The Salvation Army
Week4TeamC
Ethics and Social Responsibilities
17 June 2013
Professor Ward Scheitrum

The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army’s duty to the community stems back in history. In, 1852, William Booth started his ministerial profession, desiring to win over the hearts and minds of England and bring them to Christ. He would walk the streets of London as an advocate for the gospel of Jesus Christ and would primarily focus his messages to the needy. He disagreed with the ideas of the stance that the churches of London took. He decided to take his idea to the people, instead of fighting the church. His commitment led to the disagreement with the religious leaders, who believed in the teachings of the churches beliefs. He decided to leave the church because of that reason and toured across England, to establish meetings in order to gain substantial like minded believers. This essay keys in on a few important points, such as; influences of the organization’s social commitment, social responsibility, and their potential moral and ethical effects on the world today. What many people do not know is that the Salvation Army is motivated by the Christian church. The Salvation Army improves the quality of life and to meet the needs of those less fortunate regardless of religious preference or any other bias. They are here to help but their main focus and social initiative is to spread the word of God and to help others in his name. This is their priority. Salvation Army’s mission statement according to THE SALVATION ARMY (n.d.) is “The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.” The things that influences the organization’s social responsibility, the local politics, their religious ideology, how they can support and help assist the local economic system. Browsing the internet, there’s an informative report by Tom Kovach. Mr. Kovach stated, “The Salvation Army takes tremendous pride in serving clients because we stress the importance of our fiduciary role. Eighty two cents of each dollar contributed is spent for programs and services”. A great percentage of those dollars will go to programs and services, that plays a vital role in any community. “It is hard to list everything that The Salvation Army does since it does everything from feeding starving children and families through recovery from natural disasters, and more. They battle against poverty, addiction and homelessness. They are a kind face to comfort the sick and elderly, a wise spirit to support the education of all ages, and a giving heart to address need wherever it occurs” (SalvationArmy.org, 2012). In 1878, The Salvation Army first arrived in the United States and was initially located in Pennsylvania. As the Great Depression hit in the united states, the salvation army served as being one of the greatest nonprofit organizations to aid in food, clothing, and shelter for those who were in need throughout all of America. “Today, the Salvation Army still operates in more than 75 countries around the globe. Including more added hospitals, donation centers, disaster services, rehabilitation centers, community centers, and thousands of voluntary contributions centers not only in America but throughout the world” (History.com, 2012). The Salvation Army prides in providing millions of families that are less fortunate with essentials that everyday middle class families take for granted. In addition, this action allows middle class people within their own community to open their hearts and give what they can, be little or nothing; would create a gigantic difference to those who are less fortunate. Throughout the centuries, the Salvation Army continues to a successful organization because they have the ability to provide a helping hand to everyone that is in need. The Salvation Army creates a gateway to wholehearted people who desire to help others less fortunate. The Salvation Army through the numerous charity outreach programs currently underway embodies the meaning of a social initiative. The organization’s sole driving mission is humanitarian aid in almost every part of the world. The Salvation Army is constantly providing social services on a massive scale. As an example, they provide housing, emergency shelters, healthcare for the sick, elderly and those in need. They provide health planning services, employment services as well as training for employment. All of this combined is just a small part of their overall efforts when giving immediate aid during crisis and natural disasters. This is just a glimpse into the whole organization’s efforts currently ongoing. Another large social initiative the Salvation Army has taken on is the fight against human trafficking through programs like the Initiative Against Sexual Trafficking or (IAST) and the Children Community Intervention Project or (CCIP). These initiatives among others are global outreach programs, which barely scratch the surface when dissecting the Salvation Army’s entire scope on social outreach programs. Eventually the programs are broken down even further to local outreach initiatives with local community leaders, local law enforcement, emergency agencies, and community volunteers. It should also be noted, that with the emergence of social technologies, modern devices are creating connections for a variety of communities both local and global helping to magnify the efforts of the organizations needs. With all of the efforts of the Salvation Army, the question of the organization’s potential ethical and moral effects of their initiatives becomes important. The actions of the Salvation Army tend to show compassion and caring by individuals and supporting countries that provide aid whether it is through emergency aid infusion or continuos volunteer efforts. This charitable badge leaves the organization with high standards and expectations, to have virtuous moral and ethical standards. Ethically and morally, this type of mission statement or goal would seemingly have little or no flaws. However, at times one could say that the organization’s religious guidelines can interrupt a complete ethical and moral intervention under certain circumstances. As an example, in 2004 the Salvation Army found itself in a class action lawsuit for violating employee privacy rights in regards to the employee’s religious faiths and sexual orientations. Only when issues such as this, make it the surface, can a person understand that the organization is guided by what is seen, as the Godly path and any deviation from that path may not get full support if any at all. For this reason, ethical and moral impacts of the Salvation Army’s efforts could be extremely helpful or be viewed as incredible bias and morally unjust by trying to impose a basis of faith based upon the organizations core driving force, the Bible. The Salvation Army is an important part of the United States and alongside numerous countries with its social initiatives. The Salvation Army has utilized its resources to help those in need from natural disasters, economic shortfalls, and religious persecution. The organization’s involvement and responsibility to the community could be said, that the organization is bias to its ethical and moral standards, which is based on its religious guidelines. The factors that influence the organization’s social responsibility and strategies seem to be influenced through the United States Government and other governments throughout the world and it is the interpretation of how society should be based according to the Bible.
One potential ethical and moral effect of this organization is discriminations. The Salvation Army is a religious based organization. They follow the religious beliefs taught in the Bible. There is the potential for the Salvation Army to discriminate against individuals because of their sexual or religious preferences. The Salvation Army Position Statement on homosexuality reads “The Salvation Army opposes any discrimination, marginalization or persecution of any person. There is no scriptural support for demeaning or mistreating anyone for any reason including his or her sexual orientation. We stand firmly upon our mission to meet human needs in his name without discrimination ("The Salvation Army", 2012).”

References

History.com. (2012). Salvation Army Founded. A&E Television Networks, LLC. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/salvation-army-founded

Salvation Army Midland Division Blog. Retrieved from http:// salvationarmystlouis.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/acup-of-cold-water-in-jesus-name/ TheSalvationArmy.com. (2012). USA Eastern Territory. The Salvation Army. Retrieved from: http://www.use.salvationarmy.org/use/www_use.nsf/vw-textindex/ f1f00c588f87266f802572d400622279?opendocument

The Salvation Army. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf/vw-dynamic-index/B6F3F4DF3150F5B585257434004C177D?Opendocument