Sunday, December 28, 2008

Atheists and Chick-Fil-A

On a couple of occasions during this Christmas season, the subject of where we shopped came up among friends and family members. Invariably, statements like "I don't shop there because they don't allow the Salvation Army bell ringers" or " I don't shop there because they support gays" came up.

I really hadn't thought about the issue of whether Salvation Army is or isn't allowed to stand in front of some stores. I assume they do receive a large part of their support via the "red kettles." I wrote the Salvation Army a sizable check because I think they do a great work, not because I felt guilty every time I walked past the red kettle. I would have sent the check regardless.

I couldn't think of a single retailer I purposely do not support because of their "support of gays" or any other group for that matter. Because I believe the Bible, I also believe homosexuality is a deviant behavior. People can and DO think I'm wrong. OK. So, I Googled "gay friendly companies" and discovered that Dell, Boeing, Best Buy, Clorox, Coca-Cola, just about every major auto manufacturer including Ford, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Toyota, and Saturn, among a host of other corporations have been rated as "gay friendly." Hmmm. If I was going to start boycotting "gay friendly" companies, looks like my list of acceptable shopping choices would be pretty limited. That still doesn't change my mind, but that's not the point of this post.

Since there are folks-let's be honest, it's mostly those who identify themselves as Christians- that are specific about which companies they do and do not support based on certain behaviors/things they consider to be sin(s), my question is: "Do non-Christians (atheists/agnostics, etc) boycott business for similar reasons, i.e. they are "Christian friendly?" Chick-Fil-A is owned by an openly Christian family. They don't allow their franchises to be open on Sundays. The same goes for Hobby Lobby stores. Do people avoid these and similar companies because of their owner's religious beliefs?

Just wondering.

2 comments:

butros said...

i find this post to be peculiar to me because i was thinking on this not too long ago, situation was different but the theme was similar. in all my pondering of this ive concluded this: homosexuality is a complicated issue, socially, personally, and even spiritually. i know i can definitively say its wrong, thanks to the bible, but where it crosses over into the social realm it gets very tricky. where does my responsibility as a believer take me in regards to saying its wrong in relation to what rights, privileges, etc. i think homosexuals have in a social and political system?? it's maddening!

nacotaco said...

Hi Keith, I have enjoyed your postings....the last 4 I had to catch up on....boy life sure gets complicated, I am so glad I`m not in the driver's seat...our church said to avoid McDonalds because of "wingspan"it seems the Amish life is a way....It is just getting darker and darker....but the light of Jesus gets brighter and brighter.....anyways just stopped by to read and wish you and your family a Happy New Year....nancy