In our organizations and communities class, we talked about the issue of non-profit organizations sometimes having to deny a donation. Back in February, the Wounded Warrior Project denied an estimated $50,000 donation from a Christian school. This got a lot of media attention, the children were devastated and the pastor had the responsibility of writing “one of the saddest letters” he has ever written. In this particular letter, he tells the parents and congregants that they are being discriminated against. I found this article very interesting; you can read it here. This article clearly sided with the Christian school attempting to donate money. They brought up the topic of religious freedom; lack of religious freedom, in this case. However, an important step to approach social justice is to develop awareness and knowledge. Being able to view the situation from different perspectives motivates and encourages involvement. From one side, this is an organization rejecting the ‘children’s joy’ of helping out the WWP. If the intent is to provide services, programs, and assistance for wounded soldiers, then why would a Christian school be rejected right? However, this also creates an ethical issue. Accepting a Christian donation would be directly accepting Christian religion. This can be seen as unethical because it would be giving preference to a religion merely by acknowledging their donation. In a previous blog, I have mentioned the issues with religion within the military. Many would agree that there is religion oppression in the military. However, in order to maintain a safe and standard protocol of appearance, exemplifying religion can’t be possible. That is not to say that religion is not allowed, there are many services provided by the military and chaplains are one of the first on site when crisis happens. However, you can’t visibly show your religion or have any tattoos referring to religion. This is something society has a hard time understanding. While accepting the Christian donation would have been beneficial to both organizations, there are many unforeseen consequences that would have been caused in effect. The WWP would have had a lot of media scrutiny for accepting a Christian donation, therefore the WWP would have been discriminating every other religion. This would create an invisible tie between the military and Christian religion, something that the military hopes to stay far away from. I find it sad, however, and I wonder if assistance or donations could be provided without the ties of religion or other isms that maintain social injustice.
Observation: This weekend I talked to a 3-star general that said he was forced to kick out a Major in the Air Force because he stated he was gay.
Wow, this is an eye-opening post and really highlights the great lengths organizations have to go to in order to stay in alignment with their policies. I understand the idea of wanting to keep neutrality and to not endorse any religious entities, but your right, both organizations are hurt because of this. Makes you wonder what a different solution might be.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Cristina! I agree with you. I wonder if the church considered giving the money anonymously? If their aim was to aid the veterans, regardless of whether their church and/or religion were represented, I would have hoped they might do anything necessary to get the donations they worked hard to raise to the people they intended to help. Thanks for the great insight!
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