Speaking of things such as armies, although I wont be doing a Pearl Harbor Day address as I did last year, before I jump into this piece, on this extremely important date in both American and World History, I did wanna send a very special note of thanks and gratitude to all those brave men and women who survived Pearl Harbor and went on to serve this country in one of the most worst wars this world has ever seen, World War II. To you survivors of Pearl Harbor, we will forever be indebted to you for fighting for and securing our freedom and though the years may roll by, please know now that you will always be revered, you will never be forgotten. Thank you so much for all that you sacrificed in your allegiance to freedom and democracy.
The tenets of freedom and democracy, whatta perfect segue into this piece. A few weeks or more back many of us in the GLBTQ communities, as well as folks everywhere, were very surprised to hear about and read the countless stories that have recently surfaced regarding the anti-GLBTQ policies enfored by one of the world's oldest charitable organizations, the Salvation Army. In the last decade or so there have been documented reports of both gay and lesbian couples who turned to the Salvation Army when they ran up against hard times, seeking both food and shelter, yet they were turned away because of their "lifestyle." As a matter of fact, some were even told that they couldnt be together in the shelters, that they needed to "get help" for the abominations they were living and that they couldnt receive assistance from the Salvation Army until they first sought help for their "mental illnesses." I was extremely outraged and infuriated to hear of this as I'm certain many other folks were too.
Once again, the greater GLBTQ worldwide community has yet another foe to stand up against and once again, the auspices of organized religion are hiding closely behind this organization they call the Salvation Army. More like the Damnation Army if you ask me. No organization that professes its dedication in helping to "save" the poor and the destitute, the hungry and homeless, from unfortunate circumstances has no right in Heaven nor on Earth to take it one step further and assume they have the right to "save" peoples souls. Therefore, just as with the majority of the organized religions out there, the Salvation Army too is guilty of legalizing hatred and contempt for those of us whose sexual orientation is different from that of heterosexuals. Whatta load of crap.
Do I feel that the GLBTQ community, as well as every other community out there, should now boycott the Salavation Army? You're goddamn right I do. In fact, not only do I think we should boycott this organization, but I think we should be prepared to stand strong against them just as we have against so many of the world's organized religions. Like I've always said, there's enough hatred and contempt in the world as it is, we do not need anymore heaped onto an already teetering platter.
How do we boycott them? Very simple. Next time you wanna drop off a handful of your loose coinage into one of their buckets, keep your hand right in your pocket and take that money over to your local GLBTQ community center or service organization, tell them which program(s) you want it to go towards and pat yourself on the back for the doing the right thing. In any battles against the Salvation Army, we need to stand strong and steadfast; but, in the meantime, if anyone thinks we are gonna let our fellow GLBTQ brothers and sisters end up on the street due to negative, spiteful theological rherotic such as that being taught by the Salvation Army, they are extremely mistaken.
However, as strongly as I stand against the Salvation Army, there is one thing in my boycott suggestion that I wanna make very clear. Times are very very rough out there for alotta folks. Unemployment is still outrageously high and many people are less than 2 paychecks away from being out on the street in these crazy economic times of ours. I know the media says things are getting better but in the meantime there are still alotta families and individuals who are hurting really really bad. No matter how much any of us may abhor the Salvation Army, I do not think those folks who stand out in all kinds of weather conditions ringing those bells should be castigated in any manner whatsoever because regardless of how much I or anyone else detests the policies of the Salvation Army, those individuals who work for that organization may be doing what they have to do just to get by. In other words we can damn the organization, but let's not damn their bell-ringing messengers because again, we have no way of knowing how destitute or close to being homeless alotta those folks are either. Just sayin'.
It's funny, but in this day-n-age when times are so tough for alotta folks out there, you'd think that just that little bit extra help, that little bit extra love and compassion for your fellow man/womankind will be enough to get us all through the upcoming holiday season with our sanities intact. Then we hear of how groups like the Salvation Army, who were orignally designed to make a positive difference in so many people's lives really arent as loving, noble and accepting as they've claimed to be the last 100+ years or so. But that's okay, we all now know the truth and as long as we do our best to stand up against their tyrannical bigotry and even more importantly, reach out to others who are experiencing less fortunate circumstances than the rest of us, I think we'll all make it through. After all, not to sound Jerry Springerish, but isnt taking care of ourselves and each other the way it's suppose to be anyways? Thank you for reading.
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