[goldstategop]

Kudos to the Salvation Army for standing on principle. They could have taken the money and explained it was a one time exception to the rules. Now that was a LOT of money and if character is doing the right thing when no one's looking the Salvation Army stepped up to the plate to do it. Their beliefs are against gambling and they took a hit in the pocketbooks to be true to their beliefs. The reason this is so extraordinary is most people prefer to go along with the crowd to avoid offending any one. As it turned out the Salvation Army for once lived up to its name since it is in the business of saving souls. I'd say what it got for doing what it did can't really be measured in dollars and is a whole more priceless.

[anniegetyourgun]

Agreed - they don't need filthy lucre. I appreciate the S.A. for being real.

[mdmathis6]

He should give it anonymously in varying sums in all the salvation army kettles around. Cash is very hard to trace...he should send it anonymously!

[JCG]

Kudos to the Salvation Army for standing on principle.

A year ago they stopped the gay hustle in its tracks by refusing to kowtow to them as well. Gotta admire 'em for their adherence to their faith.

America's Fifth Column ... watch Steve Emerson/PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
New Link: Download 8 Mb zip file here (60 minute video)

Who is Steve Emerson?

[angkor]

The Salvation Army has one of the lowest expense ratios of all charities, something less than 10 percent.

[mdmathis6]

The money was not stolen or illegally gotten. There is no Bible injunction against gambling, just like there is none against alcohol. There are injunctions against greed, theft, and drunkeness. The man just wanted to give a little back and I just don't see a Bible injunction<"Thou shalt not take winnings from gambling as a donation for the poor!" in my Bible.

What I do see is a hypocritical organization making a public spectacle of this man,humiliating him instead of extending him Christ's grace. They should have accepted his money, and given him a Bible or something. What an evil man this was...why he GAMBLED! Yeah, they stood on principle all right..though I'm not sure it was Christ's principle they stood on(Can we say pharisee...boys and girls?)

[Johnny Shear]

Idiots...

[M Kehoe]

I'm having fun this morning.

5.56mm

[2timothy3.16]

Rush, a financial adviser, doesn't see lottery money as gambling.

And ucc left wing liberal preachers don't see abortion as murder.

Both are wrong. The lottery is gambling and abortion is always first degree premeditated murder.

[AppyPappy]

Lotteries aren't gambling. Gambling implies there could be winning. Lotteries are a tax. The chance of winning the lottery are less than the chances of the government screwing up and allowing you to keep some of your own money.

[HiTech RedNeck]

SA won't accept donations from liquor businesses either, even though there is no way of knowing if the businesses' customers used the alcohol for evil purposes. It's their prerogative. If the offer was made privately then SA should have refused privately and shame on them if they didn't. But I get the sense that Rush is the one that made it public.

[sneakypete]

I guess it doesn't hurt to cut off your nose to spite your face,when it ain't your nose being cut off.

[glory]

Well, he could always anonymously dump a couple hundred bucks in each bell ringers bucket if he wanted to next year. Anonymously is, imo, the most selfless way to donate anyhow taxes be damned.

[Gorzaloon]

Lottery winner David Rush was irked Friday to find out local Salvation Army officials rejected his $100,000 donation. The religious charity, popularly known for its bell ringers outside shopping malls during the holidays, preaches against gambling. "The money that Mr. Rush received was via the lottery: We preach against gambling," said spokeswoman Maribeth Shanahan, who spoke on behalf of Cleo Damon, who heads the Collier County chapter and decided not to accept the donation. "To accept it would be to talk out both sides of our mouth." ... Shanahan, the local Salvation Army director of community relations and development, stressed the group could have used the money.

This is precisely why the Salvation Army gets my money, including the share that the Red Cross, in its various guises, never will.

Anyone who thinks that lotteries are not gambling have never been in line in a convenience store watching the desperate, pathetic people buying tickets with rolls of coins, or the piles and piles of losing scratch tickets in the parking lots. But it's for the State, so it's not gambling.

And one can be certain that when the directors of the Red Cross get out of their Learjet, they would have fellated the Devil for this donation, regardless of where it came from or how it was won.

[Miles Bennel]

There's a principle here that is being overlooked:

Matthew 6:
1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

[Happygal]

I trust the Salvation Army are going to track down every drunk and gambler who dropped a couple of bucks into their kettles over the holiday season too.

[TopQuark]

It is scary when a financial advisor does not see the difference between the lotery and investments: Rush, a financial adviser, doesn't see lottery money as gambling. In his view, the money reaped from Wall Street investments involves a risk-gain factor, not unlike a lottery ticket. Poor clients.

Nor does he appear to know the difference between the singular and the plural: "Everybody has a right to be sanctimonious if they want to be," Rush said.

So what does he know?

[Redleg Duke]

These idiots remind me of "Single-Issue Conservative" voters!

[SamAdams76]

Rush, a financial adviser, doesn't see lottery money as gambling. In his view, the money reaped from Wall Street investments involves a risk-gain factor, not unlike a lottery ticket.

I disagree with this opinion. Gambling and Wall Street investments are not the same thing at all. When you gamble, the house has the advantage. The odds are set up so that the house always wins in the end and the gambler always ends up losing (unless he is disciplined enough to walk away from a big win and never play again). On the other hand, the Wall Street investor holds all the cards. A wise and educated investor will win nearly all the time. At the same time, the investor can feel good that his investments are helping to drive the U.S. economy. The investments he makes puts people to work and allows corporations to innovate and deliver goods and services to the marketplace that improve life for everybody.

The only people that really lose on Wall Street are those with the "gambling" mentality. The day-traders. The ones looking to make "a killing." If you carefully research the stocks before you buy them and have a "long-term" strategy, you are likely to build wealth. On the other hand, if you adopt a "long-term" strategy in Las Vegas, you are guaranteed to be bankrupt.

As for state lotteries, they are even more morally bankrupt than the casinos in Las Vegas. The odds are far more stacked against the player in the state lotteries than they are on any casino floor and it is usually those who can least afford to play the state lotteries that play them.

I applaud the Salvation Army for rejecting this money on principle. I will feel much better about throwing money in the kettle next time I see one.

[carpio]

I am a strong supporter of the Salvation Army. They truly and effectively help people. They are one of only two organized charities to which my family contributes.And I strongly defend their First Amendment right to choice of association.

That said I think they are goofy on this. First of all I can't find anything in my Bible that prohibits gambling. And secondly in whose hands do they think this money is most likely to serve God's purposes? Theirs or a local car dealer's or luxury item vendor's??

Logic dictates that if they take the money it will be put to a higher use that if it is spent on QVC. I would say that you could make a pretty good case that they have a Moral Responsibility to accept the money and get it out of the wrong hands.