Doesn’t sway me one way or the other, whether it’s pro-my religion (I’m Episcopalian) or not. But if the CEO has a “Why yes, I’m a priest of the Church of Satan, but my duties are mainly ceremonial” bumper sticker, then all bets are off.
Probably because it falls more into the category of “good wishes” than “preaching.”
A statue or a cross I don’t have a problem with.
Jesus fishes and “Christan owned business” statements I have a big problem with. As an adult I have been fucked twice in financial deals. One person had a Jesus fish on his business card. The other had a Jesus fish and “Christan owned business” on his. Both of these people had better hope that OG is all forgiving as they were both scum. In addition I have met several Jesus fish on the card, but we are really scum, that have not fucked me. (I got smart)
So now if I come across someone with a Jesus fish or “Christan owned business” on their business cards, I place on hand over my wallet and the other over my family jewels and run like hell.
Chances are if they’re advertising like that, they probably aren’t too GLBT friendly…
If I have a choice of two places, and one has Christian stuff advertised or logos, I’m not going to go there. Although if it was a rainbow religious symbol, I might be totally confused on what to do!
Heh. A while back Dear Abby ran a batch of columns where the writer said that her husband/boyfriend was a “Christian Man” - and then recounted an awful tale of abuse and assholery. Made me think to tell them all that if a guy says he’s a good Christian man, kick him in the nuts and leave. I think maybe these businesses should demonstrate it, not bleat it.
Those posts echo the majority of my thoughts.
I also feel that political statements couched in Christianity are loathsome.
I sometimes listen to the local affiliate of a “hip” Christian radio station, because sometimes they have decent music, I am not paying for a thing, and their “Dude, ever thought about Christ?” ads are very infrequent.
If you need to advertise what religion you are affiliated with in order to get business, may be you aren’t the best choice for me.
I’m another Christian who gets turned off by fishes and Bible verses on Yellow Page ads. They just give me an off feeling, possibly residual from many years of not being a Christian. There’s something very smug about them, it seems to me. I don’t like fishes on the back of cars or Calvin praying stickers either. I seriously dislike the “in case of rapture” bumperstickers, too. There is no humility in that flavor of Christianity, no wonder, no love. It’s an expression of “My club is better than your club, nyeah.”
I know it isn’t always meant to be that way. I know I’m a hypocrite for wearing a cross, too. I won’t cross the street to avoid the shop, but I will usually skip past their ads in the phone book.
Oh, and those Covenant trucks make my lip curl.
Personal displays of religion in businesses don’t bother me either. I do have to wonder about the ones that use religious symbols in advertising. I tend to watch the bottom line if I bother to shop at them at all. If they are competitively priced, have merchandise or services comparable to their competitors and good customer service, why would they need to plug something not related to their businesses? It should keep you on the alert for a deficiancy on one or more of those categories. Like Dangerosa, I find the “Christ as a shill” thing pretty disrespectful as well. Wasn’t he the one who drove the money lenders from the temple in Christian scriptures? Kind of makes me wonder what Jesus would think about contemporary commercial tie-ins.
What Harriet the Spry said.
BTW, I’m amazed at the overt bigotry this question has brought out.
Such as? Pretty much everyone has said that personal expressions are fine, but not using religion as a sales pitch. That’s overt bigotry in your book?
What I’m talking about:
So 2 out of 70 replies. And you can’t honestly tell me that after seven years here you’re amazed to hear that from Der Trihs. And as for what HtS said, how many businesses do you see that go out of their way to say how Shinto they are? Emphasizing that they’re Jewish-owned? Shop here because we’re Hindu? How many groups go out of their way to pimp out their religion?
:rolleyes: As I was saying . . . . .
I do distinguish, as evidenced by the second part you also quoted. You don’t want to distinguish, that’s your choice. In Spain the abortion debate includes some religious overtones but they’re way minor compared with the US. I’ve seen offices where the religious displays included both Buddhist and Christian images - a Chinese prospective employee had seen the image one worker kept on her desk, asked “hey, can I bring my own images if I get the job?” and gotten a yes-of-course. So she did bring her Buddha.
Most Spanish businesses close on Sundays for business reasons; current law indicates that retail operations must close down one day a week and the majority of stores close Saturday afternoon and Sunday all day (I know some entrepreneurs who close two mornings mid-week and Sunday afternoon instead); there’s attempts from supermarkets to get permission to open all week and small businesses are fighting them because, they claim, “this will mean we lose customers”. Most restaurants for example have their resting day on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, the exception being those which live from feeding hordes of office workers M-F. The closest I’ve come to someone indicating a religious reason for closing is “closed from X-Y to Z-Y cos we’re getting married”… and for the last 30 years it can very well be a civilian marriage (I guess you’d say “civil union,” but we use the word boda wherever the wedding takes place, and the word matrimonio whether it involved some kind of minister or not).
Oh: this is something most of their customers never realize, but the best-selling brand of pillows in Spain is made by cloistered nuns and one of the biggest brands of chocolate, by monks. The reason the customers never realize it is because the closest either one comes to advertising this is that the brand of chocolate is La Trapa… no “Jesus bless you,” no fishes, no crosses… just good pillows and good chocolate. You can tell from some of the pillows ads that the factory is in Navarra (“if you overslept because of one of our pillows don’t tell your boss the subway was running late… no subway in Pamplona”) but no hint anywhere that it’s Carmelites.
So what would you describe it as?
So what would you describe it as? Because that’s what using your faith as a sales pitch certainly looks like to me.
It’s also in such small, inconspicuous letters that I didn’t notice it until I put the invoice in my glove box.
Robin
Edit : Probably not the thread for it.