Having spent a lifetime working with charities, the Sally Ann has always had a soft spot with us. It comes from a tradition of those who have served in the military wanting to return the favour to the Salvation Army for what it has contributed to our military.
That did not prevent a vociferous reaction last week when coming across a full page advertisement in the Toronto Star on behalf of the Salvation Army. It was an advertisement decrying the possibility of a casino in Toronto. This was wrong in so many ways that this blog entry has been delayed for a cooling-off period.
First and foremost, whether contributed for this purpose or not, this is money that the Sally Ann will not be spending to help the indigent and those in need in our communities. The ad is unwarranted proselytizing and it is a narrow, warped and outdated view of evils that humans face. As a charitable organization, the Salvation Army has a responsibility to spend its own and its supporters’ funds only in pursuit of the objectives of the organization. That does not include broadcasting an uninformed opinion on legal activities of our society.
The full page advertisement provided no information as to the supposed evils of gambling. If the Salvation Army is seeing any serious rise in the number of problem gamblers, it has a responsibility to report it. Obviously the Sally Ann chaplains working with certain elements of our society could probably tell us even more about the evils of the illegal gambling that they find. It is demeaning and wrong for the Salvation Army to castigate legal gambling without recognizing the evils of illegal gambling.
Nobody is asking the Army to act in a hypocritical manner on this question. We would expect the Sally Ann to be thumbs down on gambling. It is a form of entertainment that is not expected to meet the church’s approval. It is also unsuitable for non adults.
But for the Salvation Army to be involved in this current fiasco in Toronto is not only a waste of money that could have been better employed, it is contributing to the ignorance of the current argument. It sheds no light. It is unappreciated interference. It is an attempt to force the question into a moral context in which it does not belong. Right or wrong, the Ontario government is in the business of gambling. It earns billions in revenue from it.
It should also be noted that the Ontario government is the province-wide purveyor of Demon Rum. It also makes billions from that trade. If you really think you can part the province from any of its evil income, you can talk to our Ontario politicians. Good luck!
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Copyright 2013 © Peter Lowry
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