Another reason to give to someone besides Salvation Army: They're firing a guy for getting married!

[KamaAina]

to a non-member, that is.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=6409127

One familiar sound during the holidays is the ringing of Salvation Army bells, beckoning passersby to spread good will and compassion for their fellow man.

One volunteer is forced to leave his job because he wants to marry a non-member.But for Salvation Army Capt. Johnny Harsh, that same sound signifies quite the opposite. It is the sound of an entire life he will likely be forced to leave behind -- all because he fell in love and found himself in opposition to church doctrine that is nearly a century and a half old.

The Salvation Army, a church established in the 1860s and widely known for its charity work, expressly forbids officers to marry non-officers of the church.

And the kicker:

Harsh knew and obeyed the rule during his 14 years of service, but when his first wife, who was a Salvation Army officer, died earlier this year and he met Cia, he decided to speak up.

You already know about the homophobia. Someone even made up scrip to drop in the kettles that reads, basically, "Dear Salvation Army: I'll put in real money when you stop discriminating against gay and lesbian people." But this is ridiculous! Whydo they hate traditional marriage so much??

[donco6]

1. Ick.

I choose other organizations - like Heifer Intl and Kiva - for my donations.

[dmallind]

2. I honestly did not know that about the SA

and I generally keep up with the creepy culty woowoo side of religious groups. I don;t think I'm being too harsh either - this kind of shunning of outsiders and keeping it "within the group" is very much definitiional of a cult.

[Regret My New Name]

5. Me neither...

but then again, I never really researched much about it.

[nichomachus]

3. Well, to be fair to the SA, if you let them marry non-officers

next they'll be wanting to marry animals. Rick Santorum told me.

[rvablue]

4. Of course this sucks, but one question: How can a volunteer lose a job? n/t

[KamaAina]

6. Excellent catch! They have actually scrubbed the offending sentence from the story.

apparently he gets perks such as SA-provided housing and transportation, all of which will soon be gone 'cause he's marrying an infidel. :sarcasm:

[hfojvt]

10. the officers are not volunteers, they are like pastors of a church

I guess they require the spouse to also give up their job and become an officer too. Seems like a strange requirement, but it does sorta give them two for the price of one. The captain I know here is often going off, like to New Orleans to help after Katrina. Having an officer spouse means that when he does that, there is still an officer to run things here. That is one rationale I can think of. I am thinking, it is not that he married a non-officer, but that he married a woman who did not want to become an officer.

[Berry Cool]

7. Fight! Fight! Fight for the freedom to marry anyone you want!

Jeez...why do I get the feeling the Salvation Army is headed for Worst Person in the World status...

[ColbertWatcher]

8. Disgraceful Time to rescind tax-exemptions for all cults. n/t

[DS1]

9. I already want to hit the bell ringers

:shrug: