Dustin' Off the Degree - The Salvation Army You've seen Salvation Army thrift stores and bell ringers raising money around Christmas, and while there is a Salvation Army charitable organization, it's run by the Salvation Army church. The organization was founded under the name of the East London Christian Mission by a Methodist Reform Church minister, William Booth and his wife Catherine in 1865. Their early goal was to convert the poor prostitutes, alcoholics, and gamblers of London with William leading the preaching and Catherine working her way through high society raising money. In 1878 in a letter where William had dictated "we are a volunteer army" to his secretary, after some banter it was updated to "we are a salvation army." By the end of the year William styled him self a general and started wearing a military style uniform. He then started commissioning other ministers as officers and made the lay members soldiers. Catherine at this time also got a special title, "Mother of The Salvation Army". They set their evangelism style as three "S"s, first soup, second soap, and third salvation. They then started spreading around the world targeting society's outcasts and officially started their operations in New York after a man who had been in a lot of trouble for drunkenness was sentenced by a judge to the attend the Salvation Army. They further boosted their reputation in the US providing disaster relief services after the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and San Francisco earthquake of 1906. They started providing aid to soldiers in the Boer Wars and started National Donuts Day in 1917 when 250 Salvation Army volunteers fried donuts for American soldiers. In World War II they were one of the founding organizations of the USO. As a church, the Salvationists, as members are known are not allowed to drink, gamble, or do drugs. Marriage is a civil institution, yet officers will perform weddings and they are opposed to same sex marriage, and they only allow members to have sex with opposite sex marital partners. They've been called a para church organization by some churches since they do not baptize members or perform communion. Interestingly they are usually okay with members attending other churches as well where they can get communion. Instead of baptism, they put on the uniform, which is styled after the local military uniforms, enough so that they were expelled from the Soviet Union for being a paramilitary organization. They have generally been among the highest rated and most respected charities and are usually among the first nongovernmental organizations to respond to a disaster. Since the start they have allowed women to be ministers, or officers as they call them and at several times, including in the early 20th century women have served as the General of the Salvation Army. Until recently, officers were only allowed to marry other officers and they hold the same rank, with the exception of the General's spouse, and they serve in the same commands generally moving every two to five years. They have been staunch opponents of gay rights, but as soon as that threatens the billions in tax payer money they get every year, they back down which then get's them the condemnation of other Christians. It almost seems like they're trying to be AA, the Red Cross, and church at the same time. That was easy to do 100 years ago when everyone loved them, but now everyone seems to be surprised every time they find out why they shouldn't. They are definitely a strange organization, but not for the reasons most people think. NEWS Supreme Court backs Christian baker refused service to gay couple The US Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision that it is at least sometimes okay to discriminate against gay people. They sided with the owner of Masterpiece Cakes in Colorado who refused to bake a cake for a gay couple's wedding reception. Justice Kennedy tried his best to avoid setting precedent and to key this as narrow as possible,