Why does Target have a problem with the Salvation Army Christmas bell-ringers?
Once again this year, Target Stores has banned the Salvation Army bell-ringers from their stores. Local supermarkets, Walmart and other retailers don't seem to have a problem with the Christian organization founded by William Booth to help the downtrodden. So why does Target? Probably because it is a Christian group dedicated to saving souls.
A little history: William Booth found himself one day at the edge of the River. The world is a better place for Booth taking the plunge into that River.
At the age of seventeen, Booth made a commitment to Christ and to humanity. While he served for some time as a Methodist minister, he made the greatest impact on the poor of his native England by forming a movement in 1865 he called "The Christian Mission." He preached on the streets and in old warehouses. Sometimes he faced ridicule, name-calling and stone-throwing; at other times, his hardships were rewarded with converts to the faith. In 1878, he changed the name of The Christian Mission to The Salvation Army.
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, a trip to most stores will provide an opportunity to help families and individuals in need by dropping a few coins into a red kettle. The bell ringing signals to our hearts that there is more to this season than buying the latest electronic gadget and gathering the most charming tree ornaments. It is a time to aid in the salvation of lost and helpless souls, to help feed and cloth the needy among us. A working man between jobs may benefit by having his family's electric bill paid, or, a mother needing food for her children will find a box of canned goods, pasta and cereal waiting for her.
In a book written about the life of Booth, is recorded the topic of his very first sermon. "He talked of little children learning to walk. He described how they toddled, and swayed, and came near to falling. He said how difficult a thing it was for little babes to learn the use of their legs, to trust their tiny feet, and to advance with courage.
And then he asked if any mother, watching her child's first efforts to walk, would be cross with the infant's failure, would shout at it when it swayed, would sit still, unmoved, when it fell and hurt itself. Then he said that it was just as difficult to live a true Christian life, and that we should always be on the look-out for helping people, especially those who were only just beginning to live that life.
He said it was wrong to judge them when they failed, and just as wrong to sit idle when they fell. We should run, and lift them up, and help them. Hard words would not help them; sitting still would not help them; we must go and do something to make it less hard for them to walk straight."
Was Booth recognized as a religious pioneer and celebrated as such? In his own words: "The leading men in the Church to which I belonged were afraid I was going too fast, and gave me plenty of caution, quaking and fearing at every new departure, but never a word of encouragement to help me. But I went forward all the same."
Bless God this Christmas that William Booth ‘went forward'.
You know, Target banning Salvation Army bell ringers hasn't hurt them that much and has probably been better for them in the long run. Faced with the negative publicity of banning them, Target made a rather large monetary donation that is probably more than the bell ringers would've gotten by standing out there. And in it's pledge to help them, Wal-Mart offered a huge sum of money to help them with the loss of donations from being displaced from Target, compensating them with maybe more (again) than they lost out on.
The Salvation Army has always been the Target (no pun intended) of malicious acts. Anyone else remember the GLBT groups demanding people drop "gay bills" into the kettles as protest of their stance on gay partners not getting benefits? Salvation Army not only survived that…they THRIVED when news of the sick plan got out, and people donated in droves to show their support. Pretty much anything that is designed to hurt the Salvation Army helps them in the long run. They've survived before…and they'll survive this too.
First, I think the Salvation Army does some great work and are a worthy organization and I do donate to them.
Having said that, the bell-ringers drive me bonkers. The ringing is a cacaphony to my ears. I try very hard not to shop at places that have them on the premises. Once or twice, I have actually donated to them on the condition that they stop ringing the damn bells for 5 minutes (which they honored).
I'm not saying that they should be banned from stores because I can't stand the bells, but I mention this because I can't possibly be the only person annoyed by this.
The Salvation Army has no dictatorship over Christmas giving. I STOPPED giving to the Salvation Army after serving as a banquet coodinator for 2 of their huge affairs in Chicagoland. After having the rank and file members of the Salvation Army in my prescense for 5 days and racking up one half of a million dollars in bills over 5 days, I had enough of their version of the Christmas spirit. I know the orgonization as a whole does wonderful work, but I am always hesistant about organizations that throw money to the wind as they beg for more. Why do over 400 members of Christian Organization need to gather in an upscale hotel over 5 days, eat the finest meals, and have Bill Cosby as an entertainer? No one need answer for fundraising, it wasn't.
To the point at hand- Target has every right to prevent solicitations from the front doors. Conservatives need to repect the right of business to carry out policies they feel best suit the customers. The only way I would have a problem with this decision by Target is if for some reason they allowed other forms of fundraising similar to that of the Salvation Army. I do not believe this is the case.