So says you, so we should accept your word over the excellent work of charitable giving watchdog groups MMario, that have faulted the Salvation Army for empire building and lining the SA executives' pockets?

This is an old article from the San Francisco Chronicle, but it gives some idea of the political extortion engaged in by religious charities like Salvation Army and Catholic Charities.

Charities Balk at Domestic Partner, Open Meeting Laws
Don Lattin, Chronicle Religion Writer

Friday, July 10, 1998

San Francisco's neediest citizens -- the homeless, the elderly and people with AIDS -- are caught in the middle of an escalating political battle between gay activists and two of the city's largest religious charities.

For years, the city has contracted with Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army to feed the poor, shelter the homeless and revive the intoxicated.

Government money always has strings attached, but religious leaders say the tightening of purse strings threatens freedom of speech and the separation of church and state in San Francisco. And so those leaders are taking an increasingly hard line with the city.

They cite several instances in which clergy have been investigated by city officials for publicly questioning the morality of homosexuality or legitimacy of gay marriage.

Last month, the Salvation Army said it would rather give up $3.5 million in municipal contracts than comply with the new city law requiring domestic partner benefits for gay and lesbian employees.

Ten days later, Catholic Charities threatened to pull out of more than $5 million in city contracts -- or sue -- over new rules requiring

it to hold public hearings about its programs.

Meanwhile, the dispute has become an increasingly personal one between San Francisco Archbishop William Levada and Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who is gay and Roman Catholic.

Ammiano said Catholic Charities has to decide whether it is a religion -- with all the historical prohibitions against interference by the state -- or just another nonprofit corporation doing business with the city.

``They can't have it both ways,'' he said. ``When it comes to city regulations, they are a religion. What the city is asking is very minimal. But if it violates their religious creed, they don't have to take the money.