The Real Salvation Army
While it is widely believed that The Salvation Army is simply a charitable organization with a commitment to giving, it is important not to forget their entire mission though:
"The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church.
Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination... The advancement of the Christian religion as promulgated in the religious doctrines . . . which are professed, believed and taught by the Army"
In 2004 the group's International Conference of Leaders decreed:
"We confirm: that we are a world movement committed to world evangelisation – to all people and to the whole person – recognising the Holy Spirit’s gracious direction to the unreached, including children and youth... The World Evangelisation Office is charged by the General to keep one aspect of that identity and activity alive. It must stimulate the movement’s world view, and its commitment to world evangelisation."
Furthermore:
"The office recognises that every territory and every centre is involved in the total task of world evangelisation. We are encouraging territories to document their strategies for evangelisation. They should then be able to highlight some specific items in these strategies that would become the focus of worldwide prayer. An electronic database with these details is available. A million praying Salvationist members focusing on world evangelisation will revitalise the Army... But in spite of the immense amount of work that is already being done, the task is incomplete. The global Church has set itself the goal of ensuring that the whole world is evangelised by 2025."
(source)
It is also required that each soldier (employee/volunteer) accept the following as the soldier's covenant:
(Promises made when becoming a soldier in the Salvation Army)
HAVING accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord, and desiring to fulfil my membership of His Church on earth as a soldier of The Salvation Army, I now by God’s grace enter into a sacred covenant.
I believe and will live by the truths of the word of God expressed in The Salvation Army’s eleven articles of faith:
We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God: and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice.
We believe that there is only one God, who is infinitely perfect, the Creator. Preserver, and Governor of all things, and who is the only proper object of religious worship.
We believe that there are three persons in the Godhead—the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost—undivided in essence and coequal in power and glory.
We believe that in the person of Jesus Christ the Divine and human natures are united, so that He is truly and properly God and truly and properly man.
We believe that our first parents were created in a state of innocency. but by their disobedience they lost their purity and happiness; and that in consequence of their fall all men have become sinners, totally depraved. and as such are justly exposed to the wrath of God.
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has, by His suffering and death, made an atonement for the whole world so that whosoever will may be saved.
We believe that repentance towards God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and regeneration by the Holy Spirit are necessary to salvation.
We believe that we are justified by grace, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; and that he that believeth hath the witness in himself.
We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ.
We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We believe in the immortality of the soul; in the resurrection of the body; in the general judgment at the end of the world; in the eternal happiness of the righteous; and in the endless punishment of the wicked.
The State of New York has proposed legislation that requires businesses to offer health benefits to same-sex partners of employees. The Salvation Army opposes this policy and has threatened to close its soup kitchens and shelters across New York. The Bush administration is also working closely with the army to enforce their practice of employment discrimination against gays.
In August of 1987 Jamie Kellam Dodge was fired by the army allegedly due to her Wiccan religious beliefs. She took the case to court and on Jan. 9, 1989, U.S. District Judge Dan M. Russell denied the Salvation Army's motion for dismissal, ruling that Dodge's complaint could go forward. "The effect of the government substantially, if not exclusively, funding a position such as the Victims' Assistance Coordinator and then allowing the Salvation Army to choose the person to fill or maintain the position based on religious preference clearly has the effect of advancing religion and is unconstitutional." said Russell.
(source)
This of course begs the question: Should a government funded organization be allowed to discriminate on the grounds or religion or sexual preference?
and
Should a religious organization fueled by an agenda of world indoctrination be eligible to receive tax aid from the government?
"We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes."
- Gene Roddenberry
- Vanguard's blog
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Vanguard wrote: The State
Oh brother. Isn't it just like a xian organization to deprive the less fortunate of food and shelter because someone else offers health benefits to same-sex partners?
It ranks right up there with how junior high kids act. "If you're going to be friends with X, I'm not going to like you any more."
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