Paul M. Weyrich identifies another out-of-control federal agency pursuing its own left wing agenda despite the twice election of a theoretically-Republican president.
Just when you think you have heard it all, along comes a story that is almost too ridiculous to be true. But it is. The idiocy of federal bureaucracies apparently is never-ending. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which might easily be called the Department of Political Correctness, has decided to take on the Salvation Army. Yes, the Salvation Army, that phenomenally successful assistance organization which began in Great Britain over one hundred and forty-years ago. The Salvation Army, which has helped thousands of people in countries all over the world, is being sued by the EEOC.
As most people are aware, the Salvation Army is a Christian evangelical organization the mission of which is to help the downtrodden, blind, sick, addicted and anyone else in need. “Army†personnel stand on street corners during Christmastime, ringing a bell on behalf of the poor. One of their most important ways to raise money is through donations of old clothes and household goods, which they sell in their thrift stores. They also operate soup kitchens and hire people no one else would hire. Since 1865 the Salvation Army has lived by Christ’s admonition that as we do unto the least of our people we do unto the Lord. Now the organization is in trouble for insisting its employees learn to speak English.
It all started in a thrift store in Framingham, Massachusetts. Two Hispanic employees were given one year to learn English in order to speak the language of the country in which they live and the language spoken by other employees. They failed to do so; in turn the employees were fired. The EEOC filed a lawsuit against the Salvation Army claiming the employees had suffered “emotional pain, humiliation and embarrassment†as a result of the English-only policy.
First, the Salvation Army is a faith-based organization and is able to set rules for its employees that many public organization cannot. I am not a lawyer; however, I know that government should not be telling religious groups whom they can and cannot hire or fire. Specifically, when it comes to requiring English the courts have already ruled in the State of Massachusetts. In 2003 a federal judge in Boston upheld the Salvation Army policy requiring workers to “speak English to the best of their ability.†The EEOC didn’t like that ruling, so it is trying for one more favorable.
These are our tax dollars at work, yours and mine, paying the salaries of the EEOC lawyers who filed the lawsuit while the Salvation Army must use its own funds – funds that might be better used helping the poor – to hire attorneys to fight this case in court. What a waste of money on both accounts.
Hat tip to Scott Drum.
CJ
Maybe the US government should also do away with its citizenship requirement that people speak English – ??!
Karen Mason
I’ve had quite enough. My pledge is that from this day forward, I will insist that service employees speak English when they are in my presence. I, too, am vulnerable to a hostile environment. I am sick to death of the notion that racism and ethnic hostility are a one-way street.
dee
if one speaks english in framingham ma these days, he is a minority.
the salvation army bldg, located in downtown framingham does everything for the homeless and the poor. conducts meetings for folks with alcohol and drug problems. has a thrift shopped which is well conducted. has soup kitchens every night; dont know what transpired to have the eeoc get involved, but the women that got fired were not so dumb. if they were smart enough to go to eeoc with their complaint, are smart enough to learn english. maybe knew some english. knew where to go. unfortunate for the
Army. if it werent for them we wouldnt have anything to help poor and unfortunate in this town.
starla
What the hell are you guys talking about?
Allan
This article is kind and nice but the fact is the Salvation Army is not the Christian place you make them seem. In the past 10 years they have become more and more corrupt and will prob be made accountable for many more litigations against them. Non Profits like this are getting away with murder today and the image of the bell ringer is cute but not at all accurate (it is a marketing image). The Salvation Army has taken a Corporate Approach to much of the everyday business. This organization gets donations in the area of hundreds of thousands willed to them every month and much much more. You sound like a nice person but I doubt that you have all the information and would change your mind if you did. Unfortunately I do not have the time to help you understand better that your not seeing the big picture and that the last comment is much more accurate regarding the individuals being smarter than they seem. In California its just the opposite in that the illegals have found many footholds in our non profits and are furthermore engaging in many illegal activities including internal theft in the millions every year out of just one territory of the Salvation Army. Your article is more about what we would like to believe than what is real. The SA might do good in the public eye but what you do not see is staggering. I am not trying to knock the good intentions of anyone but just want to be able to help bring change when needed for the better.
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