Support Christian Businesses?

[R. S. Martin]

I went to a dentist the other day whose ad in the yellow pages has a Jesus Fish but I didn't care...every single person in there had a joyful attitude and the dentist was a hoot. So funny, he was giving me the novacaine shot and all the while this sweet and upbeat dental assistant was patting my forearm, lol. Definately taking the kids there. Never a word about God the whole time and the denominations of those that work there were across the board: baptist, catholic, CoC, charismatic, etc.

 

When it comes to pain relief and especially dental care, I wouldn't give a shit if the dentist was an extremist Muslim.

 

My dentist is a Muslim. He's one of the most respectable people I know. I don't know to what level he practices his religion. He's from a Muslim country and very insightful. It's a pleasure chatting with him simply for all his insight on religion. I think he knows more about Jesus than most Christians do. He can even speak the language Jesus spoke. I'm not bragging about his English, though. I can understand him but it takes some effort.

 

Talk about eggs. I buy my groceries at Zehrs. I think that is either Amish or Mennonite. But religion is low key as in playing Christmas carols, both secular and religious. I don't remember any nativity scene in their xmas decorations. Just the normal secular stuff like Santa, reindeers, candles, everygreen branches, coloured lights.

There might have been a star. Stars mean many things other than Jesus' birth.

 

Things must be different here in Ontario than they are in some places in the US. I've never heard or seen of such a thing as listing the denominations of people who run or work at a business. That comes across to me as disgusting. In churches of course it's listed if it is an ecumenical event or venture. When it comes to thrift shops--so far back as I can remember, the Mennonites and Salvation Army have always run thrift shops. I have no problem supporting them. They help needy people and don't proselyze so far as I know. [LATER: I looked at it again. I think you meant that many different religions were represented. I thought you meant their denominations were written across a board or sign somewhere ]

 

Amethyst said:

 

I don't actively look for religion or not religion in a company. It's not like I'm going to work there. However, if a company was aggressive in proselytizing, then chances are good that I would avoid them. And any company that actively discriminated against people, like the Salvation Army, I would not give my money to. I also won't go to Christian bookstores, but I have no interest in reading any of the material there.

I wrote my bit about Salvatin Army before reading this post. Who do the Salvation Army people discriminate against? Frankly, I don't know a thing about them except that when I was little there used to be Salvation Army stores with used clothing where my grandmother used to get stuff for my mother to make clothes out of for us kids. (Mom did not like that because she preferred using new material.) Or where cheap toys were availble that our parents could never have afforded at the new price. I never knew they were a church until I read about it somewhere on the forums.

 

I'm thinking that if I don't want to do business with people who are Christian I would have to "go out of this world." I think Paul said something similar when he was telling the Christians how to interact with outsiders. There weren't enough Christians at that time to operate without contact with outsiders. Today in some parts of the world, like right here in parts of North America, it is impossible to conduct one's life without doing business with Christians. Chapters might be owned by Christians but they sell a lot of other stuff, too.

 

Just down the road is a hardware store that has christrian pamphlets on the counter. To me, that's just offering, not advertising, and doesn't bother me enough to stop going there.

 

I've never seen that except in Christian bookstores or on calandars a company gives out at Christmas. Come to think of it, there are a few bill boards in the country with this kind of thing on it: Prepare to meet thy God. I've always had mixed feelings about them. In a way, they misuse the name of God. How so? Because they resemble advertizements, thereby confusing the sacred with the profane. Also because they put God's name out there for any drunk to read and make fun of.

 

That is how I felt as an OOM. The OOM are very anti-mission/evangelizing. They "let their lights shine" by wearing distinctive clothing. Problem is, who knows what their clothing stands for?

 

I've never given a thought as to whether or not to do business with somebody based on their religion. Part of that may be because I am fairly newly deconverted. Another part may be because I am simply focusing on getting my degree in a Christian school. I am interested in Christianity and what people believe. How does religion determine who lives where and who works what? That kind of thing fascinates me. And if someone wants to talk religion with me, I can probably out-talk the best of them.

 

However, direct and unadulterated procelyzing and emotional manipulation--that crosses personal boundaries that I have resolved not to put up with. So far as I know, this kind of thing is not common in this part of the world. All the same, as some of you know, I got ripped off by an optometrist who started evangelizing me last summer when I was in for a regular check-up. (Not a financial rip-off, an emotional one.)

 

I let him know afterward that this was not okay. In the end the entire clinic kicked me out--they discharged me and none of their doctors will serve me anymore. That is fine because who wants to do business at such a place. I hope this kind of behaviour is restricted to one little place. All the same, I wish I had the emotional energy to walk in there and confront the powers that be regarding the reason I got discharged and demanding justification for such action.

 

It seems to me that making religious belief a basis on which one decides with whom to do business is a violation of the separation of church and state, the separation of the sacred and profane. So far as I can see, it is religious discrimination. However, I think that as a customer I have a right to choose what organization I support and what kind of service I appreciate and choose. For example, if the hardware store personnel started evangelizing, and if their clerks all did that every time I showed my face, I would stop showing my face. Just like I changed doctors at the optometrist clinic.

 

Perhaps if I had known the city better I would not have scheduled a new appointment there. I was not sure if I ever wanted to enter that building again. I felt like I had been personally violated. I called it spiritual rape. I suspect that is what turned the entire clinic against me. They probably fear that I will charge someone for rape. That is crazy. But I was told by an online contact that fundies do not take kindly to the term rape.

 

Sorry fundy. I call a spade a spade. If you choose to perform spiritual rape on me I call it spiritual rape. Next time I might choose my battles more carefully and just do it to people I can afford to lose. I can't afford to alienate the entire city.

 

The new optometrist wanted to know why I was changing. Officially I don't know why he discharged me but I suspect it had something to do with my charge of spiritual rape. I told the new optometrist that he had evangelized me and I didn't like it. (I avoided using the word rape). It was on the phone and she sounded disgusted. My chiropractor also said, "That's a stupid way to lose business."

[The Sage Nabooru]

If the business has what I need and isn't part of the corporatocracy I'll but it from them first, maybe even if they try to sell me Jesus too, though it has never happened to me.

 

Yeah, I have to admit, a big part of me patronizing the local cleaner's is that they're a local business. I'm not going to give my money to to the slimy pigfucking box stores and chains just because I happen to have a personal grudge against the little guy's religion.

 

The local grocery chain here is starting to get desperate because Wal-Mart is trying to install its own version of Soviet Russia in the area by building Superstores in every small town and effectively killing all other businesses in the area. I really don't know why people even like Superstores; they really are like Soviet markets - if you're lucky, there will be two different brands to choose from, and neither of them are high-quality. Seriously, I've been down to Potosi every year since the late 80's for a few days in the fall, and up until two years ago it was a charming little place with antique shops. Then the Superstore came in, and when I say the rest of the town is dead like roadkill I am not kidding. Wal-Mart BECOMES the town. They are not interested in competition, they are interested in monopoly and total control.

 

That's why I shop at the local market, even though I know my grandmother has said the owners are "good Lutherans" who fund dinners for her church. (Hey, they sell loads of Jewish goods at their store, so they can't be that hateful.) The prices are a few cents higher, but it's the purpose that's important to me. At this point in time I don't know what would be worse, living in Karbala or living in a Wal-Mart compound - er, small town.

[Amethyst]

I don't actively look for religion or I wrote my bit about Salvatin Army before reading this post. Who do the Salvation Army people discriminate against? Frankly, I don't know a thing about them except that when I was little there used to be Salvation Army stores with used clothing where my grandmother used to get stuff for my mother to make clothes out of for us kids. (Mom did not like that because she preferred using new material.) Or where cheap toys were availble that our parents could never have afforded at the new price. I never knew they were a church until I read about it somewhere on the forums.

 

They actively discriminate against homosexuals, liberal Christians, and anyone who isn't Christian. Not so much when handing out clothes, but hiring. They refuse to hire anyone who isn't a fundy. If you are gay or atheist or liberal in any way, shape or form, forget it.

[The Sage Nabooru]

Yeah I had no idea the Salvation Army was a religious thing until well into my teens. A local Catholic church closed down and they bought it. I don't even know if they run religious services and actually operate as a "denomination".

 

I don't give my stuff to them, in the sense of my old clothes and such. For one thing I don't produce a lot of old clothes as I'm what they call "thrifty". I reuse everything and I don't buy something unless I really, really want it, so I don't have lots of extra clothes that I never wear and bought out of boredom. What I do have I give to Goodwill. They're more convenient.

 

But whenever those Salvation Army people start ringing those bells in front of stores during the holiday season, I think, that poor guy's out here in the freezing cold and is staying out here, ringing his bell and saying "Thank you" to everybody, and again I don't want a needy person to miss a meal during the winter because I felt a grudge against the organization that was feeding him. Within reason, of course; if it was James Dobson's Save the Homeless Fags from Eternal Damnation Christmas Appeal I wouldn't be so generous.

[Da Realist84]

Do any of you avoid Christian owned businesses, or stop using a business if you discover that its Christian oriented?

No, it never crosses my mind. I generally go for the best quality at the lowest price. I don't care what kind of nonsense the owners may carry in their heads so long as they deliver the goods.

 

 

I agree wit this. There's nothing more that needs to be said.

[Amethyst]

Yeah I had no idea the Salvation Army was a religious thing until well into my teens. A local Catholic church closed down and they bought it. I don't even know if they run religious services and actually operate as a "denomination".

 

I don't give my stuff to them, in the sense of my old clothes and such. For one thing I don't produce a lot of old clothes as I'm what they call "thrifty". I reuse everything and I don't buy something unless I really, really want it, so I don't have lots of extra clothes that I never wear and bought out of boredom. What I do have I give to Goodwill. They're more convenient.

 

But whenever those Salvation Army people start ringing those bells in front of stores during the holiday season, I think, that poor guy's out here in the freezing cold and is staying out here, ringing his bell and saying "Thank you" to everybody, and again I don't want a needy person to miss a meal during the winter because I felt a grudge against the organization that was feeding him. Within reason, of course; if it was James Dobson's Save the Homeless Fags from Eternal Damnation Christmas Appeal I wouldn't be so generous.

 

There are other organizations that concentrate on food that aren't overtly religious, like this one:

 

http://www.secondharvest.org

 

And there's always the classic standby, the Red Cross.

[Thackerie]

... I don't patronize Dominos because of their connections to anti-abortion and creationist groups.

 

Curves, the womans gym, donates money to those "pregnancy crisis centers" that lie to women about abortions and push their religious views on women in a vulnerable position. The owner and his lawyer are in court over shady business practices.

 

Just down the road is a hardware store that has christrian pamphlets on the counter. To me, that's just offering, not advertising, and doesn't bother me enough to stop going there.

 

Good for you! Dominos and Curves are on my shit list, too. And the Salvation Army as well, for the reasons stated by Amethyst.

[twincats]

It does affect how I feel about a business or charity. I have quit my long affiliation with World Vision for that reason; I don't wish to further an organization that prosletyzes.

 

We have a local business called Faith Quality Auto Body. They have cute commercials, but just the name is a bit too "in-yer-face" for my comfort zone. I've never really seen any religious tracts in businesses, but probably would assume they were placed there by a church rather than the proprietor. Maybe that's naive, I don't know.

 

In general, though, I don't pay that much attention. As long as no one wants to "talk about Jesus" I don't much care.

[♦ nivek ♦]

I have an oil furnace, and was going to order a delivery from the company I've used for several years. But I decided to check something out first. This company owns some gas stations, and I used to get the oil in my car changed at one of them. They always had Christian pamphlets laying around the waiting area, and the postcards they would sometimes send out to their customers might have a Christian reference, or a photo of a church on the front.

 

 

. Do any of you avoid Christian owned businesses, or stop using a business if you discover that its Christian oriented?

 

 

EX-COG..

 

I've never had my anus or wallet so expanded quite like doing business with some religious folken.

Their particular theology allows for their particular version of "holiness" to include screwing over *not_like_them* with impunity from their priests, pastors and gods.

 

I see any symbol telling me upfront about their particular religious inclinations, I'll drive hours to go supply or buy from other than that business or individual.

 

The "fish" symbol is simply a sign that *after they fuck you stupid, Jebuzz will still forgive them*.

 

I and my business interests and partners have learned.

 

HollieGhostie is a non-enjoyable lubing..

 

k, been fucked, FL

[Ex-COG]

I've never had my anus or wallet so expanded quite like doing business with some religious folken.

Their particular theology allows for their particular version of "holiness" to include screwing over *not_like_them* with impunity from their priests, pastors and gods.

 

I see any symbol telling me upfront about their particular religious inclinations, I'll drive hours to go supply or buy from other than that business or individual.

 

The "fish" symbol is simply a sign that *after they fuck you stupid, Jebuzz will still forgive them*.

 

I and my business interests and partners have learned.

 

HollieGhostie is a non-enjoyable lubing..

 

k, been fucked, FL

I've had that happen to me. Not with the oil company I used, but with a garage. The church I attended always took their van to be servcied at PTL Tire and Auto, so I decided that was where I'd take my car in for a tune up. They quoted me a price, and I left it with them. Imagine my surprise when I returned to pick it up, and was told it would cost me $300 more! When asked why, they claimed they had to replace this and that, etc. Nobody called me about the extra work or charges ahead of time. I was mad, but being a "forgiving" Christian (actually I was a big wimp) I just paid it, but never took the car back there.

 

Also, there was a gas station that the church had its charge account at, but I never went there for gas. The station would put out its prices just like all the rest, and if both had an equal price, you would think you could just pull into any of them and buy the same product. But they weren't equal; the station used by the church was actually advertising a lower octane gas for their low price. In other words, you'd pull in expecting to be able to buy 87 octane, only to find that the low price on the sign was really for 82 or 84 (not sure what the numbers were) octane, which I don't think you can use in your car. So you'd have to pull over to the 87 octane pump, and pay several cents more for the gas, which was equal to the price of mid-grade gas at other stations. I've never heard of a gas station doing that before or since.

[Astreja]

I generally avoid dealing with companies that I know to be supporters of fundamentalist-anything agendas.

 

I've also walked out of stores without purchasing anything because they were playing Christian talk radio or praise music.

 

But if a Christian business is not overly pushy about their beliefs and provides a good product at a good price, I'll deal with them. Habitat for Humanity has a store across town that sells used building materials, and my favourite secondhand store is run by the Mennonite Central Committee.

[sarahgrace]

Astreja, yeah, I *heart* the MCC... Ten Thousand Villages! Thrift Store! Unobnoxious! They're hands-down winners for me.

[Vixentrox]

I avoid them if it's convient. I'm not going to really go out of my way to not shop with them however.

[R. S. Martin]

I don't actively look for religion or I wrote my bit about Salvatin Army before reading this post. Who do the Salvation Army people discriminate against? Frankly, I don't know a thing about them except that when I was little there used to be Salvation Army stores with used clothing where my grandmother used to get stuff for my mother to make clothes out of for us kids. (Mom did not like that because she preferred using new material.) Or where cheap toys were availble that our parents could never have afforded at the new price. I never knew they were a church until I read about it somewhere on the forums.

 

They actively discriminate against homosexuals, liberal Christians, and anyone who isn't Christian. Not so much when handing out clothes, but hiring. They refuse to hire anyone who isn't a fundy. If you are gay or atheist or liberal in any way, shape or form, forget it.

 

That's bad. I think it's illegal. What I was going to say is that they would have a hard time getting me figured out. I wear the traditional Old Order Mennonite dress because it's my identity and I am comfortable with it. I just don't hold to the OOM beliefs. Most people have a serious problem separating dress from beliefs, even religious study graduate students. I ended up discarding the head covering and wearing my hair down because of this. I felt I was misrepresenting my people. That did the trick; people are now more likely to ask if I'm Mennonite than in the past.

[R. S. Martin]

Astreja, yeah, I *heart* the MCC... Ten Thousand Villages! Thrift Store! Unobnoxious! They're hands-down winners for me.

 

So you've got Ten Thousand Villages and MCC Thrift Stores in Winnipeg, too? They're all over the place here. Ten Thousand Villages sells stuff I don't use but I use the thrift stores all the time. I've seldom been in a Salvation Army store because the Mennonite thrift store was closer and more convenient. I just remember Salvation Army stuff from my childhood. I don't think there were any MCC thrift stores around here back then.

[Amethyst]

That's bad. I think it's illegal. What I was going to say is that they would have a hard time getting me figured out. I wear the traditional Old Order Mennonite dress because it's my identity and I am comfortable with it. I just don't hold to the OOM beliefs. Most people have a serious problem separating dress from beliefs, even religious study graduate students. I ended up discarding the head covering and wearing my hair down because of this. I felt I was misrepresenting my people. That did the trick; people are now more likely to ask if I'm Mennonite than in the past.

 

The thing is, it's technically not illegal. That's why they and the Boy Scouts get away with it. If they were a for-profit company instead of a private organization, they'd have to obey the law.

[Scarlett]

Some might say I'm being picky, or even that I shouldn't avoid Christian businesses, but why not? Many Christians purposely patronize stores and service providers because they are Christian owned; my town even used to have a "Christian Yellow Pages" that you could use to make sure that you exclusively bought from those "in the flock". Do any of you avoid Christian owned businesses, or stop using a business if you discover that its Christian oriented?

 

 

Eh, I avoid Christian businesses like the plague. If I see they have a Jesus fish or a cross, no way are they getting my money.