I was going by a general impression actually and not any firsthand knowledge. There is a considerable amount of circumstantial evidence though that one of the goals of the organization is spreading Christianity. The name of the place is not the "Rescue Army" or the "Benevolent Society". It contains the word "Salvation" which although you could certainly just pull "saving" out of that name to garner the ideal of rescue, the term is generally applied to the saving of souls.

When their little bands play, generally the music choice is Christian religious music. I can't cite examples but I know that my impression has always been that the leadership of the group has been pretty much exclusively Christian and often with strong ties to the church.

I'm not saying any of that is wrong especially if the "coercion" is subtle. It's certainly within their rights as citizens to put a religious message into their aid and I'm certain that over their lifetime they've done marvelous things for people in dire circumstances.

I absolutely don't hold real contempt for them. I simply choose not to participate in their fund raising and get a bit irritated at the bell ringers. I also would love to see us evolve to the point where charity and community activism could divorce itself completely from faith organizations. In the meantime, I welcome the good that comes of any giving.

Art