This Christmas, Pass The Red Kettle By

It's hard to miss the Salvation Army red kettles. They are outside most store and malls with a volunteer ringing a bell which I am sure drives retailers crazy.

I used to drop a dollar or two into the pot every time I passed one until I found out that the Salvation Army, actually a worldwide religious organization actively works to obstruct LGBT rights. If you thought all they did was rescue drunks, think again.

In Scotland the Salvation Army actively lobbied to prevent a repeal of anti-gay laws while at home a few years ago they worked in tandem with the Bush administration to remove any barriers to discrimination against LGBT people while still receiving government funds through the "faith biased" initiates program.

John Aravosis over at Americablog pulled this from their website last year regarding their Austrailian barnch:

"[Homosexual activity is] as rebellion against God's plan for the created order.... Homosexual practice, however, is, in the light of Scripture, clearly unacceptable. Such activity is chosen behaviour and is thus a matter of the will. It is therefore able to be directed or restrained in the same way heterosexual urges are controlled. Homosexual practice would render any person ineligible for full membership (soldiership) in the [Salvation] Army." - Salvation Army Australia Web site (emphasis added)

This year why not donate to your local Food Bank, Kiva.org or to the Human Rights Campaign Fund?