I stopped by the Hobby Lobby shortly before Christmas to pick up a few artsy-crafty supplies. As I exited my vehicle and scanned the entryways, I noticed the Salvation Army bell ringer at one. I immediately chose the other entrance, unlike any prior year. And. I observed that almost every other customer was making the same choice. This is a sign of the much larger self-inflicted damage to a once truly noble organization. This saddens me greatly, but the deadwood, the tree gone bad, must be ruthlessly pruned if it is ever to recover and again bear good fruit.

Several Ricochet members have already written about the sad tidings from the Salvation Army. The U.S. national, and likely international, leadership has been successfully infiltrated and turned to the heresy of “anti-racism.” This heresy stands the Christian scriptural commandment against the sin of partiality on its head. Now, Salvation Army members are instructed that sin is a virtue, that we are to be partial against white skin and favor black skin as virtuous in assumed victimhood.

When called on it, the U.S. national commander of the Salvation Army hid the truth and dissembled rather than confessing his sin, repenting, and showing he was taking concrete steps to purify the Salvation Army as a church and a charitable organization.

In recent weeks, Color Us United and its president, Kenny Xu, have engaged in a campaign to discredit The Salvation Army and dissuade the public from supporting our work. They have done so for the purpose of furthering their own political agenda, at the expense of The Salvation Army’s reputation and the service we provide to more than 30 million people in need each year.

Citing a few sentences from a voluntary discussion guide on racism that was issued by The Salvation Army’s International Headquarters in London and later withdrawn, Color Us United has suggested that The Salvation Army asked donors to apologize for the color of their skin, that The Salvation Army endorses and teaches Critical Race Theory, and that The Salvation Army believes America is an inherently racist country. These claims are false, and they distort The Salvation Army’s mission for the benefit of Color Us United’s ideological and political gain.

As Color Us United’s president, Mr. Xu has also called for The Salvation Army to eliminate positions focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. That’s not going to happen. The work of ensuring equal opportunity and treatment within The Salvation Army is far too important not to be intentional about it.

The Salvation Army’s Response

Let us be clear. We have never said that America is a racist country. We have never said that our donors should apologize for the color of their skin. And we have never endorsed a political or social ideology other than that found in the Bible.

The fact that any politically motivated group is working so hard to force a faith-based organization to conform to that group’s chosen ideology should give pause to all reasonable individuals. It’s wrong, and it’s reckless.

These attacks from Mr. Xu and Color Us United have the potential to significantly impact those who are hungry, families who are at risk of losing their homes, survivors of natural disasters, and more. For us, it’s always about people. But for Color Us United, it’s clearly about politics.

Of course the original document is still available through the Internet Archive Wayback Machine: “Let’s Talk about Racism.”  In a shocking development, a document has been removed from the Internet archive. The original was on Amazon’s document system, so perhaps someone is now exerting behind-the-scenes leverage over the last bastion of full disclosure. However, Legal Insurrection downloaded a copy (as I have) and posted the archived document here. The “voluntary discussion guide” is pure poison. The SA statement is defiantly unrepentant and lies about what diversity, equality, and inclusion really is. DEI has burrowed into the heart of the Salvation Army. See “New DEI Directors Aim to Better Reflect the Kingdom of God in the West.” Nor is this primarily about Kenny Xu promoting his own organization, as Catholic League President Bill Donohue has leveled similar criticism: “Salvation Army Elites Turn Left.”

The Salvation Army elites have done a disservice to this great organization. They need to do more than withdraw this dreadful report: They need to make a public statement apologizing for the damage they have done to the status of the organization and a pledge never again to succumb to left-wing politics.

Searching on news stories about the 2021 red kettle campaign shows a common theme of significant shortfalls in projected donations, around 40% below SA leadership expectations. Beyond physical kettles receiving fewer dollars, there appears to be a response of fewer virtual red kettle buttons on formerly friendly websites. Salem Radio Network hosts, who had reliably competed on the virtual red kettle campaign, shifted to a charity directly helping the children of prisoners. I suspect this year will be very bad for the Salvation Army.

The U.S. national commander could and should eliminate the poisonous DEI office. He should publicly repent of leading his Christian organization, his church, away from the narrow path. Until he does so, there are plenty of other worthy organizations that still keep the faith, that refuse to conform to the spirit of the age. The Gospel Rescue Mission, which appears to be far more localized, came immediately to my mind, with its support of “the least, the last, the lost.” Check your local charitable works branch within your own faith.

Two years ago, I urged a turn from Chick-fil-A to the Salvation Army, using a buycott to redirect habitual spending from a less deserving organization to a more deserving one.

The fast-food restaurant chain has thrived on the wallets of Bible-believing Christians who responded to the secular supremacist left’s boycott with a buycott that crushed and exposed the real economic weakness of the radical left. Now, however, the non-Truett family president and COO has attacked the core customer base to score social credit with his business elite peers, funding luxury beliefs at the direct expense of the least, the last, the poorest among us. Every Bible-believing Christian, and everyone of goodwill, should respond with a new kind of buycott. Starting this Friday, and running until Christmas Day, the Nativity of Christ, don’t be chikin, give to the Salvation Army.

I now urge the same in response to darkness falling on the Salvation Army, hoping it will see the light this winter.