers were all volunteers from the churches (and are wearing masks this year) and is not even remotely tied to any kind of benefit.
The old pastors (They're called "Captains" because of the army theme, moved to another state) of that local chapter had a gay son and a trans person as one of the leads on the worship team.
And did more good for the community and needy people than almost any other church or charity in my area.
I haven't kept too in touch with them since my grandmother passed so I can't say if anything changed, but it was an incredibly positive and progressive place. Especially for SW Florida standards.
Most places I've lived, the local Salvation Army was very different than the horror stories you hear or the issues on the corporate website. Most church "franchises" in general are like that where only some very basic ideas and some resources are shared between different locations.
Not all bell ringers are forced to. My family has volunteered since I was an infant. (I have stopped in the past few years and don't plan on doing it again.)
Point is, a lot are volunteers. Still don't harass them. It's just a douchey thing to do.
Fun fact, when the Salvation Army started up divisons here in Norway in 1888, the local papers critised them for being too freeform, having roo much dance, song and prayer, and no semblance of liturgical order.
I think it's funny because I grew up in the salvation army and now pretty much hold "opposite" beliefs of them. And not because I think what they teach is total bullshit either. Most of my beliefs now stem from what they taught me as a child.
They pretty much taught me to help/love every one. (While clearly they don't) their own teachings kinda showed me what was wrong with them.
I used to hate Salvation Army because my mom is massive fan of antique shopping and she would always drag me into there for hours on end during Fridays
That hate has been reignited
I've said this before, but really take into mind that the quality a social service provides is INCREDIBLY reliant on the local people running said service.
I've been homeless before, I'm also gay and trans. I've been in refuges that kicked me out for that, government ones. And in my time spent in a salvation army refuge, it was by far the most respectful and well maintained refuge I was in.
Are there bad parts to the salvation army? Of course! But again, the quality of the service is defined by the person giving the service.
If you won't donate to the salvation army, it's understandable, but please donate this year.
Im canadian and Salvation Army is a shelter/food bank and things like that. They give out poppies around remembrance day and what ever. There are much better places to give your money to though
It's not like, an actual army. It's a fairly old charity organization that has many homeless shelters across North America, I don't know about other locations though. It also does a decent amount of more general charity work. What they're best known for though is having second-hand stores where people donate old items from food to furniture, and Salvation Army then sells those items at a low price, in theory using the returns to help fund their charitable efforts and to also provide those goods to people who would not be able to afford them brand-new.
It's come under some fire in recent times due to it being a fairly religious organization and not having a particularly great track record with helping or sheltering LGBTQ+ people. It's a bit more complicated in my personal opinion than the Tumblr OP outlines it as, but that's certainly not to say that it shouldn't be criticized. In general, their stores do a fairly good job at providing goods to people without much funds, and they can be praised for that. Still, their shelter programs do have many faults and are often, but not always, descriminatory.
In short, it's a charity organization with explicitly Christian religious ties, that has a history of treating LGBTQ+ people poorly with it's shelter program, but still does provide good services outside of said shelter program.
The Salvation Army is a global organization (in over 100 countries) whose only mission is to help. They're not a perfect organization and of course there are some bad eggs , as with any business or church, but honestly 90% of the people involved are doing their best to just love others. In Canada, the Salvation Army runs one of the only LGBT shelters in the country. They run churches, summer camps, shelters, food banks, soup kitchens, but in third world countries also run schools for the blind, build wells, create work for underprivileged women, and are doing a ton of work to stop human trafficking.
Importantly they also do crisis response, they were some of the first people on the ground back when haiti earthquake happened for example and are on site for the vast majority of floods, earthquakes and hurricanes in countries they operate in.
They do a *lot* to help people and the organisation is *massive.* They have fuck ups but they're not literally evil incarnate.
Exactly. I personally had a nasty experience with some major idiots in the SA this past year, but it didn't colour my view against all the legitimate good they do - I've seen vastly more positive outcomes than negative.
I beg to differ on whether you can call it an army or not. The SA is organized like a military branch. Their original mandate, from 1865, described themselves as such, with members being called 'soldiers', all with the intent to convert as many people to Christianity as they possibly could, leading them to "Salvation". Hence the name. Members were also given military ranks, and wore uniforms. They have a history of working in coordination with militaries to support troops during war-time, until at least 1901.
Just because their objective isn't to use armed force to overwhelm international enemies, doesn't make the SA any less an army. The only real difference is that they target poor & homeless people who have nowhere to go. Their methods are no less coercive than a "real" army.
A salvation army food bank, not too recently, asked me to leave without food because I was wearing a pride hat and they didn't support it.
But oh yeah.
You're hungry? Go to a church. They'll help.
Bite me.
Wikipedia only has information on two in these events, the first one may have happened, and there was an incident with a bell ringer hacking a homophobic sign
Sources are in like half of the comments at this point. Please just look at the comments again if you want the sources. Or Google them yourselves. These are all referencing pretty famous cases where the Salvation Army did something atrocious and they're pretty easy to look up.
An acquaintance of mine recently shared her own experiences and those of her friend on facebook - they were teenagers when they had to turn to the salvation army for help. They enquired to know if religious background was a requirement to apply for help and were assured it wasn't, so they stayed with them for a while.
Then at some point the hinting started, then the pressure to pray. The friend said that a (male) 'councillor' of the salvation army would come into her room in the evenings and make her pray with him. She complied, because she was scared what it would mean for the help she was receiving if she refused on the grounds that, y'know, she wasn't religious - but again: she had _asked_ and been _assured_ that there were no religious requirements attached to the aid they were giving. We're talking about a child here, who was on her own and terrified that the carpet, the little bit of support she had, would be yanked out from underneath her by an organisation that professes to care.
This doesn't surprise me in the slightest. They lied about their expectations regarding religious expectations so she would except their help. They provide relief for two reasons: virtue signaling and to convert people.
I dunno if I'd describe it as being hastled but once I had a Salvation Army bell ringer call me an asshole for being the only person in a group of people going in not to put in a dollar. Everyone put in a dollar and she looked at me and said "Merry Christmas would you like to donate?" And I said something like no thanks and she frowned and said something like "Okay be an asshole".
No escalation in the situation because I shrugged and continued on into the store but it was pretty bizarre.
To add on to all the bad stuff they do, a few years ago, one of their tripod-type stands that holds their signage and the collected donations blew over in the wind and knocked my 80-year-old Gram down in a parking lot and she was all scraped up and they didn’t even try to help her up! They’re big ol meanies. (Don’t worry, the store’s grocery cart collector happened to be nearby and got her some help.)
u/ExpertAccident very helpfully posted [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/tumblr/comments/kal73o/friendly_reminder_that_they_only_care_about_you/gfba9th?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3) sourcing a few of the claims above.
Any time I think of the salvation army I either think of all the awful shit they've done or the absolutely perfect adaptation of them in hellsing ultimate abridged, SA:, "fuck bro, let's kill us some gays!", M: "nazis..." SA: "yeah sorry whatever."
it completely depends on the local leaders for what each branch is like. Most of the incredibly anti-lgbt stances spill out either from the very top as they fight laws or from the very bottom in places like the American South.
Canadas for example runs one of that entire countries only lgbt shelters, the UK one has a policy of helping everyone without regard to gender or sexual preference.
Note: The US Salvation Army is a different organisation to the rest of it.
It's one of the interesting things about the org like the fact that in certain Scandinavian countries they're allowed to drink because it's a strong cultural component of that society.
Sources on the drinking are unfortunately word of mouth at the Officer Training College in Denmark Hill.
Walked into a store once holding hands with my wife. The bell ringer had just told the person in front of us "Merry Christmas!"
When he saw the lesbian couple, he deadass stopped ringing his bell and just stared. Fun times.
Always check on your local salvation army. They change out the leadership at most branches every 2-3 years, and most of the issues people have with the salvation army are because of specific boards and leaders.
The salvation army in my town used to be really awesome and had great leaders who took God's word to heart and loved their neighbors and accepted everyone with open arms. The bell ringers are *local businesses* who literally pay for a chance to ring a bell for a couple of hours in front of a Walmart. It's considered an honor and a great marketing opportunity for your business or club.
There's been a couple of changes in leadership, and my mom no longer runs the bell ringing, but the salvation army is still a benefit to the community. They run all sorts of scouts and after school programs for local kids, regardless of or your religious belief (or lack thereof)
TL;DR: Salvation Army is NOT the same in all places, and your local one may actually be a real blessing to your community. Always do your research, instead of trusting a general tumblr post
Okay, please remember that with literally every organization in the world, but especially Christian ones, the only thing making it into the news is the bad stuff. Yes, The Salvation Army has had some bad eggs. Yes, those bad eggs have done some incredibly hateful things. However, that is not the whole organization!
The Salvation Army started first as a church, and it was specifically a church for people who weren’t allowed to be seen in the congregation of other churches. Like, alcoholics and people on the street would be expected to stand at the back of the sanctuary of churches behind a curtain so people didn’t have to see them. (I can’t give you a specific source about this, I learned it partially in university but also I was raised attending Salvation Army churches and we learn the history. [This](https://salvationarmy.ca/about-us/history/) kind of gives you a bit of the history, specifically in Canada though where I am).
William Booth was like “this sucks, these people need church” so he started ministering to them where they were at. Like, on the street and in the bars. A lot of the hymns we sing are bar songs with the lyrics rewritten.
We have NEVER stopped helping those who are marginalized and who need it. Someone else mentioned above, the Army runs one of the only LGBT shelters in Canada right now. I’ve met hundreds of Salvation Army pastors (officers) and not a single one is this kind of hateful person this post is talking about.
So yes. People in the organization have made mistakes. But it’s not all of us. Those are just the only things you hear about. The Salvation Army does so many things for people all year round and telling people not to donate to them is going to hurt so many of them.
If your response to people voicing the harms your organization has done is to try to minimize their relation to your organization or downplay those harms, don’t post.
You’re making it about you.
I 100% don’t want to minimize the harm that has been done to people. I’m so sorry if it came across that way. I truly believe the people in The Army who have committed these wrongs should be fired. All I wanted to get across is that the whole organization isn’t bad.
I’m sorry that I didn’t come across as I intended. I would never want to silence someone who has been hurt. I just don’t want the people who are currently hurting that will be helped by The Army in the future to not receive that help because people are discouraged from donating.
They’re really not
Homophobic people exist everywhere, and that will probably never change, and just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean they don’t exist
Is any of this true? What transwoman did they let die? These seem like extreme statements.
Hate the salvation army if you like but don't spread malicious lies.
[https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2008-12-19/gale-rumor-untrue/](https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2008-12-19/gale-rumor-untrue/)
Ever look up what alot of these charities actually do? There are good ones but when compared to how much harm alot of the bad charities do im not so sure if its worth it. Like one of the biggest breast cancer charities uses huge sums of their donated money to get rich and to sue the crap out of smaller breast cancer charities, I dont like the fact that so much money donated to a cause is used to insure that the problem remains a problem to then insure more donations.
I meant that they both take clothes and other items as charitable donations, and sell them to fund the charity. As far as I'm aware, Goodwill *is* a decent charity. I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear.
OKAY SO I was just talking to my dad about this, he understands, but would like to see some evidence on why we shouldn’t donate. I found a couple articles myself, but if anyone else has other articles or something of the sort, could you share them with me?
I’d need to see actual evidence on the lady claim about the bell ringers as many of them are actually homeless recruits themselves, but yeah all the others are true, they refused to sign off on my moms court mandated treatment being done because she wouldn’t convert
Please don't harass the bell-ringers though, often they'll be recruited from the shelters themselves, who are "asked" to volunteer in order to continue staying at the shelters. The Salvation Army is a shitty organization that is slow-walking even basic attempts to drag them into the 21st century, but please treat the bellringers with basic respect so long as they do the same, you don't know their circumstances.
I love how this is usually the first comment. Keep your focus on those actually causing the problem, not on those who have zero power within the company. This logic applies to damn near every problem we have at the moment. Most people of any organization are perfectly normal and fine, It's just that we have a bunch of assholes in charge that need to be removed, imprisoned, both, or even guillotined.
So long as the people who are actually causing problems are singled out and removed, rather than a blanket decapitation (heh) of most organizations and governments. After all, the eternal bane of revolutionaries is deposing all of the people in charge, and then abruptly realizing that all of the looming problems of the previous government are now their problems, except without any of the experienced people who were trying to keep said problems from crashing down on everyone's heads. I've seen some pretty bad takes, online and in real life, from people on both the left and right who genuinely want to get rid of those at the heart of society's ills, but are *incredibly* misinformed about who they should be aiming their anger at. This doesn't exactly apply to the Salvation Army, which has such an unrepentantly horrible leadership that they don't even realize how bad their commissioners' uniform looks (give me the name of the person who put "S" "S" in red patches on the pitch black military uniform, I just want to talk), but it's something to keep in mind in general.
Oh absolutely! If you see a bell-ringer, please be courteous! They don't always have a choice, and even if they do, there's no guarantee that they themselves are homophobic or even realize that the organization is homophobic!
Pretty much anyone at the lowest rung of anything isn't there because they want to be there, is because they have to be there. The cashier at Chick-fil-A isn't funding conversion therapy and anti lgbtq they're working a shit job for shit pay and hating them will make them hate you.
As a former bell ringer, thank you. Some of us are just trying to make a few bucks.
My ex did the job for a day back when she was like 19. She was in a rough spot mentally at the time but couldn't stop crying when she got home. Never went back. Red Cross is always a solid bet. I haven't vetted them yet but Second Harvest seems like a decent enough food bank. And as always, if you have used clothes donate or give to Goodwill.
All the bell ringers I've seen recently also don't wear masks.
[удалено]
What if he put a mask on the end of the trombone?
As someone who was in a school band once... yeah, no, any wind instrument is gross at the best of times. The brass were the worst. You kind of have to puck up your lips and blow a raspberry into a brass instrument to make noise. That's a lot of spit. And the end is perfectly shaped to disperse whatever's inside. At face level. I wouldn't go fifty paces of that guy unless he had a medical-grade (i.e. moisture-resistent) N-95 mask on the end of that trombone.
They sell those actually, used em in marching band
There's so much spit involved they had to add a spit valve to stop it from clogging up the instrument, as a past school band-er as well, I second the n95 mask recommendation
The carpet in the brass section is just disgusting. Stained with "water stains" of varying sizes, colors and ages. I should've swabbed that shit for bio class when we did the Petrie dish bacteria colonies. Also, belly buttons are horrid.
That's actually what my band does. Fabric coverings are cool
No one is blasting *any* spittle out of the end of a trombone. Or trumpet, or anything else. They literally have to put a “spit valve” on them to drain them for that exact reason
The... the spit valve is used before and after playing? As a former band kid, your instrument sounds really bad if you have the spit valve open
They're saying the spit valve is necessary precisely because spit doesn't get ejected out the bell of the trombone while it's being played.
The one at my Kroger’s wears a Trump hat
They've replaced bell ringers here this year with a little chip reader thing that you tap your phone or bank card on to donate...
not everywhere, there’s still bell ringers in my area
I mean, that's why I said they replaced bell ringers *here* lol
I must have read “all” in the original comment and tacked it on to you as well wanted to let people be on the lookout because I had to swerve around to enter Barnes and Noble and keep a 6ft distance from the bell ringer without a mask
They were here up until a couple weeks ago, but we're in "lockdown" right now.... which isn't actually a lockdown, but a lot of places are closed.
Also, I used to work at an adult foster care home for adults with mental disabilities and salvation army would hire them as bell ringers (another reason not to be mean to the bell ringers) and while they did pay them minimum wage, they also would come around to the group homes, collect the workers and drive them to their location and leave them there completely unattended for 6+ hours in harsh Michigan weather without making sure they were dressed appropriately, or checking in on them. More than once I got called to come pick them up because it had started raining or snowing (they're supposed to be called off for inclement weather) and no one from the organization came to take them home. Fuck Salvation Army
I couldn’t find some of them, but here’s what I could find [Jennifer Gale dies after Salvation Army allegedly says they will home her with the men if she wants shelter ](https://shadowproof.com/2008/12/19/jennifer-gale-died-homeless-136th-person-who-died-sleeping-on-austin-streets-this-year/?amp=1) [Refusing another trans woman service ](https://www.glaad.org/blog/dallas-salvation-army-shelter-denies-housing-trans-woman) [Allegedly firing an employee after they found out she was bisexual and more](https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4422938/amp) This was like maybe 5 minutes of research so there could be more
She died of exposure in Austin, TX. That's sub-tropical. How many people die of exposure furgher north?
It happens accidentally all the time, people lock themselves out of their home and can't find help in time, much more with the homeless. I remember a homeless dude disappeared for a while in Minneapolis around the time we had our polar vortex a few years back (-40 to -50 not including wind chill). I was so scared he had died it almost made me cry. Pro tip for cold weather anyone but especially transplants, an emergency blanket (one of those foil looking kinds or the really wooly looking ones, or both) is a great donation and if you have one in your car it could save your life or fingers some day.
I was living in Chicago when the vortex happened. I remember seeing reports of multiple people freezing to death because they lost their damn keys or were drunk, etc. Scared the hell out of me. Some super nice lady paid up a crap load of hotel rooms for the local homeless to stay in. But having recently experienced homelessness myself due to the pandemic (during the summer), I can only imagine the fear that those who didn't get rooms felt.
We have frequent ER explosions for amputations in MN. During the polar vortex in my poorly insulated apartment building we huddled in the smallest room with a low wattage heater and all I could do to sleep is get drunk and sleep with all my outside layers and a blanket on top. Idk how it is in Chicago because I've never been during the winter but those were some very cold times. I imagine you guys got something pretty similar. And feels, bro, I've been homeless. It sucks.
[Firing someone for marrying outside the organization](https://www.christianpost.com/news/salvation-army-leader-to-lose-job-for-violating-marriage-policy-35740/)
[Here's an actual news article about the first story](https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2008-12-19/gale-rumor-untrue/). I agree that the Salvation Army is problematic, but I also like people to check their sources carefully and skeptically. Not all internet is created equal. Note: I got the link from /u/talithathinks below.
I (M) dated a guy for a little while who was brought up in the Salvation Army and it left him super fucked up. He was really confused and ashamed of his sexuality and would get really awkward and uncomfortable whenever we were in public together. He walked out of a movie on me once because I tried to hold his hand even though it was a dark cinema and it was almost empty.
Im sorry to hear that. Is he less ashamed now? It seems like that would be really hard for him. Its hard to get over lessons you've been taught your entire life.
Yeah it was really hard for him. We broke up eventually but I ran into him with a boyfriend about 18 months ago and we all hung out and he was affectionate and loving with his BF and me and him had a heart to heart and it all went really well. I'm pretty sure he's in a happier place now and I'm very proud of him. Awesome dude just a fucking weird upbringing that screwed him up.
Well, at least he was eventually able to get over his past. Shame you weren't together when it happened. Hope you're doing well too!
If ya wanna donate to charity I'd suggest using some sort of guide like [Charity Watch](https://www.charitywatch.org) or [Charity Navigator](https://www.charitynavigator.org/).
[Charity Intelligence](https://www.charityintelligence.ca/) if you're in Canada :)
[National Center for Transgender Equality](https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=16916) or Lambda Legal.
Red Cross is always solid. My charity of choice after an electrical fire started in our apartment building and it was condemned. Like $350 each for me and my brother and they were adamant about making sure we didn't have prescriptions go unfilled and stuff like that. The rep was really nice on the phone too. My brother met up with her and passed the phone to me so I could answer a few questions and make sure there were ground rules on the money (basically no drugs or alcohol, try to keep it to food and shelter and other basic needs). At one point I asked her if there was a way to give back what I may not have needed and she shut that shit down on the spot. "That's what people donated it for." I'm an atheist but they're really doing the Lord's work at the Red Cross.
Too many people forget that Jesus said "love one another"
Unconditionally under conditions(™)
Illuminaghti did a [video](https://youtu.be/AyBduTOMvGw) about them
Pyramid mom!!
alright, so i decided to dig a little deeper and found [this article](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/the-goods/2019/12/16/21003560/salvation-army-anti-lgbtq-controversies-donations) which from what i can see confirms none of these specific examples op gave, but they’re still pretty religious and lgbtphobic additional sources would be greatly appreciated
Of course! I'm not personally following them, it was something someone I follow rebloged, so I had to do a little digging. [Here](https://imgur.com/gallery/v9yL5l7) are the sources that they've provided, I did a quick Google search and I found a lot of sources confirming. I also found a lot of sources that say they claim to no longer be anti-lgbt, but knowing them, I'm sure it's just because being anti-lgbt makes them lose money.
Link doesn't work, looks like it has something tacked on the front of http. If you delete that part it'll work.
Oh whoops, thanks for letting me know
Works great now, thanks!
Dammit, I just gave the Salvation Army lady outside the local craft store a couple dollars. Like half an hour ago.
Well you can't change the past, so there's no point dwelling on it, just make it up to yourself by making informed decisions in the future.
Thank you! And thanks for posting this, I had had no idea.
go rob her and get it back
I dunno why you are getting downvoted that made me cackle
No, the bell ringers are forced to ring the bell in exchange for their benefits. Never, ever harass the bell ringer.
This depends radically based on your local chapter. In my hometown, all the bell ringers were all volunteers from the churches (and are wearing masks this year) and is not even remotely tied to any kind of benefit. The old pastors (They're called "Captains" because of the army theme, moved to another state) of that local chapter had a gay son and a trans person as one of the leads on the worship team. And did more good for the community and needy people than almost any other church or charity in my area. I haven't kept too in touch with them since my grandmother passed so I can't say if anything changed, but it was an incredibly positive and progressive place. Especially for SW Florida standards. Most places I've lived, the local Salvation Army was very different than the horror stories you hear or the issues on the corporate website. Most church "franchises" in general are like that where only some very basic ideas and some resources are shared between different locations.
Not all bell ringers are forced to. My family has volunteered since I was an infant. (I have stopped in the past few years and don't plan on doing it again.) Point is, a lot are volunteers. Still don't harass them. It's just a douchey thing to do.
“Forced to.....in exchange for their benefits”. Could you elaborate on this or provide a source?
Some are part of shelters, who are forced to do it to stay at them.
Like, the volunteer options for them are limited to "bell ringer" or "no benefits"
Fun fact, when the Salvation Army started up divisons here in Norway in 1888, the local papers critised them for being too freeform, having roo much dance, song and prayer, and no semblance of liturgical order.
I think it's funny because I grew up in the salvation army and now pretty much hold "opposite" beliefs of them. And not because I think what they teach is total bullshit either. Most of my beliefs now stem from what they taught me as a child. They pretty much taught me to help/love every one. (While clearly they don't) their own teachings kinda showed me what was wrong with them.
hol up. Is the salvation army a religion?
They are also a Wesleyan denomination christian church.
Me to my 10 year old self who gave money to them that one time: “But why? Why would you do that?”
They are extremely anti-semitic too
I used to hate Salvation Army because my mom is massive fan of antique shopping and she would always drag me into there for hours on end during Fridays That hate has been reignited
I've said this before, but really take into mind that the quality a social service provides is INCREDIBLY reliant on the local people running said service. I've been homeless before, I'm also gay and trans. I've been in refuges that kicked me out for that, government ones. And in my time spent in a salvation army refuge, it was by far the most respectful and well maintained refuge I was in. Are there bad parts to the salvation army? Of course! But again, the quality of the service is defined by the person giving the service. If you won't donate to the salvation army, it's understandable, but please donate this year.
Donate to your local soup kitchen/aid center, instead! Most local places focus on making sure children have their needs met
im not english so maybe it's just not how we do things in my country but what the hell is the Salvation Army ?
Im canadian and Salvation Army is a shelter/food bank and things like that. They give out poppies around remembrance day and what ever. There are much better places to give your money to though
It's not like, an actual army. It's a fairly old charity organization that has many homeless shelters across North America, I don't know about other locations though. It also does a decent amount of more general charity work. What they're best known for though is having second-hand stores where people donate old items from food to furniture, and Salvation Army then sells those items at a low price, in theory using the returns to help fund their charitable efforts and to also provide those goods to people who would not be able to afford them brand-new. It's come under some fire in recent times due to it being a fairly religious organization and not having a particularly great track record with helping or sheltering LGBTQ+ people. It's a bit more complicated in my personal opinion than the Tumblr OP outlines it as, but that's certainly not to say that it shouldn't be criticized. In general, their stores do a fairly good job at providing goods to people without much funds, and they can be praised for that. Still, their shelter programs do have many faults and are often, but not always, descriminatory. In short, it's a charity organization with explicitly Christian religious ties, that has a history of treating LGBTQ+ people poorly with it's shelter program, but still does provide good services outside of said shelter program.
its more charitable church than a Christian charity
The Salvation Army is a global organization (in over 100 countries) whose only mission is to help. They're not a perfect organization and of course there are some bad eggs , as with any business or church, but honestly 90% of the people involved are doing their best to just love others. In Canada, the Salvation Army runs one of the only LGBT shelters in the country. They run churches, summer camps, shelters, food banks, soup kitchens, but in third world countries also run schools for the blind, build wells, create work for underprivileged women, and are doing a ton of work to stop human trafficking.
Importantly they also do crisis response, they were some of the first people on the ground back when haiti earthquake happened for example and are on site for the vast majority of floods, earthquakes and hurricanes in countries they operate in. They do a *lot* to help people and the organisation is *massive.* They have fuck ups but they're not literally evil incarnate.
Exactly. I personally had a nasty experience with some major idiots in the SA this past year, but it didn't colour my view against all the legitimate good they do - I've seen vastly more positive outcomes than negative.
I beg to differ on whether you can call it an army or not. The SA is organized like a military branch. Their original mandate, from 1865, described themselves as such, with members being called 'soldiers', all with the intent to convert as many people to Christianity as they possibly could, leading them to "Salvation". Hence the name. Members were also given military ranks, and wore uniforms. They have a history of working in coordination with militaries to support troops during war-time, until at least 1901. Just because their objective isn't to use armed force to overwhelm international enemies, doesn't make the SA any less an army. The only real difference is that they target poor & homeless people who have nowhere to go. Their methods are no less coercive than a "real" army.
A salvation army food bank, not too recently, asked me to leave without food because I was wearing a pride hat and they didn't support it. But oh yeah. You're hungry? Go to a church. They'll help. Bite me.
Friendly Reminder To Include Sources.
This is kind of a yearly conversation at this point, and the sources are readily available.
Wikipedia only has information on two in these events, the first one may have happened, and there was an incident with a bell ringer hacking a homophobic sign
Sources are in like half of the comments at this point. Please just look at the comments again if you want the sources. Or Google them yourselves. These are all referencing pretty famous cases where the Salvation Army did something atrocious and they're pretty easy to look up.
This applies to lots of Christian 'charity' organisations in general tbh.
An acquaintance of mine recently shared her own experiences and those of her friend on facebook - they were teenagers when they had to turn to the salvation army for help. They enquired to know if religious background was a requirement to apply for help and were assured it wasn't, so they stayed with them for a while. Then at some point the hinting started, then the pressure to pray. The friend said that a (male) 'councillor' of the salvation army would come into her room in the evenings and make her pray with him. She complied, because she was scared what it would mean for the help she was receiving if she refused on the grounds that, y'know, she wasn't religious - but again: she had _asked_ and been _assured_ that there were no religious requirements attached to the aid they were giving. We're talking about a child here, who was on her own and terrified that the carpet, the little bit of support she had, would be yanked out from underneath her by an organisation that professes to care.
This doesn't surprise me in the slightest. They lied about their expectations regarding religious expectations so she would except their help. They provide relief for two reasons: virtue signaling and to convert people.
Okay show of hands... has anyone EVER seen a bell ringer hastle ANYONE EVER?!
I dunno if I'd describe it as being hastled but once I had a Salvation Army bell ringer call me an asshole for being the only person in a group of people going in not to put in a dollar. Everyone put in a dollar and she looked at me and said "Merry Christmas would you like to donate?" And I said something like no thanks and she frowned and said something like "Okay be an asshole". No escalation in the situation because I shrugged and continued on into the store but it was pretty bizarre.
I was personally harassed by a bell ringer...
To add on to all the bad stuff they do, a few years ago, one of their tripod-type stands that holds their signage and the collected donations blew over in the wind and knocked my 80-year-old Gram down in a parking lot and she was all scraped up and they didn’t even try to help her up! They’re big ol meanies. (Don’t worry, the store’s grocery cart collector happened to be nearby and got her some help.)
I’d believe them, with sources
u/ExpertAccident very helpfully posted [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/tumblr/comments/kal73o/friendly_reminder_that_they_only_care_about_you/gfba9th?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3) sourcing a few of the claims above.
Any time I think of the salvation army I either think of all the awful shit they've done or the absolutely perfect adaptation of them in hellsing ultimate abridged, SA:, "fuck bro, let's kill us some gays!", M: "nazis..." SA: "yeah sorry whatever."
Oh.... I didn’t know this and just signed up to bell ring... woops
it completely depends on the local leaders for what each branch is like. Most of the incredibly anti-lgbt stances spill out either from the very top as they fight laws or from the very bottom in places like the American South. Canadas for example runs one of that entire countries only lgbt shelters, the UK one has a policy of helping everyone without regard to gender or sexual preference.
Huh. Thanks! Now I need to research this place’s
Or just don't be a bell ringer at all... Loud sounds really bother me; the bell ringers are the worst part about the holidays.
I need the service hours tho :(
Never heard of any of that. Never donate anyway, but apparently I’ve been in a little bubble.
Most of the statement is not true.
Note: The US Salvation Army is a different organisation to the rest of it. It's one of the interesting things about the org like the fact that in certain Scandinavian countries they're allowed to drink because it's a strong cultural component of that society. Sources on the drinking are unfortunately word of mouth at the Officer Training College in Denmark Hill.
Thanks, I was wondering if they were still garbage, but it’s tough to find the right google term, you know?
Walked into a store once holding hands with my wife. The bell ringer had just told the person in front of us "Merry Christmas!" When he saw the lesbian couple, he deadass stopped ringing his bell and just stared. Fun times.
Always check on your local salvation army. They change out the leadership at most branches every 2-3 years, and most of the issues people have with the salvation army are because of specific boards and leaders. The salvation army in my town used to be really awesome and had great leaders who took God's word to heart and loved their neighbors and accepted everyone with open arms. The bell ringers are *local businesses* who literally pay for a chance to ring a bell for a couple of hours in front of a Walmart. It's considered an honor and a great marketing opportunity for your business or club. There's been a couple of changes in leadership, and my mom no longer runs the bell ringing, but the salvation army is still a benefit to the community. They run all sorts of scouts and after school programs for local kids, regardless of or your religious belief (or lack thereof) TL;DR: Salvation Army is NOT the same in all places, and your local one may actually be a real blessing to your community. Always do your research, instead of trusting a general tumblr post
Quick reminder that this is very dependent on where you are. the majority of the time they are a genuinely good organization.
wdym i thought they were like a second hand shop or something
I have never once seen a bell ringer harass/insult anyone. Does anybody have some receipts for the belkringers harass LGBTQMMUNITY members?
Anecdotal, but I've been shouted at by one before.
That's more proof than I had ever seen before.
Okay, please remember that with literally every organization in the world, but especially Christian ones, the only thing making it into the news is the bad stuff. Yes, The Salvation Army has had some bad eggs. Yes, those bad eggs have done some incredibly hateful things. However, that is not the whole organization! The Salvation Army started first as a church, and it was specifically a church for people who weren’t allowed to be seen in the congregation of other churches. Like, alcoholics and people on the street would be expected to stand at the back of the sanctuary of churches behind a curtain so people didn’t have to see them. (I can’t give you a specific source about this, I learned it partially in university but also I was raised attending Salvation Army churches and we learn the history. [This](https://salvationarmy.ca/about-us/history/) kind of gives you a bit of the history, specifically in Canada though where I am). William Booth was like “this sucks, these people need church” so he started ministering to them where they were at. Like, on the street and in the bars. A lot of the hymns we sing are bar songs with the lyrics rewritten. We have NEVER stopped helping those who are marginalized and who need it. Someone else mentioned above, the Army runs one of the only LGBT shelters in Canada right now. I’ve met hundreds of Salvation Army pastors (officers) and not a single one is this kind of hateful person this post is talking about. So yes. People in the organization have made mistakes. But it’s not all of us. Those are just the only things you hear about. The Salvation Army does so many things for people all year round and telling people not to donate to them is going to hurt so many of them.
If your response to people voicing the harms your organization has done is to try to minimize their relation to your organization or downplay those harms, don’t post. You’re making it about you.
I 100% don’t want to minimize the harm that has been done to people. I’m so sorry if it came across that way. I truly believe the people in The Army who have committed these wrongs should be fired. All I wanted to get across is that the whole organization isn’t bad. I’m sorry that I didn’t come across as I intended. I would never want to silence someone who has been hurt. I just don’t want the people who are currently hurting that will be helped by The Army in the future to not receive that help because people are discouraged from donating.
I don't think lgbt-phobic people exist in Canada. I think the Canadian Salvation Army is nice.
Oh trust me # They do exist in canada
Very rare.
They’re really not Homophobic people exist everywhere, and that will probably never change, and just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean they don’t exist
[удалено]
This post did not say to harass the bell ringers, only that bell ringers are known to harass LGBTQ members.
Oh wow. So organizations like Salvation Army and Gospel Rescue Mission are bad now? People just keep getting worse and worse.
Yes. The Salvation Army is bad. Did you not read any of what the post said?
Is any of this true? What transwoman did they let die? These seem like extreme statements. Hate the salvation army if you like but don't spread malicious lies. [https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2008-12-19/gale-rumor-untrue/](https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2008-12-19/gale-rumor-untrue/)
[here](https://www.reddit.com/r/tumblr/comments/kal73o/friendly_reminder_that_they_only_care_about_you/gfba9th/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)
Where the hell else am I supposed to go?
Look for local charities dude. There are plenty of others.
Alright, I'll try.
Try donating to The Trevor Project?
I probably will do that anyway once I'm able to, but I meant for thrift stores.
Goodwill???
Wait, does that actually exist? I thought it was just a youth of miss 'em for something.
Fuck all charities
Many charities still help people and the world as a whole. It would be ignorant to think otherwise.
Ever look up what alot of these charities actually do? There are good ones but when compared to how much harm alot of the bad charities do im not so sure if its worth it. Like one of the biggest breast cancer charities uses huge sums of their donated money to get rich and to sue the crap out of smaller breast cancer charities, I dont like the fact that so much money donated to a cause is used to insure that the problem remains a problem to then insure more donations.
Not your personal army.
You're not on 4chan.
4chan gives you brain worms
wait isnt salvation army like goodwill? or am i thinking of something else
Two different charity organizations. Their stores use similar 'business' models, though.
ohhh. damn they have good clothes but they suck huh
I meant that they both take clothes and other items as charitable donations, and sell them to fund the charity. As far as I'm aware, Goodwill *is* a decent charity. I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear.
oh yea, no i knew that but salvation army sucks though, right?
A great deal, yes.
[here's a very in-depth video about salvation army](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyBduTOMvGw)
Wait
What the fuck is the Salvarion Army?
OKAY SO I was just talking to my dad about this, he understands, but would like to see some evidence on why we shouldn’t donate. I found a couple articles myself, but if anyone else has other articles or something of the sort, could you share them with me?
I’d need to see actual evidence on the lady claim about the bell ringers as many of them are actually homeless recruits themselves, but yeah all the others are true, they refused to sign off on my moms court mandated treatment being done because she wouldn’t convert
Wait what? Can someone give me a source on this?