Normally, I’d feel bad for them but donors have shut their wallets to the Salvation Army because they decided to join with the self-immolation and self-flagellation of whites who must repent of their racist ways” after going full Critical Race Theory ala Black Lives Matter” by promoting White guilt” indiscriminately.
People on the Right are watching, in real-time as yet another stalwart institution in which many depended and had a lot of trust goes Left.
In Marxism, guilt is rarely individually based – it’s a Collectivist / Group attribute. Share that attribute and you are toast. Or, at least, that’s what CRT and BLM teach. Unfortunately, more and more people are either practicing more intense Irish Democracy (i.e., ignoring it all and going their merry way – and the Left HATES being ignored) or shooting back. Or acting back in ways that such Wokester entities haven’t figured out – INSULT your supporters for nothing that they have done, and they will react to it.
That’s the thing about these Progressives and their holier-than-thou attitudes – they expect that others will just listen and obey and then get surprised when other-than-the-weak-kneed-amongst-us decide to give them a rousing “Up Yours!” treatment. In this still free Society, we get to vote voluntarily as to whether we are going to join in or join the ridicule gang.
The result was exactly as one would have thought (outlined in the first ‘graph above). They tried to cover it up their “Y’all are racist” manifesto, blame others, slunk away from it, and suffered a huge financial price. But nary an apology from them that I can find for their actions.
Go woke, go broke – and as I recounted earlier, this is the first time in decades that I refused to give at all the kettles I pass during the season. We’ve even been trying to teach the Grandson the gift of giving by guiding him in putting a few shekels into the kettle. That stopped this year. Probably next year – I’ve got other and better-aligned organizations I can give to. Decisions have consequences; their decision made mine for me.
Anyways, I kept a number of tabs open on this going back to November when the SA decided to let the whole world know how they felt about everyone else. Christmas is now in the rearview mirror and the donation time behind that. Figured that it was time to unload/unpack some of them here and leave them as a marker to revisit them next holiday season. In chronological order (reformatted, emphasis mine):
- RedState in setting the stage: Stirring the Pot – The Salvation Army Is Bearing False Witness in Failed Spin Effort
It’s a long post but worthwhile your time. A couple of snippets
The latest to fall prey to the pull of social activism was the Salvation Army. As we covered, this is a story that has actually popped up on the radar of many of late, even though the organization instituted this new-ish woke policy this past April. The SA issued a lengthy treatise on racism, one that holds so many of the standards and language of racial activist groups and Critical Race Theory. In response to the percolating pushback, the organization released a response to quell the controversy. They would have been better off remaining silent.
Behold as they once again lash out at critics and then within one sentence give those same critics all the justification:
We have done our best to provide accurate information, but unfortunately, some have chosen to ignore those efforts. At the same time, International Headquarters realized that certain aspects of the guide may need to be clarified. Consequently, for both reasons, the International Social Justice Commission has now withdrawn the guide for appropriate review.
…They have claimed that we believe our donors should apologize for their skin color, that The Salvation Army believes America is an inherently racist society, and that we have abandoned our Christian faith for one ideology or another. Those claims are simply false, and they distort the very goal of our work.
No, those claims are not false, as the SA does in fact call for apologies on behalf of racial injustice. The recent outrage is based entirely on the lengthy paper released, entitled “Let’s Talk About Racism”. Deep in the 67-page document is this passage
True repentance is a decision to move away from sin and towards God. As believers, apology and forgiveness are not only a universal human need but are Kingdom values that Scripture points to as key to opening doors to healing in even the most difficult circumstances. And as we engage in conversations about race and racism, we must keep in mind that sincere repentance and apologies are necessary if we want to move towards racial reconciliation. We recognize that it is a profound challenge to sit on the hot seat and listen with an open heart to the hurt and anger of the wounded. Yet, we are all hardwired to desire justice and fairness, so the need to receive a sincere apology is necessary.
…And throughout “Let’s Talk About Racism,” we see little else but the constant drone of commentary about the wrongness of whiteness
Related: Salvation Army ‘Quietly’ Removes “Let’s Talk About Racism” Guide (But We Still Have a Copy)
Legal Insurrection: Salvation Army Issues Sorry, Not Sorry Statement, Withdraws Racist Guide “For Appropriate Review”
The Salvation Army has come under fire for its vile, un-American, and racist “antiracist” materials. In response, the organization issued a confusing mix of a defiant non-apology coupled with acknowledgment that the criticism is warranted in that the most offensive material has been “withdrawn for appropriate review.”
The Left (and those that have just gone Left) always blame the “messaging” but never the message itself. Or the Progressive / Totalitarian beliefs behind the message. They never blame themselves but do blame those that read their words, translate into plain English, and talk about it. They ALWAYS need a scapegoat – and they never repent of their own actions. From their former ways of being “we will not judge you” they went full Left in being extremely judgemental. You know, that Lefty version of tolerance that they are always patting themselves on the back for.
I’m not going to get into a religious debate about the Bible or God’s will here because that is not the point of the criticism directed at the Salvation Army. The point of Critical Race training, as with all Marxist ideologies, after all, is the replacement of God with government, but I don’t think the Salvation Army understands that what they are imbibing—and yes, telling their Salvationists to think—is rooted in racist cum Marxist ideology.
As I previously noted, the “ Salvation Army .pdf entitled ‘Let’s Talk About . . . Racism’ (archive link) is a 67-page screed railing against America; it’s a document that is riddled with vile anti-American lies, insulting racist stereotypes, and woke Marxist drivel.” So it’s a good thing that the document has been withdrawn for . . . checks notes . . . ‘clarification.’
It doesn’t take one long, however, on the Salvation Army’s website to discover that the organization is steeped in the divisive, racist “antiracist” ideology.
And I do mean steeped. At one point on its webpage—not in the problematic “internal” document—the organization, in the grand tradition of Chairman Mao, emerges from its struggle session to announce that it has been racist, is probably still racist, and contributes to systemic racism. But gee, they will do better. Okay, they don’t put it quite like that, but that’s the gist of it (archive link).
- And this tweet does a pretty good job of encapsulating it:
How’s it going @SalvationArmyUS pic.twitter.com/Egf0xW9Nq4
— Glassman (@darksandpiper) December 3, 2021
And the results start pouring in:
The Salvation Army is urgently calling on local communities to donate toys this week, as they face a substantial shortage of donations before distributing toys for Christmas next week, including in New Jersey. Major James Betts, the New Jersey Divisional Commander, said the shortage of toys was anticipated and is due to a mix of supply chain issues, inflation costs, and pandemic needs.
Funny, their missive on “Whites REPENT of your Collective racist guilt” was not listed among the reasons, was it? Not only in NJ, but here’s a report from Seattle showing that the whole nation “got the picture”. Again, note what’s missing for the reasons:
The nonprofit reports it gets 75% of total annual donations during November and December, and they are once again in need of support. That help can come in the form of an online donation at the virtual Northwest Red Kettle.
“There are many reasons why both financial and toy donations are down this year, not the least of which is likely pandemic fatigue and concerns about employment and the future,” said Colonel Cindy Foley of the NW Salvation Army Division. Not only is the nonprofit organization short on donations, they also are in desperate need of bell ringers to staff the red kettles seen at businesses around the country
And the Crisis Management effort hasn’t helped:
- Gateway Pundit: “The Situation is Dire” – Salvation Army Faces Holiday Shortages After Telling White Donors to Face Their Racism
After a major uproar the Salvation Army backtracked over Thanksgiving weekend and released a statement refuting the claims of their racial demands. The Salvation Army then removed its absurd “Let’s Talk About Racism” guide following the intense backlash over a text last week that told white donors to “sincerely apologize” for their racism while hinting that Christianity is institutionally racist. The link to the page is now broken…
- Noncooperation is the response we’re seeing to a lot of wokeness. The leftists used to dream of inspiring a general strike. And now maybe they are.
UPDATE: From the comments: “We’re seeing Irish Democracy break out against the Woke would be rulers.” Like America has never seen it, except maybe during Prohibition which lasted a little more than a decade before being reversed. Plus, also from the comments, a suggested Salvation Army donation in lieu of cash:
- Conservative Treehouse has the released statement mentioned above and a comment about it:
The first thought of ‘what were they thinking‘, becomes compounded by realizing the Salvation Army is a partner with something called the “International Social Justice Commission.” I mean, seriously, what the heck is this all about?
Mistake one might be taking the intent of a historic organization away from charitable giving and into the toxic and divisive world of racial politics. Mistake number two is doubling down on the decision to engage with race in some ill-fated effort to establish politically correct bona fides.
If you wanted to completely destroy the guiding mission of a charity, the Salvation Army is showing everyone exactly how to do it.
RedState: Companies Need to Learn From the Salvation Army Suffering From Their Wokeness
There may be no better example of the mistake of the charity org. bowing to activists. We have long cataloged the folly of companies and other entities who pander to the activist minority of this country and pay the price for their folly. It is a seemingly never-ending cycle; a social media dust-up occurs; a company panics and overreacts; it broadcasts a ridiculous woke agenda, which results in a far larger segment of the country spurning the company. The examples have been on-going.
…Well, this is the time for corporations to take notice. It’s clear that pandering to the activists by telling the bulk of your donors that they are racist, as you ask them for continued support, is not paying off. In just a few short weeks, we are seeing the direct impact this adherence to a woke agenda has had on the Salvation Army, as across the nation they are reporting that donations are not just lower but significantly down. It is sad and amazing to witness, as a completely unneeded social activist agenda has led to severely depleted levels of support.
Salvation Army imposes a racial wokeness initiative. #SalvationArmy #Wokelash #woke pic.twitter.com/EidiZl3cl1
— Tom Stiglich (@TStig822) November 27, 2021
In Michigan, they reported taking in roughly one-third of the amount gathered last year, during a stricter pandemic season. New Jersey is seeing a statewide drop of 30 percent, as is Florida, Alabama is about 50 percent below its goals, and CBS News details that the lack of volunteers has led to a loss of tens of thousands of hours of bell ringer efforts, as red kettles remain in storage. In Pennsylvania, they have become desperate to the point of hiring people to stand outside of stores.
Rasmussen Research conducted a survey and asked respondents about their views on the charity, before and after learning of the race sensitivity program guide. Initially, the charity had overwhelmingly positive support, with 81 percent favorability to only 11 percent unfavorable. After learning of the racial program in the Salvation Army those numbers shifted significantly, to 41 percent favorable and 41 percent unfavorable
That’s it for the SA. But I did tab this on Goodwill that has gone woke as well. So what will be the end point for them?
Goodwill Embraces Critical Race Theory, Hires “Director of Anti-Racism, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion”
Goodwill, International’s DIE Director hired to “lead the development and promotion of DEI plans and implement workplace and initiatives and best practices” and “support the 156 local Goodwill nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and Canada by developing and curating DEI resources and strategies.”
Yeah, that kind of “support” is going to go very well indeed, won’t it?
Goodwill Industries is purportedly pressuring its stores to adopt critical race theory-style training as part of the organization’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative. According to former Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania (SWPA) Retail Operations Manager Timothy O’Malley, his region first began discussions on how the company was going to be “different” following the 2020 presidential election. “They stated that it was gonna be different and we were gonna make it about our community and our places,” he said. “That just turned out not to be true.”
Yeah, it will ALWAYS be “different”. Sorry, they duped you – and everyone else. Because what starts as suggestions become demands as its hooks sink deeper and deeper. O’Malley, who was employed with Goodwill for more than ten years, says that Goodwill of SWPA began holding “implicit bias training” for store managers in early 2021, which included a required “three to four hour” session led by a “racial equity trainer” in February.
“They started pushing us to recruit employees to be part of it,” he said. Implicit bias training is a common component of critical race theory and has been proven to be scientifically inaccurate to the point that some of the researchers who developed implicit bias tests have now repudiated them as wildly inaccurate and unreliable.
As the Knight Templar said in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” correctly observes: He Chose Poorly.