Lordy, the Salvation Army is doing a lot of advertising

[MonkeyFunk]

Seriously - every 10 minutes, there's a Salvation Army commercial on TV. That's a lot of kettle-change!

[marylanddem]

1. I believe the Salvation Army is America's wealthiest charity

And that woman ringing the bell with that wooden arm, up-down-up-down, is getting a bit tiresome...

[MountainLaurel]

2. I've gotten several mailings from them

Which is interesting considering that I've never donated to them. But I do know who sold them my name, because I've only used a hyphenated name with Mr. Laurel's in one instance.

[InternalDialogue]

3. And they're lowering their recruiting standards too.

You can now donate even if you're a gay high-school dropout with a history of drug use.

[AndyTiedye]

4. What is More Important to the Salvation Army than Helping the Poor?

Being exempt from the anti-discrimination laws so they could discriminate against gays.
Really.

The Salvation Army thought it had a deal with the White House: it could discriminate against homosexuals in its hiring - even when hiring for positions related to the delivery of social services financed by the government. In exchange, it would mount an expensive campaign to sell President Bush's faith-based organizations (fbo) initiative to the public.
…
One of the most oft-stated justifications for the fbo initiative is to give "equal treatment" to religious organizations — some of which have not been able to obtain government money for their social services in the past, due to concerns about the separation of church and state. It is not fair, we are told, for religious organizations to be "shut out" of the government's resources this way.

Ironically, even as religious organizations pursue the equal treatment theme for themselves, many also have been quietly insisting that they ought to have a right to deny equality to others. That is, they insist on the right to discriminate in hiring for such social services — just as the politically powerful Salvation Army did, at least until its correspondence found its way into the hands of reporters. They want this right to discriminate even though the biggest selling point of the fbo initiative is that religious social services are intended to serve many beyond their own adherents.

The Salvation Army believes that homosexuality is sinful and therefore does not want its services delivered by homosexuals. The rhetoric in favor of discrimination is a bracing claim to the "right to practice religion freely."
…

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hamilton/20010802.html