By Allie Martin and Jody Brown
November 7, 2001

(AgapePress) - The founder of the American Family Association says he will not be able to support The Salvation Army as long as the ministry offers insurance and other benefits for partners of homosexual employees.

In 1997, The Salvation Army cut ties with the City of San Francisco instead of going along with a new ordinance that said anyone doing business with the city must offer "domestic partner" benefits to their employees, including homosexuals. But this week, the Western Corporation of The Salvation Army announced it will adopt the domestic partner policy.

Dr. Don Wildmon, founder of the American Family Association, says he is saddened by The Salvation Army's decision. "We are absolutely shocked that an evangelical Christian organization would grant health benefits to same-sex partners," he says. "Homosexual relationships are not legitimate in God's eyes, and treating them as if they are -- by extending the benefits traditionally reserved for married couples -- is troubling."

Wildmon questions the rationale offered by The Army for its reversal of policy. An Army officer with the Western Corporation has been quoted as saying the new policy was "made on the basis of strong and moral reasoning."

"Four years ago, The Salvation Army felt it would rather lose [a $3.5 million contract] than extend benefits to same-sex partners," Wildmon explains. "Now, on the basis of some new 'ethical and moral reasoning,' they feel like they should extend the benefits? What's really going on here?"

"The only thing that's different between 2001 and 1997 is how many companies in the U.S. have capitulated to the demands of homosexual activists," Wildmon says.

According to Wildmon, The Army's own press release on the policy change says the extension of benefits is "reflecting a trend that has grown in recent years" among leading American companies and organizations. "For Christians, the ends can never justify the means," he says. "The Salvation Army may be trying to do a good deed ... but by [extending same-sex benefits] they are compromising what God designed the family to be."

Wildmon says he will not contribute his money to The Army's solicitors during the upcoming holiday season. "Unfortunately, I'm going to have to say that when I pass the kettles going in or out of a store this Christmas, I'm going to have to keep my money and put it into another place that I'll trust to be more in keeping with the biblical mandate of the family and human sexuality," he says.

A secretary in The Salvation Army's national office said the decision to offer domestic partner benefits to homosexual employees came from the western division of the ministry.

© 2001 AgapePress all rights reserved.

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