I never give money to any organization allied to any religion. Any religion. Never.
I was, therefore, pleased to see this news, by Sharon Otterman of the New York Times, about the settlement of a lawsuit against the Salvation Army. (What do they salvate? And why is it an army? Rhetorical questions.) But entirely displeased to see what the lawsuit was about. Man, are these “holy” people ugly customers:
The Salvation Army on Tuesday settled a decade-old lawsuit that charged it with engaging in religious discrimination by requiring its government-funded social service employees to reveal their beliefs and to agree to act in accordance with the Christian gospel.
As part of the settlement, approved by a federal judge in Manhattan, the Salvation Army will distribute to its New York employees who work in programs that receive government financing a document stating that they need not adhere to the group’s religious principles while doing their jobs, nor may they be asked about their religious beliefs.
Somehow I believe this relates to the various lawsuits by profit-making companies who proclaim their tender religious beliefs as justification to deny insurance providing contraception to employes who want it. But I don’t have the time today to work out the parallels.