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Salvation Army Opportunity Shop Refuse To Sell Buddhist Items
Shoshin
No one in particularNowhere Special Veteran
A Buddhist friend told me about this ..."SHOCK HORROR" !!! or to be expected ???
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11767465
There are no Sallie army OP shops on the island, however one of the local OP shops,(there are three on the island) is faith based... I have found the odd Buddhist book in the shop, that had been donated...But I do get the feeling some of the volunteer staff might not be too comfortable stocking non Christian religious items...
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Maybe Buddhists don't give their belongings to Salvation Army?
I wouldn't anyway
I had a wild adventure dream where I was being chased by the Salvation Army in sleek, futuristic looking tanks, smashing through trees I was in.
They looked pretty wild with their big red shield emblazoned on the black metal.
I give donations to Sally Ann because I know they do help people but I save my Buddhist style donations for those I know will appreciate them.
You've got to watch out for the militant wing of the salvation army. Frau Farbissina is a brutal woman.
I don't find it unusual. They have never hidden the fact they are a Christian-based organization. I think it's silly, but whatever. Here, we have a hobby store called Hobby Lobby (craft items, knitting, art supplies, that kind of stuff) that is owned by a Christian family. They close every single store every Sunday for religious reasons and they stock a ton of Christian stuff, but nothing else. No skin off my hide. I wouldn't buy my Buddhist stuff from a mass produced hobby store anyhow.
I've found thrift stores and "antique" stores (the type that call themselves antique stores but are mostly junk) to be one of the best places to find Buddhist stuff, even in my neck of the woods. I got a 2 foot tall lovely garden statue for $15!
My wife used to love spending hours in the local thrift stores, both chains like GoodWill and the many small ones ran by a ministry. Some told her they refused to sell Buddhist stuff and even said they were sorry for her, being married to a Buddhist. Others didn't much care what was donated, as long as they could get a dollar for it. I have quite a collection of rescued Buddhas from those stores, fat and otherwise.
I've been feeling left of the righteous indignation party around the holidays regarding the "War on Christmas". Now I can join in the festivities!
WTF this is like totes unfair, if these "Christians" are so offended don't work there. Maybe they need a safe space!
(Maybe that would be better if it were all caps)
Aren't they a Christian group? Why would they sell Buddhist stuff?
@Bunks they run charity shops where the proceeds are meant to go back into the local communities (which I might add is not just made up of "Heterosexual Christians")... People 'donate' stuff for them to sell to make money to 'help' the community...
They 'refuse' to "sell" Buddhist items, eg, books images statues etc, ie, classing Buddhist items in the same category as other banned items such as "pornography"...So in doing so they show a profound lack of respect for other belief systems...
Under the law they have every right tp pick and choose what they accept and sell, but I personally feel it is somewhat childish behaviour in this modern day and age ...
I'm sure that when Jesus said "Become like a little child" he didn't mean to act like spoilt brats
But hey ...Different strokes( of the tambourine) for different folks ( Christian soldiers) ...
I should add that as a Christian organisation they are meant to 'promote' Christianity...But what they are doing is showing intolerance, which goes against what they are meant to be promoting.....
Our Charity shops don't give a flying fiddler's elbow WHAT they sell, as long as it makes them money.
As far as most of them are concerned, Buddha statues are pretty home adornments aimed at bringing in the readies.
Here we don't even have religious charity shops... instead we have non-denominational "kringloopwinkels", which are shops that support the recycling of objects often in the way of you bring something and you take something.
I wants one. I needs a kringloopwinkel.
I will be complaining to all my local sangha supporting shops about their lack of crucifixes and other essentials, such as milk and bread. Christians not selling Buddhist paraphanalia - has the world gone mad?
I go to a Tibetan shop in Minneapolis sometimes. They help a LOT with the Buddhist community. Shockingly they don't sell any Christian items. See how silly that sounds? If you don't like their policies, don't donate to them. Don't buy from them. Many MANY charities have a religious bent to them. Including Buddhist ones.
I don't mind Charities having a Religious bent. That's their prerogative, and here in the West, it's a right we fought for and everyone should be able to benefit from, unchallenged. What I do find mildly unsettling is that (generalisation coming up) some religions think nothing of selling other religions' symbols as knick-knack objects of decor, simply because they seem to be a fashionable accessory, but they do take umbrage at people doing the same to theirs...
The point I think here is, people donate items in order to 'help' raise money for 'people in need' ...and the Sallies are refusing items that could be sold to make "money" to help those in need (every little bit helps-but they don't seem to think so) ....
They also spend big bucks on "Begging" ads on TV asking people to leave them some money in their will....
There is no question that they do do good work in the community, (They help with emergency housing, alcoholism, drug addiction) but they do this in the name of their god, and not out of genuine compassion for 'humanity' ( in other words what motivates them is the thought of going to heaven and the fear of going to hell, should they not do it) ...
Would these so-called Christian soldiers, still be as keen on helping their fellow human beings if the reward of going to heaven "carrot" or the fear of going to hell "stick", were not on the table? ...I wonder ????
But do you know every person who works there? Do you know what their motivations are? The organization as a whole sets policies, but the organization is made up with a whole lot of people who all have their motivations for their work. You are applying your dislike of policies for a company as if the company is the human making the mistake. How do you know what the compassion is over the thousands of employees they have? Helping addicts isn't work someone can do without their heart being in it. They also employ the disabled, something many companies do not do. Plus, there is always a carrot. Such as a good rebirth or stopping the cycle entirely. That's a carrot just as much as heaven.
I just think it's not worth much time to get any undies in a twist over it. There are plenty of places to donate such items, or simply bring to someone who can use them directly. Considering all the things to deal with in the world, that a charity doesn't take Buddha statues seems like a small thing to waste much time on.
@shoshin, wonder all you like. Personally, I'm not too worried about their motives, unless they use them to impact me personally, then I'll take each case as it comes, on its 'merits'.
If they wish to believe their good deeds will get them through the Pearly Gates, that's fine by me. At least they're DOING good deeds, which is more than can be said about other prominent self-proclaimed Christians in the public eye, whose messages are anything BUT compassionate.
As was famously quoted in Lama Surya Das' book, "It little matters whether Heaven exists or not; what matters is to behave as if it did."
I don't have an issue with them refusing to sell certain items. No big deal. My sister, who has a learning disability, receives help from an organization that runs a thrift shop to raise money and provide employment for some of the people they help. They refuse to sell certain items too, which I think is their prerogative.
This post reminds me of a time that I was in Value Village, and I was checking out the used books. They had a Book of Mormon. I picked it up, and someone had written a message on the inside of the front cover. I'm paraphrasing here, but it was something like 'This is a cult. They believe they are gods.' Why would anyone donate a book like that to a thrift shop, knowing full well that someone might read it, and be 'deceived' by what they perceived as a cult? Why wouldn't they destroy it, or chuck it in the trash? Weird.
It doesn't follow that the donor themselves wrote that message... it could have been someone who picked it up and surreptitiously scribed it when no-one was looking.... Hey, if shoplifters can be successful, so can graffiti vandals....
Some of their "Beliefs" are interesting....
(The last on the list of their beliefs)....
We believe in the immortality of the soul; in the resurrection of the body; in the general judgement at the end of the world; in the eternal happiness of the righteous; and in the endless punishment of the wicked. (umm are Buddhists wicked or righteous??? )
Then there's their International Mission Statement...
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 love for God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human needs in his name without discrimination.
I guess in all fairness, they are only "practising" what they 'preach' (be it in a somewhat cherry-picking selective manner-but I guess we Buddhists are no different )