What to do with the money you earmarked for Protestants

[firecat]

Coupla links via moominmuppet

So if you think being queer is OK, and you were planning to give some money to the Salvation Army, you might not want to, because they think homosexuality is a curable sin.

But you could give the money to the Presbyterian Church instead:

Presbyterians Approve Ordination of Gay People

(I was raised Presbyterian, and I was already out of the church before they even began to think about ordaining gay people. I'm glad they finally got around to it.)

Comments

[shanaqui]

That's... really sad. There's this long involved story about me being born, which ends with me being delivered alive by a Salvation Army guy. Unsurprisingly, my family have a sort of affection for the Salvation Army...

[firecat]

That's a good reason to have affection for them!

[trixtah]

I'm amazed that queer people don't know about the Salvos. I've had an animus with them for over 20 years because of their homophobia - and their willingness to INTERFERE in national politics to try and get their retrograde beliefs enshrined in law (they campaigned against human rights/equality legislation in both Australia and NZ).

[firecat]

Yeah, they haven't meddled quite as much in national US politics, but they have gone to great lengths to refuse to offer benefits to same-sex domestic partners.

[birgitriddle]

D: I wish I knew this about the Salvation Army before last Wednesday. But it's also hard to resist buying cheap un-used cross stitch kits that would cost so much more new and for my mom to find fabric at a lower price for her quilt-making. D:

(Granted, some of the quilt fabric is going to be put into quilts my mom will donate to kids in hospitals and such, but doesn't really make up for the homophobia of the Salvation Army.)

[firecat]

I think there's something beautifully transformative about that, though.

[birgitriddle]

The rest that aren't going to be in the kid's quilts will be added to my mother's probably significantly large quilt fabric stash. And the kits have basically been added to my cross stitch kit stash.

It's hard not to create a stash of things when you love crafting. ^^;

[firecat]

Creating a stash is totally part of the joy of crafting!

[lexicalcrow]

I've heard about that before. Pity my brother married into the Salvos. Makes it hard to just cut the Salvos out completely. :/

[firecat]

It's kind of hard for most of us to cut homophobia out of our lives completely. :/

[evilawyer]

This is a world-wide Salvation Army tenet? Yeesh!

[firecat]

I don't know if it's world-wide.

[onyxlynx]

Specifically, Presbyterian Church USA, not Presbyterian Church of America (insert relevant Life of Brian reference here).

Drying up reservoirs of bigotry one by one...

[firecat]

Thanks for the clarification!

[sauscony]

I haven't donated to Salvation Army or shopped in their thrift shops in years because of some of their sexist practices, so this doesn't surprise me. I have a church thrift store around the corner from me that I shop at regularly now, so out of curiosity, I looked them up and they are Episcopal, another religion that ordains gays (and women), fights for civil rights, and they don't even completely condemn abortion. While I won't be joining them in Sunday services, I don't have to feel bad about giving them my money either (and since I plan to buy most of my baby stuff there if I am fortunate enough to get pregnant in the next year or so, I'll be giving them quite a bit of money).

[firecat]

It's great to have a thrift store nearby that you can feel good about. Mine helps the local animal shelter.

Good luck!

[necturus]

I sing in an Episcopal church choir in the Boston area.

The Episcopal church is divided over the issue of homosexuality and may be splitting over it. In some dioceses, e.g. Pittsburgh and Albany (N.Y.), conservatives hold sway; other dioceses are led by progressives. In 2003, the diocese of New Hampshire elected the Rev. Eugene Robinson, an openly gay priest, as its bishop. After several years at the center of controversy, Bishop Robinson recently announced his impending retirement.

[firecat]

I didn't realize that there was controversy about this issue in the Episcopal church. I thought they all accepted gay clergy. How sad.

[wired]

I was at General Assembly in '93, the first year the PCUSA voted on the topic. I was 16, a youth delegate, and I could not vote. That night I went back to my hotel room and cried. 5 years later, I left the church, even though I'm ordained. It's good to feel like there IS progress, slow, painful, and incremental as it is.

(over half my life, good grief)

[firecat]

Wow. It is indeed.

[demonspawnmom.livejournal.com]

My grandfather was a Presbyterian minister, and a man with a great social conscience. I think he would have approved of the ordination of gay people.