| you asked for ranting..... |
| I used to feel guilty every time I passed the Salvation Army bell ringers without giving at least a handful of change. Now I feel guilty for not putting in one of those P-FLAG coupons that say something like �I would have donated five dollars but I am withholding my donation because the Salvation Army discriminates against lesbians and gays.� The GLBTS group at my school, in an unusual spurt of activism and, well, action, handed out the green coupons. So, while running errands in Downtown Crossing before Christmas, I dutifully and nervously stuck one into some Santa-hat-wearing bell ringer�s red cauldron. Now, these things are green, but they don�t look anything at all like money. The bell ringer, who was probably either a volunteer or a homeless guy who was getting paid, said �hey, what�s that?� and I scurried away. I didn�t feel like berating the poor guy for the policies of the organization that feeds him, or that he is serving because it feeds other people. The fact is, I like the Salvation Army. I volunteered in one of their soup kitchens, which was staffed by retirees and convicts serving mostly older, homeless men. I spent one of the lulls reading an Army newspaper. It seemed like harmless, standard evangelical Christian reports of conferences, missions, and God�s saving powers. The �Army� aspect of the whole thing creeps me out, but I generally support leaving people alone. The service aspect of the organization is impressive and totally worthwhile. But, but, but. Like many other Christian organizations, they believe that gay people are sick, living in sin, and can be cured/saved. It�s interesting that churches, like the Boy Scouts, have starting vocalizing those beliefs in the past decade or so. As GLBT groups are increasingly successful at achieving assimilation and legal status, groups who have always held anti-gay views are digging themselves deeper and deeper into their bigotry in an attempt to hold onto their views. Ultimately, they�re going to wind up looking like sore losers. The Salvation Army needs to be stopped. They lobbied the White House for a back door deal to exempt churches from state non-discrimination laws, and they would have gotten it except that the Washington Post got wind of it and there was a huge uproar. And I applaud P-FLAG for coming up with this inspired guerrilla campaign. So why am I so ambivalent? Why am I, the red-hot activist, unable to stick a piece of paper in a container? Basically, I have trouble protesting against an organization that feeds, shelters, and clothes my fellow human beings who are in need. I sincerely believe that most of the people at the lower levels of the organization, church members and outside volunteers alike, are no more homophobic than most Americans. And I can�t bring myself to protest publicly against ordinary people who are serving others. |