Whats worse...

[mikekle]

I had the idea for this thread after reading the other thread on this board about the pizza place attacked by anti-christian newspaper article, finally raking in almost a million bucks in a gofundme page by supporters.

I was once a store manager for a chain pizza place back in my early 20s, I remember one summer in our strip mall location, a porn video store was moving into an empty spot right next to our store, this would be the first porn store in the area, and many people were against it, they picketed the strip mall, wrote op-eds, one lady even poured what she called ‘blessed oil’ all around the perimeter of the building, I recall the fire dept, police were all out that day, some people thought she had put down something explosive, turns out it was just cooking oil.

I also remember the owner talking to me, telling me to make sure if any news reporters ask, all employees at his pizza place would say NO COMMENT, he said we dont want to offend anyone, we want the perverts money and the religious person, he joked about this naturally. It kind made me mad, just that the owner would not take ANY position, this seemed like the worst spot to be in.

This got me wondering, which companies are worse, the ones, like Chic filet and this pizza place in the other thread who do speak out against things and stand up for what they believe publicly or the 1000 other companies who do not want to offend anyone, they want everyones money, and could care less about any beliefs.

IMO, Im starting to think the businesses that do speak out and stand up for what their faith are the ones in the right, all these other companies stand for nothing (except greed).

 

[JRKH]

I don’t think it is my place to judge who is right and who is wrong. Did you know your boss’s religious convictions? Was he acting against them by asking that his business remain silent?

Peace
James

 

[mikekle]

I don’t think it is my place to judge who is right and who is wrong. Did you know your boss’s religious convictions? Was he acting against them by asking that his business remain silent?

Peace
James

I knew him out of work, he was not a religious person, pretty much indifferent about it. He was requesting silence or no comment at all, as a way not to offend anyone and possible loss of revenue, this was his only concern…He wanted people to come in and buy pizzas, he could care less if they are religious, non-religious, satanists, killers, etc. As long as the person came in, paid, and left, he was content.

Personally I have more respect for those companies who stand up for what they believe, especially if that means refusing someone service. I owned a lawn care operation a few years back, I remember going to give a quote for regular service to a woman who called, when I met her, she and her 14 yr old daughter were nice, but they quickly made it clear they were practicing witches, the woman actually owned a local store that sold witchcraft/ Wicca items, she was quite proud of this, and the fact that her daughter was a witch as well, she didnt ask me about my beliefs though. This account would have been good for me, nice steady revenue each week, and was close to other accounts, but instead, I told her I was too busy and could not service her. However my reason for this was solely because of her being a witch, as a company owner I have the right to refuse anyone service for any reason.

 

[Allegra]

Unless a business is spiritually oriented, I don’t think it is reasonable for the owners or board to take public stands on issues using the company name. The reason for this is that the stand the owner is taking is his own and not necessarily the view of all of his employees and it make put them in a moral bind if they have to choose between publically supporting what they consider to be an immoral cause, or losing their job. However, I think it’s perfectly reasonable for the owner of a business to make a statement in his own name.

So, given the pizza place example, it would have be perfectly reasonable for him to attend a town hall meeting and make a statement against the porn shop, or take place in a demonstration, or write a letter to the newspaper, but I don’t think it would be reasonable for him to ask his employees to give interviews or wear t-shirts or anything like that. So, in my opinion, asking employees not to comment while at work is the best way to go, even if he had the purest of motives.

 

[JRKH]

I knew him out of work, he was not a religious person, pretty much indifferent about it. He was requesting silence or no comment at all, as a way not to offend anyone and possible loss of revenue, this was his only concern…He wanted people to come in and buy pizzas, he could care less if they are religious, non-religious, satanists, killers, etc. As long as the person came in, paid, and left, he was content.

Personally I have more respect for those companies who stand up for what they believe, especially if that means refusing someone service.

Then you should respect the owner of that pizza store because he DID stand up for what he believed.

I owned a lawn care operation a few years back, I remember going to give a quote for regular service to a woman who called, when I met her, she and her 14 yr old daughter were nice, but they quickly made it clear they were practicing witches, the woman actually owned a local store that sold witchcraft/ Wicca items, she was quite proud of this, and the fact that her daughter was a witch as well, she didn’t ask me about my beliefs though. This account would have been good for me, nice steady revenue each week, and was close to other accounts, but instead, I told her I was too busy and could not service her. However my reason for this was solely because of her being a witch, as a company owner I have the right to refuse anyone service for any reason.

One question - Why did you lie to her? Why did you say you were too busy to take on the account? Why didn’t you stand up for your beliefs and tell her that you could not take on the job because she was a witch?

Just curious…

Peace
James

 

[GEddie]

The purpose of a business is to make a profit by servicing a need, not to fight morality battles.

The owner of the building was within his rights to bring in anybody he chose. There was no battle to be fought.

ICXC NIKA

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Personally I have more respect for those companies who stand up for what they believe, especially if that means refusing someone service.

For the most part, I wish businesses would simply do their business and be done with it. Unfortunately, “standing up for what they believe” may mean that they are promoting causes I don’t believe in or want to support. If I go to buy a widget, I want to buy the widget. I don’t want to have to consider if the company is a supporter or Planned Parenthood or the KKK.

I told her I was too busy and could not service her. However my reason for this was solely because of her being a witch, as a company owner I have the right to refuse anyone service for any reason.

So you didn’t actually stand up for any beliefs.

You may have the right to refuse service but not “for any reason.” Depending on federal, state, or local laws you may not be able to choose your customers on the basis of their race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. In this case, discriminating against a witch may have been as prohibited as discriminating against a Catholic, a Jew, a Muslim, etc.

 

[KD8TZC]

I owned a lawn care operation a few years back, I remember going to give a quote for regular service to a woman who called, when I met her, she and her 14 yr old daughter were nice, but they quickly made it clear they were practicing witches, the woman actually owned a local store that sold witchcraft/ Wicca items, she was quite proud of this, and the fact that her daughter was a witch as well, she didnt ask me about my beliefs though. This account would have been good for me, nice steady revenue each week, and was close to other accounts, but instead, I told her I was too busy and could not service her. However my reason for this was solely because of her being a witch, as a company owner I have the right to refuse anyone service for any reason.

Maybe God placed her in your life for a reason. Maybe He wanted you to get her as a client and expose her to your belief’s to help her see the light of His way. Even Christ spent time with people who many of us would consider less than desirable. It’s a shame that you didn’t take her business as it would have been interesting to see if you could have imparted His way upon her.

John

 

[mikekle]

Maybe God placed her in your life for a reason. Maybe He wanted you to get her as a client and expose her to your belief’s to help her see the light of His way. Even Christ spent time with people who many of us would consider less than desirable. It’s a shame that you didn’t take her business as it would have been interesting to see if you could have imparted His way upon her.

John

Never thought about it like that…I will definitely keep this mind should anything similar happen in the future. Really the job I have now, I come into contact with more new people then when I had that business, I will keep my eye open for similar situations.

 

[Selah_KY]

This got me wondering, which companies are worse, the ones, like Chic filet and this pizza place in the other thread who do speak out against things and stand up for what they believe publicly or the 1000 other companies who do not want to offend anyone, they want everyones money, and could care less about any beliefs.

Neither? I’m not sure that companies who are speaking out about their faith are always doing it for pious reasons - there is profit to be made by stirring up controversy.

I do know that ALL of the people, on both sides, who keep bringing these things to the courts need to stop the nonsense and start speaking to each other like human beings. It is despicable to me that someone would feel the need to destroy another person’s livelihood over something like this.

Maybe God placed her in your life for a reason. Maybe He wanted you to get her as a client and expose her to your belief’s to help her see the light of His way. Even Christ spent time with people who many of us would consider less than desirable. It’s a shame that you didn’t take her business as it would have been interesting to see if you could have imparted His way upon her.

Good point. I need to remember that when it comes to several CHRISTIANS in my life…