I explicitly avoid any business of any scale which avows any religious afiliation, display, or opinion.
I try to avoid businesses that advertise their religiosity.
We once had a vet who ran an ad in the local Christian yellow pages and then promoted that fact, including leaving a copy of it in their waiting room. I thought about finding another vet except these people were good, and didn’t try to convert our cocker spaniel (it wouldn’t have worked; she was the spawn of Satan).
Good thing it wasn’t a watermelon (room for lots more Bible verse).
Add me to the list of “against.” My reason is similar to previously given sentiments: The more emphatically somebody plays the “look at how devout I am” trumpet, the more likely they are to be a con artist. If someone’s an honest entrepreneur, they don’t need to say so; their business practices will speak for themselves. People who loudly beat the drum of faith, whether they’re shopkeepers or politicians, are probably trying to distract the public from something else.
And it’s not just Christianity, but as I’m in the U.S., that’s the most commonly encountered example.
That’s two things on which we agree. One of us should be concerned.
Want to see bigotry, I know for a fact, because of several discussions I have overheard around the offices of several of my customers, if the owner knew I was an athiest, they would drop me right then and there. Not because I didn’t do good work, but that they have some aversion to dealing with us “infidels”.
For bigotry to do any real damage on a broad scale, you pretty much have to be in the majority. Christianity and its variants, being the dominant religious block in the US, has that power. If every athiest in the US went out and somehow shattered the beliefs of a true believer, it would still hardly put a dent in that majority.
Against.
I’m fine with quiet, personal displays of faith- a cross on the wall, a picture of the Sacred Heart, a small shrine to Buddha, that red skinned Daoist god with the spear, or a saint, or a mezuzzah by the door.
But I hate any attempt to use religion to sell a business, or any attempt to proseletyze.
The message I get from these ads is that the business particularly wants Christians, instead of everyone, as customers. In that case, I’m happy to oblige them by not patronizing them. An alternative interpretation is that they see the need to flaunt their Christian superiority to everyone, which I find insulting as someone who has never been Christian.
Why do you think they put the fish in their ads?
A third interpretation, and an excellent one for anyone in customer service: Matthew 7:12, "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Neither do I, considering that they’re stolen, as Bill Watterson never allowed his characters to be licensed. What does Jesus say about stolen intellectual property?
Why, he’d tell that stingy Bill, “If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well.” (Matthew 5:40)
Nice sentiment. But unless you mean that the shopkeeper wants me to repay him in kind and go into his shop quoting Alistair Crowley, Doreen Valiente, and my personal Book of Shadows, it doesn’t answer the question.
What’s the motivation for the shopkeeper who puts bible quotes on his van or Jesus fish on his business cards? We’ve offered our ideas for his motivation: trying to attract customers of that faith, trying to convert, or trying to keep away customers of other faiths. What other motivation do you posit?
Overt religious displays may cause a place to lose my business or never gain it in the first place, depending on the display. Jesus fish in advertising? Won’t call your business. Bible quote on your website? Email to you requesting removal of offensive material.
My favorite was the store that had signs everywhere: “Shoplifting is not only a crime, it’s a sin!” Oooh, if I’m not ascairt of jail, then surely I’m afraid of hell. They lost my business.
Political stuff that I don’t agree with loses me even faster, though.
Can you explain how they are treating me by putting a Jesus fish in an ad?
You say they are treating me the way they want to be treated, which is how?
If I owned a store or a service, I’m betting they wouldn’t like me plastering God Sux all over my ads. That would indeed be obnoxious. Is it too much to ask the same of them? (Notice I didn’t suggest Christians Suck, which would be a direct attack on them, and worse than what they’re doing.)
It could mean that the business owner is saying, “I am a Christian, and I strive to follow Christian principles* of honesty, generosity, fairness, whatever is the opposite of greediness, etc. I hope that will recommend me to you, no matter what your faith.”
But, per typical SDMB desire to interpret everything to its worse possibility, I’m sure there will be those who will find some objection to that too. Go ahead, spit the bile out and vent the hostility.
My own experience has been that people of deep and true faith are more honest and kinder than the general population.
- No, these qualities aren’t exclusive to Christianity, but they are qualities that Christ preached.
Alright, thank you. That’s an actual answer, and one that I can respect.
See how much easier this is when you actually answer for yourself, with thought and consideration, instead of regurgitating quotes which really don’t apply to the situation at hand?
Which “regurgitated” (nice hostile word, there) quotes did not apply to the situation at hand? My post #88 and my post #95 are the same idea. I used a direct quote in #88 because I believe in using primary documentation whenever possible over paraphrasing.
No, they aren’t the same idea at all. Post #88 is essentially “do unto others” and is a total non sequitur when asked what message the business owner might be trying to send out (unless you had meant it that the business owner wants us to advertise our religions to him), and post #95 is a reasonable argument stating the positive qualities that the business owner hopes the potential customer will associate with his business.
Yes, they are the same idea. The quotation is entirely on point. The quotation is an example of the Christian principles that the proprietor hopes to exemplify in his business dealings.
No, they aren’t.
No, it wasn’t.
At best it was a vague and obscure reference to what you actually meant to convey.