Are we permitted to give charity or donate items to the salvation army considering they are a church, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Salvation_Army?
That’s a good question. I know people have issues with Christian and Muslim charities. Jewish Law presents a priority order for charity. Family first, then community, and so on.
Non-Jews that keep the 7 mitzvot beney Noach are entitled to charity from us too, if we can afford it, of course.
I do not know enough about the Salvation Army specifically. If it’s a charity that feeds the poor, then we can donate to that. If it is a church with mass and priests and some of the money goes there, better to find a different charity.
The Salvation Army has no priests or mass. They use military rank for their volunteers (Private, Corporal, etc.). They feed and cloth the homeless and otherwise destitute. They do not practice Baptism. They preach a watered down form of Christianity, that emphasizes love and faith. They do sing hymns. (I have done a lot of anti Missionary work, so I know all the major denominations).
Sounds like a nice organization
This is not politically correct to say you can give money to Christian charities. But Christianity is not considered Avoda Zara. It is considered “shituf,” which is allowed for non-Jews. This puts Christians under the category of ger toshav, and we do take care of a ger toshav and give them charity, etc.
Muslims only believe in one God, the same one that we believe in, so the same goes for them.
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