Should religion be kept out of business?
Should small business have the right to promote their values in advertising?
I avoid hobby lobby. I avoid papa johns. I avoid home depot.
If given a choice between two companies offering the exact same thing, but one has a cross or a Jesus fish in their advertising, I will go with the other.
I advertise my services as a secular business, but I'm in a field where my spiritual view IS my focus. I have every right as a humanist celebrant to state clearly what I do and who I'm best suited to serve. I do not turn away religious clients, but they will get only a secular service from me. This is different than refusing to bake a cake that says "Jesus loves me" as a baker's field is baking, not spiritual ministry.
There is a bakery across the street from me - named "Passion" as in the Passion of the Christ. They have a crucifix on the wall and play right wing christian talk radio for their patrons. It's a handy place for me to meet my (atheist) clients for coffee and some tasty baked goods. The owner is very nice, knows I'm atheist and often turns down the radio when I walk in. I was very touched by that gesture, so continued to meet my clients there. BUT, then one day they chose to put a political sign up for a candidate I was very much against, and I haven't been in since.
I feel that when a business makes a social statement - whether it be religious, political or any controversial topic (here it is gmo research) the business is choosing to cater to half their potential customers and turn off half their potential customers. They may attract more of one side and less of the other side, so they are welcome to do that, but I will support my beliefs and/or stick the non-controversial businesses. Who's to say which makes the most profit. The business owners get to feel good about making their statements.
I wouldn't take such a gamble, if I was a struggling business, but then again, I choose to do that by catering to atheist/agnostic humanistic, naturalistic, freethinkers because that IS my specialty. Much like the gluten free bakery in town caters to gluten free people and those who don't mind eating a gluten free cake. They don't turn away gluten eaters, but they are not going to be serving gluten.
Generally speaking I do not support businesses who actively promote their religion in a political way (Prop 8 in CA, etc.). However, I have succumbed to pressure and shopped at Hobby Lobby eith an ex GF a couple of times. More notably, there is a family ice cream parlor operating in this area who have an excellent product, are open late, and there's amost always a line out the door. No one else does what they do, so when this place is suggested in a group setting I'll go there. Otherwise, I'll continue to patronize Baskin Robbins. LOL!
On a related note, if I walk into a place of business and they have a cross on the wall or something, but are otherwise just doing business in their business, it only rates an eye-roll. There are plenty of good people out there who happen to be believers, but operate good businesses and are not religious activists.
Yes-I haven't gone back to Hobby Lobby since their pro-religion/anti women's rights platform became public. Maybe we should put a list together of companies that use religion in their work doctrines. I worked for McLane, Inc, a Berkshire Hathaway Company owned by Warren Buffet. I wonder if his other cos are faith based? Geico, Crate and Barrel? Jordan's Furniture, and Berkshire Hathaway Realtors? Anyone work for any of these companies?
It depends....if I have a choice between that company and another who doesn't promote religious ideals, I will go with the latter every time. However, if there is no such choice, I would still use them--as long as they don't discriminate or shove it in my face.
I don't like Hobby Lobbys' policies, but it is the only place where l can buy art supplies around here. It doesn't keep me awake nights.
I hate them, and would order online for anything they supply.
I recommend shopping online and having stuff shipped to you from other websites if not urgent.
@cvccosplay l hate shopping on line. I have to return to much stuff. A picture of something can be deceiving. I want to hold it and look at it thoroughly.
@Sticks48 Then buy it in-store exactly one time (if at all), and online from other sites all the other times you require more! It's no different than buying in person if you know what you're looking for. I do this with clothing all the time. I'm a problem solver; You're welcome!
@cvccosplay If l didn't shop at stores who feel the way l do about religion or politics, l would be sitting here naked with no phone, no food, no television, and no transportation.
@Sticks48 LOL SMH XD
@cvccosplay I only understood lol. What do the other two mean.
I don't make any special effort either way. The whole idea of a company having a religion makes zero sense to me. I wasnt happy to hear how chick-a-fill played games with their homosexual employees but I have never been to that resturant as it stands so if I even wanted to boycott it wouldnt matter.
I somewhat avoid such companies. I don't mind if they're personally religious, but when they use it in their advertising or otherwise promote themselves as religious (when their product or service doesn't exclusively apply to a religious demographic) I become wary of their intentions, how they're using their revenue, whether it's going to political agendas, etc. I prefer companies that are secular, where I don't have any idea whether the owners are religious or not.
I purchased a AC unit from a company who's owner spewed a diatribe about being a great Christian company. I purchased against my better judgement because they seemed to have the best price and reviews.
Fast forward a year later and he's out of business, abandoning all his customers and their warranties.
The answer to that question is a resounding YES when it comes to me. I do not need any mythology passing as history or truth in my life. I has enough of that. If I encounter a company doing that practice, I will simply move to the competition,
This reminds me of something that happened here last year. There was a new vegan restaurant starting up. Fine, no problem. But the owner (a woman) decided to paint 2 large murals on her outside walls to welcome people to Yosemite (I live about 20 miles from Yosemite). Again, fine, no problem...a nice mural of fresh vegetables and other vegan motifs would be nice.
However, the woman decided to do a WWII-style pinup on one wall, and a Smoky the Bear lookalike on the other wall, neither of which have anything to do with vegan food. The pinup was very badly done and resembled a sexist caricature. It was quite controversial, many saying it was not representative of what they wanted visitors to see as they entered town. She received a lot of negative flak, especially in this current national atmosphere of sexual abuse stories, MeToo, etc. Long story short, she doubled down, calling it "Jane the Love Ranger".
I know it is not a religious ideal, but really, any company or business that insists on promoting their values in advertising like that is a company I will not do business with. Although in this case I don't know what her values were, the fact that she ignored her customers' concerns and, basically, gave a big middle finger to them is enough to keep me from ever frequenting her restaurant.
To a large extent, it depends on the business, Newspapers and other media will not get my trade if they are biased toward religion (several are in my neighbourhood). On the other hand I have an arborist who does a great job of maintaining the trees on our property. He is a Mennonite (formerly Old Order, but now more liberal). The only time religion comes up is discussion of the King James Bible (my favourite version because of the language and imagery). He is quite a student of the book and we usually discuss the language. I don't know, don't care if he knows I'm an agnostic.
His workers are all Mennonite, too. They are long distance cyclists as I am and own $4-5,000 bikes. We chat about cycling routes and they long distance tours. I'm jealous of their bikes and they are sympathetic with the problem that the older bikes are, the more afraid of height and climbing hills they become.
Many businesses in our area post Biblical quotations on their premises. Sometimes I look them up to discover if they are relevant to the business; most of the time, I ignore them.
Businesses in the neighbouring cities are less likely to have religious expressions out in the open, but we have encountered Christian biases with some local Chapters (national book chain here). When we had a disagreement with two of the managers, the district manager stepped in and described her meeting with the managers as a "teaching moment." We won the argument. Oh, to be a fly on the wall.
I was in purchasing and I would look for other sources to purchase from if a company outwordly promoted religion in their product material. This carried over to personal life too. A few companies would include religious statements or other promotions of their views, I wanted to see a company promoting why their product was better than the other companies, not trying to sell me their product in the hopes I would buy based on myself or others agreeing with their point of view.
If they have what I want it's all good as it is business.