Below is a very extensive report on what the Australian Salvation Army has been up to and it makes for depressing reading. Before you read on I should point out that not every Salvation Army branch is still affiliated to the big global entity, some have broken off and have completely different views and policies to the main one, so not ever change cup shaker or brass band believes or acts in this way.
THE STARVATION ARMY: TWELVE REASONS TO REJECT THE SALVATION ARMY
By '
The Skeleton Army' (Melbourne anarchists)
slightly edited by James Hutchings.
1. Upholding inequality.
Salvation
Army founder William Booth spent years evangelising before he realised
that he would never achieve his goal of banishing the 'three As' of
"Alcohol, Atheism and Anarchy" from England's underclass if he did not
first keep them from starving. The Salvation Army's social work efforts
can be directly linked to Booth's failure to convert the poor through
more conventional means.(1)
A former pawnbroker, Booth was
aware that poverty largely stemmed from the structure of society that
he was in. However the social system that created conditions of poverty
and inequality was not to be improved or replaced via social
revolution. Instead Booth hoped to promote a "kinder, gentler" form of
industrial capitalism, one with the "Christian values" of hard work,
abstinence and charity. Booth characterised the revolutionary
Christianity of the Diggers and Levellers as "utopian" and believed that
Salvation Army members could earn a large profit from businesses and
still keep a good conscience. In his view (and contrary to many others)
the Bible was detached from social and economic change. For him the
work of a good Christian was to piously tend to the poor rather than
work with them in the hope of transforming a society based on poverty
for some people and profit for others.
Regardless of their
attitude towards social structures the primary aim of the Salvation
Army was not to provide charity, but to win souls from the devil. Booth
stated that what was important was not "whether a man died in the
poorhouse but if his soul was saved".(2) Dispensing the absolute basics
of food and temporary housing to the needy was motivated by the need to
recruit rather than by anything in the Bible. Any of the poor who were
unfortunate enough to go against the Army's morals were quick to
discover themselves out on the street, hungry or not.(3)
So
from the very beginning the Salvation Army was in favour of a world
made up of bosses and bossed. Its own organisational setup reflected
this love of authority, with a military structure complete with uniforms
and an army band. Control of the Army passed from Booth to his oldest
son and stayed there, until high-ranking officers pulled a coup.(4) The
organisation's basic dictatorship stayed untouched, with little power
at the grassroots and almost total control at the top.(5)
The
moral code that was enforced was extreme, even by the standards of
society when it started. There was no drinking, swearing, smoking,
premarital sex or gambling allowed. The only permissible pleasure was
praying and playing in the Army band. This was justified by saying that
the Bible had described drinking etc as sinful. This is highly
debatable, as the Army itself has been forced to admit.(6) The basis
for these teachings is more likely to be found in Booth's hangups than
in the Bible.
This moral code had a dark side, in that it
allowed the Salvation Army to blame the victims of poverty for their own
situation. They could argue that the symptoms of poverty - alcohol
abuse, prostitution etc - were really its cause. This let their rich
backers off the hook. It also meant that any of the poor who broke
their moral code were denied access to food and clothing, a practice
which reportedly continues today.(7)
As Britain's social
problems increased, it was recommended that the poor be sent off to
colonise other countries (regardless of the feelings of the people who
already lived there of course). As a solution to poverty this ignored
the fact that Britain already had more than enough resources to clothe,
feed and house all of its population. It real aim of colonisation was
building a bigger British Empire. Booth was one of the first to draw up
detailed plans for how agricultural colonies be designed to soak up
Britain's mass of unemployed and its arguable that his plans had some
influence on the people who ran the Empire.(8) Big businessmen and
politicians like Cecil Rhodes and American president Theodore Roosevelt
lent their support.(9)
As the Empire expanded so did the
Salvation Army. Along with all the other Christian sects they were
quick to claim a slice of each country's native people as their
spiritual property. Along with other Christians they worked to tear
native communities apart and fill them with the values of hard work and
capitalism.(10) Here in Australia the Salvation Army ran missions to
"Christianise" Aboriginals and helped take their children to be given to
white Christians.
Wherever it went the Salvation Army
maintained its support for 'things as they are'. As Booth put it, "a
philanthropic body cannot afford to alienate the class which supports
it".(11) This is a notion very much alive in the Army today.(12) Most
famously the Army clashed with the Industrial Workers of the World in a
series of countries. The IWW was an anarchist-influenced union.
During
the early part of this century the IWW put most of its effort into
trying to win over unskilled and transient workers. These were the
poorest workers and also the people that other unions usually wouldn't
support. They were also the main target for the Salvation Army. The
two groups competed for the hearts and minds of the workers, but also
for public stages and places to speak - public speaking was a much more
popular and common tactic for political groups then; seeing a public
speaker was almost the equivalent of going to the movies. The IWW
campaigned in Australia and the USA for the same rights to speak in
public that the Salvation Army had - but they were denied them. There
was a lot of conflict over this, and the Army's Christian morals didn't
stop them physically attacking IWW speakers.(13)
IWW
members invented the term 'Starvation Army', and also the phrase 'pie in
the sky' - making fun of their idea that you should put up with poverty
now because everything will be fine in Heaven. The IWW wasn't able to
survive the attacks of the governments and corporations who backed the
Army. After many years of deportations, murders, arrests, jailings and
beatings the IWW lost the massive support it once had (although it
actually survived and in recent years has gotten slightly bigger, with
the revival of anarchist ideas around the world).
In
helping fight the IWW the Salvation Army eliminated all competition. It
helped carve out a position for itself as one of the only organisations
allowed by the government to 'help' the homeless and unemployed.
The
Army had to deal with other problems in the colonies. Booth was in
such a hurry to create a worldwide Christian army that he often sent out
missionaries that were hopelessly unsuited to the task.(14)
Organisational blunders hampered the Salvation Army's work across the
Empire. Coupled with this was the familiar problem of attacks on
members. By encouraging Salvationists to force themselves on drinkers
and gamblers Booth put his soldiers directly in the firing line. In
Australia it wasn't that uncommon for Salvationists to march into pubs
and drown out all conversation by singing hymns. Nor was it that
uncommon for them to be run out of the same establishments while being
pelted with flour bombs and rotten fruit and vegetables.(15)
Despite
these handicaps the Army has been able to consolidate itself as a
worldwide religious organisation. In its 120 years it has had no
greater success than in Australia where it has become the biggest
charity, with the most-read Christian newspaper, the War Cry.(16)
Through business enterprises and the patronage of government and
business it has gained control of a vast number of services, companies,
buildings, training academies, publishing houses and other resources.
The Salvation Army remains strongest in the West but has chapters in
almost every country in the world.
2. Promoting hatred of gay people.
The
Salvation Army often tries to distance itself from right wing Christian
fundamentalism but its ideas are very similar. Many of the "pro
family" coalitions that it's part of are dominated by people who want to
harass, jail or even murder gay people.(17)
The Salvation
Army unambiguously condemns homosexuality, but puts a 'nice' face on
it. Unlike other fundamentalists they believe that God pities gay
people on Earth and will save the hellfire for later.
They
have campaigned against homosexuality becoming legalised in various
countries.(18) They have also lobbied against translations of the Bible
that interpret passages on homosexuality in less condemning terms.(19)
They see homosexuality as a perversion and a corruption, but while
Salvos may find gays and lesbians distateful they are instructed to
address them politely while trying to convert them.(20) They believe
that the 'social disease' from which gay people suffer is curable via
God's love. However where it is fully entrenched people should refrain
from "sinful" activity to avoid going to Hell.(21)
The
Salvation Army, through the War Cry and the distribution of homophobic
books, repeatedly spreads the myth that gay people are promiscuous,
diseased and corrupt.(22) One of their main arguments is saying that
homosexuality spreads AIDS and other diseases in and of itself - rather
than arguing for safe sex they try and say that homosexual relationships
have to disappear altogether.(23) While pretending to be
understanding, they have no problems with statements like "the
homosexual lifestyle is simply an invitation to an early grave"(24).
It's interesting to wonder what they make of the fact that it's much
easier to get AIDS or other diseases through heterosexual sex than
through lesbian sex.
By trying to wipe out homosexuality,
and counselling people to repress rather than accept their sexuality,
the Salvation Army can be seen as the 'caring' face of homophobia.
While they're not out bashing gays and lesbians themselves they help
create the mentality that furthers gay bashing. By preaching these
ideas they also contribute hugely to the ill-treatment and unhappiness
of those gay people who remain 'in the closet' in the Army.
3. The fact that it is a religious cult.
Given
the uniforms, extreme puritan ideas, dictatorship, and worship of a
single 'glorious leader', the Salvation Army are very similar to groups
like the Hare Krishnas or the Scientologists. Unlike them, they are a
widely accepted part of society due to their charity work. Their record
burning, belief in the coming end of the world, fear of demons, and
other 'unusual' ideas, aren't widely known.(25)
On joining
the Salvation Army members pledge "unquestioning obedience and
sacrifice" to their church. Internal dissension is tightly
controlled.(26) William Booth described this as "God's own system"(27)
Young people are expected to marry only within the Army. Officers are
only allowed to marry other officers - they have to leave if they marry
"civilians" (people outside the church). Members have to get Army
permission to go on dates.(28) To sum it up, the Army has an unhealthy
degree of control over their followers' lives.
Salvation
Army material constantly refers to William Booth almost as if he was a
saint or prophet. The question is often not what's the right thing to
do, or what would Jesus have done - but what Booth would have done.
This is very similar to cults with their worship of their 'gurus'. For
example the Army rejects smoking. They admit that the Bible doesn't
refer to smoking at all (29). But because Booth said it's immoral, it
becomes "unchristian behaviour".
Connected to this guru
worship is the undemocratic system that Booth, who called himself a
"dictator"(30), put in place. The Salvation Army is run by a General
who has almost total power.(31) They admit that they censor
disagreement in their own ranks and bind everyone to the '11
doctrines'.(32)
Their arrogance constantly puts the Army
into conflict with local communities and workers in the community
sector. Its main drug unit in Victoria was shut down due to a lack of
medical facilities.(33) It has used untrained volunteers in its
domestic violence counselling service.(34) It has often been criticised
for this habit of employing untrained Salvation Army members to deal
with potentially fatal situations such as domestic violence or drug
addiction. In response they have often complained of a lack of funding -
despite the property and resources they have boasted of owning at other
times.(35)
A specific example of the dangers of this can
be found in New South Wales. The police have taken to referring victims
of domestic violence to the Salvation Army's Careline. This is despite
Careline lacking properly trained staff, unlike other services.
Careline has been accused of giving people wrong advice about their
options - even in some cases advising women to stay with abusive and
violent partners "for the sake of the children".
The
Salvation Army seems to believe that their morals are suitable for
everyone, and their workers are better than anyone regardless of
training. Their publications often say that they do a better job than
other agencies, but are generally fairly short of evidence.(37)
In
considering whether the Salvation Army is a cult we must go back to its
original goals. Its primary mission is what it always has been - what
its Yearbook called "spiritual warfare".(38) Its social work remains
"indirect evangelical work".(39) As one Salvationist put it, "all the
time, at any task, I am doing the work of an evangelist. The aim is to
communicate Jesus".(40) Officers are trained in evangelical work first,
and then assigned to either the social or evangelical wing.
It
is therefore impossible to see how the Salvation Army can be telling
the truth, when it says that it doesn't use its social work as a
recruiting method.
The Army claims that it doesn't use
funds raised for charity in evangelical work. In fact all officers get a
wage from the Army (regular members aren't paid). All officers are
told to spend some of their time evangelising. In this way religious
activities are quietly funded.(41).
Testimony from former
drug addicts and others who have gone through the Army's rehabilitation
programs show that religion is especially pushed there. They use '12
step programs', which constantly refer to faith in a higher power.(42)
The Army also refuses to take part in government programs which forbid teaching religion.(43)
4. Its support for conservative politics.
The
Salvation Army claims to be apolitical, but a close look at its
connections, activities and history shows that they are anything but.
From the beginning the Army has seen itself as a way of turning workers
away from acting against their bosses. Some early members of the Army
criticised the rich for their role in creating poverty, but Booth put a
stop to this.(44) When addressing wealthy donors Catherine Booth
(William's wife) promoted the Army as "the only organisation whose
members to any appreciable extent buttonhole the dangerous classes on
their own ground and turn them away from anarchy, infidelity and
socialism".(45)
Both here and overseas the Salvation Army
works with a variety of fundamentalist Christian groups, for example to
try and restrict abortion rights and bring in government censorship of
music and literature.
During the period when South Africa
didn't allow black people to vote, the Army took money from their
government. In Indonesia they have reportedly worked with the Suharto
government. They stayed silent about human rights abuses by both these
governments.
5. Harassing the Poor.
The
Salvation Army act directly as case managers for unemployed people
through their own private Job Network agency.(46) Their penetration and
control of areas of the welfare system means that a fundamentalist
religious group is now in direct control over poor people, funded by the
government (in other words, by taxpayers).
6. Aiding War.
The
Salvation Army has provided food, entertainment and moral support to
Australian troops in almost every war they have been involved in. (47)
Their official histories leave out any mention of the unpopular Vietnam
War. They have provided food to military exercises which help train
the Indonesian military, and other armies who use their training to
abuse their own people's human rights.(48)
7. Racism.
As
noted earlier, the Salvation Army was part of the exploitation of
indigenous people throughout the world. Up until the late 1960s they
ran a number of Aboriginal missions where their movements, beliefs and
lifestyle were tightly controlled. Aboriginals were confined to these
missions and their children forced to follow a strict pattern of work
and Christian education. The Army actively participated in removing
children from their families and giving them to white families. This
history is ignored in their official histories - in fact Aboriginal
people aren't mentioned at all.
There are many examples of
the Army working with racist authorities overseas as well. They even
tried to take over the "Indian Affairs" Department in the USA. They
described traditional African religion as "witchcraft" and tried to have
any recognition of it removed from South Africa's constitution.(49)
They continue to administer parts of Indonesia, and in some cases have
gone as far as ordering villagers to change their traditional dances due
to their sexual nature.(50)
8. Corruption.
The
Salvation Army has always run its own profit making businesses.
Initially all property and businesses were under William Booth's direct
control.
In the 1880's they were accused of undercutting
other firms by paying lower wages, and of competing with poor laundry
women for customers(51). Today they help drive down wages with their
workshops, which often exploit disabled people, and people forced to
work for them by community service orders and 'work for the dole'.
In
Australia the Salvation Army runs a network of shops staffed by
volunteers selling donated goods at inflated prices. While they could
easily distribute the goods freely to the disadvantaged at no cost, they
believe it is important to maintain a money based economy. To avoid
oversupplying the market and so cutting down businesses' profit margins,
the Army even goes as far as dumping tons of goods and clothing in
suburban tips.(52)
The way they run their food and housing
is also questionable. Most of the food that the Salvation Army uses
for its soup kitchens is free. This food is usually made up from
packaged and processed tins of food that are approaching their use by
date. This food is inadequate for basic health, but it is dished out to
the homeless with the knowledge that they are in no position to
complain. You might expect better from an organisation with millions
of dollars in property and assets.
In comparison, Food Not
Bombs (an organisation mostly made up of anarchists) provides food that
is free, healthy and mostly organic (grown without pesticides or
harmful chemicals). They get no government funding and make do with
borrowed or donated equipment. Work that one out!
When
people have attempted to live in disused Army property they have been
met with break-ins, the seizure of property and other attacks. In one
case the Army called in the police, and then demolished a building
rather than have people live in it who were not under their
control.(53) Given that the Army owns a huge amount of property
throughout Australia, it is likely that there have been numerous
evictions like this.
The Army's need to turn a profit
draws and nurtures the corrupt within their ranks. This corruption most
significantly came to light in 1990 when a series of major scams were
unearthed in New South Wales and Victorian branches. A police taskforce
was originally set up after a fire destroyed the Salvation Army
warehouse in Williamstown. Following the blaze an insurance valuation
discovered that thousands of items had disappeared before the fire and
could not be accounted for. In the cases that followed a number of
Salvation Army members were charged with arson and theft having skinned
off cash from the sale of donated clothing. Most of the cash had been
drawn from morally suspect sales of donated clothing to Third World
countries.(54) Eventually, the Army was forced to admit that it had no
internal accounting system for the clothes people had donated and that
such scams could have been going on for years.(55) With Salvation Army
industries constantly expanding and nothing but a moral break to prevent
management ripping off money, continued corruption is inevitable.
9 Reliance on corporate and government support.
Public
donations to the Salvation Army have been decreasing since the 1950s.
The introduction of the Red Shield Appeal in 1967 helped slightly, but
in the past few years the Army has once again reported a major drop in
donations - something it has blamed on legalised gambling.
In
the face of decreasing funds the organisation has once again turned to
strengthening its ties with the government. Since the 1880's the Army
has enjoyed government funding in Australia. While the community sector
in general has seen major funding cuts from recent governments, the
Army has increased their share of the pie by tendering out for services
such as case management and care for the homeless. It has also
increased its income by empire building at other charities' expense with
its most recent coup seeing itself secure its position as Sydney's only
supplier of food packages to the needy.
By supporting
conservative religious charities state and federal governments aim to
reduce their responsibility, spending and accountability while at the
same time stopping economic circumstances from getting too extreme. In
this way the Salvation Army contributes to attacks on welfare rights.
It is possible that in the long run the Army will return to its
traditional role as the only form of welfare available to the lower
classes. Indeed it has been known to champion itself as a cheaper
alternative to the welfare state.(56)
The Salvation Army
has also built on its corporate ties. Companies with dodgy track
records on the treatment of workers and the environment, such as BHP and
McDonalds, have flocked to support the charity that has traditionally
supported them. Chain stores such as K-Mart have begun helping the
Salvation Army in return for the enhancement of corporate image that
such "good works" bring. The Salvation Army has been using McDonalds to
help people out on fundraising door knocks through the offer of free
burgers. Such policies can only push the Army to grovel ever more
completely to the rich. A clear example of the compromises forced upon
them was the recall of 6000 copies of the War Cry in 1993 after one
Salvationist criticised McDonalds' food as unhealthy. Following the
burger giant's continued displeasure a public apology was also
issued.(57)
10. Attempts to control other people's choices
The
Salvation Army has always made temperance (not drinking alcohol) a
central platform of its religious strategies. Although it no longer
disrupts pubs and gathering places with its meetings the Army lobbies
the government heavily in trying to restrict personal freedoms and
continue the destructive 'war on drugs'. When faced with the fact that
the Bible makes no reference to modern drug use Salvationists resort to
the argument that the body is the "temple of the soul" and that its
abuse is sinful.(58) This doesn't lead them to oppose pollution or
boycott McDonalds for some reason...
The Army's attitudes
would be merely amusing if not for the fact that they force them upon
others. Most insidiously they base their rehabilitation schemes on
'Twelve Step programs'. These programs see the embrace of a higher
power as the eventual cure for the "disease" of alcoholism and the
Salvation Army is on record as stating that "only God can cure
alcoholism, not human agencies".(59) As usual the Salvoes concentrate
on individual fault (sin) and fail to address the social causes of
addiction.
In regards to drug reform the Army pushes a
hard line, rejecting the growing calls from counselors, courts and
anti-drug campaigners for decriminalisation measures. Salvationist
literature harks back to the 1930s by equating marijuana with the use of
hard drugs. It also falsely characterises drug-related crime as being
related to drug use alone, not to the police corruption and organised
crime monopoly that prohibition has created. In 1997 the Salvation Army
came out in full support for the continued ban on drugs and called for a
tougher line on drug enforcement policies - policies that even the
police admit are not working and which penalise drug users rather than
the suppliers.(60) The Salvation Army was jubilant in its success in
defeating the proposed Canberra heroin trials and more recently noted
its disappointment with Victorian police for introducing a caution
system for drug offences. This is all despite them acknowledging that
alcohol abuse is far more of a problem for society and that alcohol
prohibition in the US (which they also supported) actually increased
alcohol intake.(61)
The Army's line on gambling is
similarly confused and counterproductive. Whilst they admit that (yet
again) the Bible has no record of this practice they still attempt to
condemn it on the grounds that it is unchristian, "incurs injury on
others" and lacks certainty. This logic is not applied to the currency
speculators and stockbrokers who gamble with our economic future every
day. The recent loosening of laws relating to casinos and poker
machines across Australia has seen the Army and other churches push for
new bans on the basis of declining church coffers. The Salvation Army
has even gone as far as to condemn computer and arcade games.(62)
Whilst the negative effects of gambling cannot be ignored it is clear
that the Salvation Army is unable to address the wider social questions
that their abuse pose.
11. Ripping off and exploiting workers.
Although
the Salvation Army has on occasion provided food and shelter to
striking workers during industrial disputes, its treatment of its own
employees has by and large reflected a mean and patronising attitude.
The Army has particularly abused the large pool of volunteer labour,
which it uses to raise money and staff its community services.
The
Salvation Army has particularly created a number of problems in its use
of low-income tenants to supervise youth deemed "at risk". In these
situations the Army sets up a foster parent style arrangement in which
tenants receive housing and some food in return for living with and
taking care of a teenager. The tenants receive no cash income, which is
not only exploitative in itself, but which also helps the Army to avoid
taking legal responsibility for the many problems that occur. In a
number of cases tenants have found themselves in dangerous situations
which they have not been trained to deal with. When injured they have
had no recourse to compensation since technically they are not employees
of the Salvation Army.(63)
A recent case saw a young
mother's child killed by the son of a Salvation Army officer who was in
her care. She herself was sexually assaulted and nearly killed in the
house where she cared for homeless teenagers. Because she was a tenant
and not a formal employee the Army refused to pay her compensation or
give her aid, as Work Cover did not cover her. After going to the media
and embarrassing the Army into helping her she stated "I want to feel
conciliatory instead of bitter, but it's just a pity it took media
exposure to produce this sort of a commitment from a supposedly
charitable organisation".(64)
Another example of the
Salvation Army's poor treatment of workers is its use of community
service, 'work for the dole', trainee and disabled labour in its
programs. In the case of disabled workers, the Army employs them from
its own 'sheltered workshops' to labour for only $8 a day. Workers are
forced into receiving low wages for fear of losing their government
pensions.(65) Those who would argue that no one else would hire these
workers should consider the fact that the Army could easily provide more
enjoyable and educational programs for them to take part in.
In
the case of people who are sentenced to community service, the
Salvation Army is consistently a winner as it uses them both as a
promotional device for its "good works" and as a source of cheap
labour. Community service workers are not allowed to dine with other
workers and in some cases must also pay rent and live at Salvation Army
shelters while working off their court sentence.(66) People on
rehabilitation schemes and some homeless trainees are also made to work
for meager wages while paying to live in Army accommodation. Women are
banned from such accommodation, Army officers can enter individuals'
rooms at any time and a curfew of midnight is enforced.
The
only way the Army gets away with such practices is through its use of
Community Service and Charity laws, which allow "special work areas"
immunity from union 'interference'. Outside of its workshops the
Salvation Army is also quick to resist unionisation. The Australian
Social Welfare Union has spoken out in the past about attempts by a
variety of charity organisations, including the Army, to prevent workers
from joining unions to gain protection from unfair dismissal. In New
South Wales welfare workers do not even have a minimum wage guideline
and charities have lobbied to prevent one being established.(67)
The
Salvation Army is particularly notorious among charities. In 1990 over
1500 of its welfare workers struck in protest against their treatment
and there have been ongoing problems since. In 1991 the Army also
attempted to replace drivers in its Melbourne transport depot with
contract labour. Workers with many years' service were given a 15
minute notice of their sacking and a non-negotiated redundancy package.
Quick thinking action ensured the Salvation Army had to back down on at
least some of their decisions, but they had shown their attitude yet
again.
12. Support social change over religious charity.
Having
outlined various problems with the Salvation Army we can now clearly
define it as an organisation committed to the curtailment of personal
freedoms, the oppression of minorities and the maintenance of the
political and economic status quo. In supporting religious charity over
social change the Salvation Army has helped ensure a future for itself
in picking over the wreckage of a profit based society.
There
are alternatives to Salvation Army style charity and morality however.
It is important to acknowledge that should you require their resources
to survive then you should use them. It is equally important not to
have any illusions about what they're doing for you and why they're
doing it. Those of us in less desperate straits need to put our energy
into supporting forms of self-activity like squatting,
Food Not Bombs
and so on. These practices allow people to provide for themselves
instead of being at the mercy of charities.
While we need
to provide alternatives to charity we also have to fight for a decent
share of the spoils of society. We need to establish at minimum the
right for everyone to a living income. In the longer term we need to
replace all forms of structural inequality and to create a more equal
society overall. With such changes in place both the need for charity
and the power it has over us can be dispensed with.
Postscript
In
the years since this article was originally written the Salvation Army
has greatly expanded its power base. This has largely been enabled by
the federal government's privatisation of the Job Network. By
decentralising the sections that oversee and police those reliant on
social security the government has both divested itself of
responsibility and also provided a massive financial grant to their
friends in the conservative charities.
The largest private
operator in the Job Network, the Salvation Army has proven itself no
more able to find people jobs than the old system was. With eight job
seekers for every job this is hardly surprising. What the Army has
excelled at though is the harassment of the unemployed. With an openly
discriminatory hiring policy the Army only employs Christians in their
Job Network franchises.
The government's investment in
conservative charities has paid off in two ways. Not only have they got
the charities doing their dirty work, they have also bought their
silence. Saint Vincent De Paul, one of the few charities not on the
government's Job Network payroll, complained that Centrelink were
forcing many people off the dole and onto their emergency services. Not
a peep was heard from the Salvation Army.
The Army's
refusal to criticise the government probably stems from the fact that
they are partly responsible for the situation. Many of the people
forced to seek emergency help were doing so because their payments had
been breached due to Job Network incompetence. Each year sees tens of
thousands of people successfully appeal against these breaches. While
someone is making plenty of mistakes, the only people paying for them
are the unemployed.
Saint Vincent De Paul also opposed
being made a wing of the government's welfare apparatus. This has been
happening quietly but steadily due to Centrelink and the Job Network's
habit of referring people to charities instead of giving them government
assistance. Again it is unsurprising that the Salvation Army didn't
join in these criticisms, as their long standing goal is to corner all
sections of the welfare market for themselves! For the sake of those
unemployed people who aren't non-drinking, gay bashing, right wing
Christians we hope that they fail.
More recently the Army
has said nothing about the fact that people who go through 'work for the
dole' are no more likely to find work than people who don't. Tony
Abbott, the Minister for Employment, flatly admitted that the point of
the schemes was not to find people work, but to teach them discipline.
Discipline for what though? To sit quietly and not complain about the
lack of real work available or teach them to cop any old job, no matter
how casual or dangerous? Why would the Salvation Army complain about
conscripting the unemployed, when they are making a profit out of them?
The
government's funding has also seen the Army's backward ideas on
religion and morality step further out of the shadows. Whilst in the
past the organisation has tended to promote itself mainly as a charity,
its status as a religion is coming to the fore. As noted before their
new found wealth has seen them blatantly break anti-discrimination laws
with a "Christians only" policy in hiring Job Network staff.
They
have also become more open in their evangelical activities. Most
notably they have invested their Job Network profits in a total makeover
of their paper the War Cry. Gone are the stories advocating
psychological reprogramming of gays and lesbians and the burning of
heavy metal. Gone are the blurry photos of grannies playing tubas. In
their place is a glossy full colour magazine with a Christian rock star
or actor on every cover. The stories now contain non-controversial
topics and are more slickly written. Positive tales of the transforming
power of Christ are in, negative attitudes towards other peoples'
behaviour are out. Overall they have transformed the War Cry from an
internal bulletin to an outward looking recruitment tool. One that can
be increasingly pushed on to those they come into contact with through
their charity shops and other ventures.
Lastly it is worth
nothing that the group's newfound confidence has also allowed them to
increase their influence over the population at large. They have
stepped up their lobbying efforts in relation to gambling, sexuality and
drug use and with social conservatives ruling both the ALP and
Coalition they have scored a number of victories in issues like stopping
safe injecting rooms. At the same time the politicians have increased
the level of censorship and passed a number of laws restricting civil
rights. For the Salvation Army all this has been a bonus, for the rest
of us a disaster.
So now more than ever remember to take the twelve steps and just say NO to the Salvation Army!
REFERENCES
1 Murdoch, 'Origins of the Salvation Army', University of Tennessee, 1994, p169.
2 Watson, 'The Salvationist in a Secular Society', Salvationist Publications, `974, p29.
3 Gage, "When Charity Becomes Big Business", 'Burning Times' magazine, winter 1993.
4 'Darkest England Now', Salvationist Publications, 1974, p98.
5 Murdoch p168.
6 Watson p118.
7 Gage.
8 Gage.
9 Murdoch p146.
10 Murdoch p 146.
11 Gage.
12 'Darkest England Now'.
13 Cain, 'War Against the Wobblies', 1994.
14 Murdoch p111.
15 Bolton, 'Booth's Drum', Hodder and Stoughton, 1980, p13.
16 'War Cry', 9/9/95.
17 'War Cry', 21/10/95.
18 Watson p190.
19 'War Cry', 28/10/95.
20 'Darkest England Now'.
21 Watson p190.
22 'War Cry', 18/11/95.
23 'War Cry', 18/11/95.
24 'War Cry', 18/11/95.
25 Information from ex Salvation Army members.
26 Tarling, 'Thank God for the Salvoes', Harper and Row, p121.
27 Murdoch p131.
28 Tarling p121.
29 Watson p118.
30 'Darkest England Now' p108
31 'Darkest England Now' p101.
32 'Darkest England Now' p101.
33 'The Age', 4/12/95.
34 'Sydney Morning Herald', 4/6/90.
35 'Salvation Army Yearbook 1998'.
36 'Sydney Morning Herald', 14/6/90.
37 'Sydney Morning Herald', 27/4/94.
38 'Salvation Army Yearbook'.
39 'Darkest England Now' p63
40 'Darkest England Now' p70
41 Tarling p120.
42 'War Cry', 6/5/95.
43 'Darkest England Now' p119
44 Murdoch p151
45 Murdoch p151.
46 'Employment 2000', Salvation Army, 1995.
47 Turling p75.
48 'War Cry' 1995.
49 'War Cry', 1995.
50 Bolton p200.
51 Murdoch p155.
52 'Squat It' magazine issue 15.
53 Gage.
54 'Sydney Morning Herald', 20/12/95.
55 Gage.
56 'Darkest England Now' p116.
57 'Sydney Morning Herald' 16/7/93.
58 Watson p118.
59 Watson p43.
60 'The Age' 11/95.
61 Watson p95.
62 Watson p145.
63 Interview with ex Salvation Army members.
64 'Herald Sun', 22/5/95.
65 Gage.
66 'Squat It' magazine issue 15.
67 'Sydney Morning Herald' 6/11/90.
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