Salvation army: No new domestic partner policy

Christian Century, Nov 21, 2001

Shortly after the Salvation Army's western jurisdiction said in early November that it would extend employee health-care benefits to partners that could include gay and lesbians, the decision was overruled by the evangelical denomination's U.S. headquarters. Focus on the Family and other conservative groups had assailed the breach in "pro-family" ranks in the few days between announcements.

The Army's 13-state regional organization, based in Long Beach, California, had lost about $3.5 million in government funds in 1998 when it decided not to comply with a San Francisco law stipulating that companies doing business with the city must offer such benefits. The shift would have reflected a new view of household realities, at least in the western states.

"Our decision is a reflection of the concern we hold for the health of our employees and those closest to them, and is made on the basis of strong ethical and moral reasoning that reflects the dramatic changes in family structure in recent years," Colonel Philip D. Needham, secretary of the western territory's corporation, had said in a statement. "We do not ask people to pass our morality litmus test before we give them help. Christian compassion is not conditional. We neutralize our enemies with love," he added, noting that there was no change in the church's position that same-sex relations defy God's intent.

However, from U.S. headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, it was announced November 13 that the Salvation Army's Commissioners' Conference had adopted a national policy to extend health benefits only "to employees' spouses and dependent children," The statement added, "the process was a careful consideration of the thinking, concerns and fears shared by our constituents."

Major George Hood, national public affairs officer for the Salvation Army, said the Army's four national territories ordinarily govern themselves autonomously. But when policy issues cut across territorial lines, Hood said, the commissioners from each independent territory come together with the national commissioner to make decisions--in this case, a conference call on November 12.

The reversal recalled an incident earlier this year when the Salvation Army and the White House came under intense criticism for a proposed plan that would have exempted the Army from local antidiscrimination laws in exchange for its support for President Bush's faith-based initiative. When the closed-door discussions became public, both sides backed off and the proposal was dropped.

The now-aborted benefits decision by the western headquarters had drawn heated response from other evangelical Christian organizations. "Needham's statement reveals that the decision to accommodate homosexual employees is based on cultural considerations, rather than what is right and ethical," said conservative Christian psychologist James Dobson of Focus on the Family ministries. "The Salvation Army is the first evangelical church, that I am aware of, to cave in on this contentious issue." On his widely heard radio program, Dobson urged listeners on November 8 to raise their objections to Salvation Army national headquarters.

A California representative of the American Family Association also had lamented the decision. "We are very, very disappointed that the Salvation Army has capitulated to the homosexual pressure," said Scott Lively. He saw the move as "a betrayal ... of the church and of the pro-family movement." AFA officials, however, applauded the national organization's decision to follow traditional healthcare policies. --RNS