It is that time of year again.

[dsc]

When I was a kid I rang the bell for the Salvation Army. My mom and dad both knew the woman in charge of the local fundraising for the Salvation Army. I know the good that they do and the people that they serve. But I won't give them money this year.

I am not here to tell you not to give to the Salvation Army. It is the choice of each person. For me I can't abide the fact they lobby against my rights. They can believe what they wish. If their opinion is that I am going to Hades then so be it. Where they cross the line is when they try to get the government to enforce their beliefs.

Legally they can do that. But not with my money. I hope someday I can give time or money to them again but not until they change.

[LibertyorDeath]

1. Crap man I gave some $ yesterday what evil are they up to?

[dsc]

4. They refuse to hire

gays and lesbians and have tried to get a federal exemption from local civil rights statutes that forbid anti gay discrimination. They also have in some cases refused to serve gays and lesbians.

[David Zephyr]

2. The Night the Salvation Army Threw Me Out into the Streets

When I was 20 years old, I'd backpacked into La Paz, Bolivia from Peru via the rails and a boat trip across Lago Titicaca. By the time I'd crossed the Altiplano and arrived in La Paz I was nearly broke.

With just my guitar and backpack, I went to crash at a Salvation Army location which was really just a mud brick shelter with some forty men sleeping on the floor. As shabby as it sounds, it was at the very least a dry refuge from the intense storms that were flooding the streets. At around 3 A.M. I was awakened by an American evangelical minister who told me to get out of "his" shelter after he'd opened my backpack while I was sleeping and found my books---Prescott's Conquest of Peru and a bio on Che Guevara. He was waving the small book on Che while he screamed at me. This was 1973.

I walked out into a downpour with my meager belongings into the dark of night.

The next day, I wound up living with a group of radical Jesuit priests from New York who took me in like a lost lamb. I stayed with them for 3 months and will never forget these fellows who traveled around the poorest Indian communities delivering babies, providing medicine and monies and food to those that were in need. They took me along with them. They did not "molest" children, but spent their lives in near poverty to help others.

Contrast that with the Salvation Army next time you think about giving your dollars to a charity.

[Deja Q]

3. Try this

http://www.angelfire.com/rock/sluttyrockstar/queerdollars.html



With or without real $.

They discriminate against us and not just in the form of not hiring us. I know a guy who was refused help by this fraudulent service which claims to help people. And that is enough for me to get involved.