Salvation Army Surrendered Without a Fight for Truth and Love

By Kevin McGray

Sigh…What once was a principle-focused Salvation Army has become an ideologically “woke army” marching to the regressive whims of culture.

For generations, the Salvation Army embodied charity, compassion, and the hope of salvation to a broken world. Over the years, I’ve embraced the opportunity to volunteer for the Salvation Army by serving meals to the poor and needy and by gleefully ringing the Christmas bell for Red Kettle donations. I loved the many acts of broad and non-stop charity and goodwill the Salvation Army extended to all of humanity, as it was a reminder of the Gospel mission. The Salvation Army had honorable principles and stood reliably strong as an institution in my mind. Until now.

Salvation Army documents reveal they have gone “woke.” Instead of appreciating all people groups and continuing to provide an unbiased and uncompromising mission to serve all people compassionately, the Salvation Army now thinks it’s somehow okay to view people groups through the lens of “race.” Somewhere deep in its leadership, the Army saw the enemy and embraced it.

Race consideration and connotations is an obvious outcome of Critical Race Theory (CRT), or adjunct theology (Liberation theology, for instance). Viewing people by race or class is wholly antithetical to any organization committed to providing compassionate and unbiased services to any/all people or groups in need. “Woke” schemes see everything about human culture in one paradigm: “oppressors vs. oppressed” or “victimizers vs. victims.” Without exception, the oppressors and victimizers are “White” by definition. These notions are completely made up and explicitly racist. In their very own words, they invoke superiority by ascribing guilt and shame to some and by demanding certain people apologize based solely on the amount of melanin in their skin. The “whiter,” the guiltier.  

So now the Salvation Army has joined in the calls for this kind of color quilting. They demand Whites apologize to Blacks for being “racist. And, White Christians need to repent and offer sincere apologies to Blacks for being antagonistic to Black people/culture/values/interests, etc. Setting Blacks against Whites undermines the entire mission of the Salvation Army. Creating enemy groups based upon race is the direct opposite of love and charity. Becoming “woke” contradicts both the holistic Gospel of Christianity and the Army’s motto of “doing the most good.”

Gone is the Salvation Army zealously pursuing its mission to do whatever it could to fulfill the Gospel of Jesus Christ by meeting the human needs in His name without discrimination! By incorporating “wokeness” in its agenda, the Salvation Army now says it aims to meet human needs based on the criteria and motivations of current culture and, specifically, the gospel of CRT. This cultural gospel views all humanity through a lens of guilt, shame, blame, aggrievement, unforgiveness, offense, and limitless other evils. The Salvation Army’s original mission stood tall because it was built on the rock of Gospel truth. The cultural drift now underlying the Army is built upon the rot of cultural fragmentation and decay.

Every Black Life Matters (EBLM) calls on the Salvation Army to reconnect with its original principled mission and reject cultural ideology's drift. We encourage all of you at the Salvation Army to return to the purity and simplicity of the gospel message and vital mission, and commit the Army’s leadership to a spiritual revival. We (supporters/donors) need to hear a sincere recant and apology for this recent gross lapse of judgment. Nothing less will do. Public relations attempts at platitudes and obfuscations will only signify your evasion of responsibility. Take responsibility for this horrible policy error, learn from it, recommit to the purity of the Gospel of your mission, and move the Salvation Army forward once again!

We want to embrace and forgive you, but we cannot and will not embrace a culturally “woke,” racist organization more concerned with socially preening and virtue signaling than about meeting the needs of all peoples. EBLM offers to help you remain true to your mission and calling while maintaining your principles within the marketplace and culture. You can do both successfully without compromising. Stand for the Gospel Truth, and we will happily support the Army again!

[Kevin is the president and founder of Every Black Life Matters. He is an entrepreneur, author, and public speaker. In the arena of civic engagement, Kevin serves as Chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation of California, and is an executive with the Douglass Leadership Institute and the Northstar Leadership Pac.]