BAD PR

Salvation Army Rep: Gays Should Die

Charity tries to back away from statement.

A public-relations rep, of all people, should know better. A Salvation Army official told an Australian radio show host that according to their “belief system” gay people deserve death. Gay Australian journalists Serena Ryan and Pete Dillon, who host the show Salt and Pepper, asked a local branch’s media relations director, Major Andrew Craibe, “according to the Salvation Army, [gay people] deserve death. How do you respond to that?” Craibe said, “Well, that’s part of our belief system ... you know, we have an alignment with the Scriptures, but that’s our belief.” The Salvation Army tried to distance itself from Craibe’s statements, saying the charity “believes in the sanctity of all human life and believes it would be inconsistent with Christian teaching to call for anyone to be put to death.”