That isn’t what they’re doing. They are suppressing any non-company provided accessories to the work uniform. Doesn’t matter if the button says “Yay Jesus” or “Fuck the Draft*”. If Home Depot didn’t provide it, nobody gets to wear it on the work uniform.
*Shout out to all the 1Ls that will be reading Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971) this semester or next.
That seems illogical. Isn’t it possible that people might be offended by not allowing people to wear such buttons? I mean, you seem to be, or at least feel that it is worthy of ridicule. If trying to avoid causing offense were the goal, banning a symbol of support for the majority religion of the country seems far more likely to cause offense than does allowing it.
The account I read yesterday said that he’d been allowed to wear his own flag pin for some time. I don’t recall whether that was months or years, but HD had apparently not made an issue of it until he started bringing his bible to work.
No, an activist minority can achieve influence far beyond its numbers. So many anti-Christian whinebags have raised such a ruckus here over Christianity and its imagery (while simultaneously defending the rights of minority religions) that Christians have become used to that kind of intolerance and discrimination. In fact, I’d say they expect it. There is also the matter of complacency, which is typical when you have a majority. So many Christians simply don’t get that cranked up about it because they don’t feel they have anything to prove.
And then there’s also the very likely fact that Home Depot never expected the issue to become publicly known, much less on a national basis. No doubt many more Christians are offended now than would have been had no one known about it in the first place.
Again, that seems illogical. By the very standards that letting this sort thing be known changes the response, Home Depot could simply let it be known widely and publically that they had no intention of stopping people from wearing badges such as those of the OP. Make it known that there are such activist minorities attempting to change things, thus pricking the complacency, and happily announcing on a national basis that they stand for the majority. As you say, just as it now may offend many more Christians because they have now heard of it, by making it known themselves and taking the opposite stance, they could, by your argument, reap great goodwill towards them.
Pretty much. Beck’s got a right to say what he thinks. Fox has a right to put him on the air. I’ve got a right to have nothing to do with the lying pieces of shit. Enough people take my attitude, Beck goes away.
Doesn’t matter. Political correctness rules all in this country now, and it has for some time. Most businesses these days would rather risk offending 100 Christians that they would one atheist or Jew or Muslim, and for the reasons I just mentioned. But of course what they try to do is both, which results in such inanity as Target one year trying to advertise “Holiday” trees instead of Christmas trees. :rolleyes:
I honestly can’t see any company being affected to such an extent in direct opposition to making profit - unless the company in question is designed with that affect in mind. Let alone most businesses working under this model. I mean, if most businesses around you are offending the vast majority of the country, and only courting the the money of some small percentage of the nation - then any company which started up to court to those Christians would make vast amounts of money. It’s just good business sense to go for 100 potential customers than it is one (assuming similar wealth levels).
Really, I have to doubt that the majority of businesses in the US are prepared to go after 1/100th of the possible business they could do. Given that your reasons provide for a very simple way of doing so, I just can’t see how you can assume this is the case. It’s simple - here’s a big pot of money. Here’s a coin. Which would your company prefer? And that’s even just assuming they cannot have both. I think you have considerably less respect for the average person than I do.
I don’t think you can necessarily lay a charge of political correctness on them. There are a lot of issues here. For one thing, it’s a branding matter. Home Depot wants their people to wear a certain uniform, and it’s part of their brand image. They don’t want it watered down.
It’s also a management issue. One of the reasons for uniforms is to avoid all of the hassle around dress codes and managers having to waste time explaining what is and isn’t acceptable for the work place.
It could also be a safety issue. Home Depot employees work around machinery, climb high ladders, carry odd objects, and in general do things where it’s useful to keep buttons, ties, and other loose articles properly stowed.
Finally, if they allow this guy’s button, then what happens if some smart alec comes in the next day with a ‘God is Dead’ button? And if they say he can’t wear that, and he says, “Hey, I’m an athiest and I have to stare at that God button every day, so why can’t I express myself?”
These are among the many reasons why a lot of stores have a uniform policy. They might look the other way for a tiny little pin or something, but if you try to turn your uniform into a walking billboard for your personal beliefs, expect to get called on it.
I have no sympathy for the guy with the religious button. He’s at work. He has to live by the rules of the workplace. And they aren’t unreasonable rules, either.
I’ve got no problem with Christianity whatsoever, and I think a lot of anti-Christian rhetoric is offensive and that a lot of people go too far in trying to keep religious citizens from expressing themselves in quasi-governmental settings like school convocations. But if I were this guy’s manager, I’d have fired him too.
Geez, and just last week the guy’s boss was ragging on him for not wearing enough “flair”.
Cite?
Christians are the vast majority. Who’s persecuting them? Who’s stopping you from engaging in any iota of practice or expression?Who’s fettering your Christmas displays? What the hell are you talking about? Back these allegations up.
I agree, Sam, and I didn’t mean to single out Home Depot as being especially politically correct. I was merely trying to answer Revenant Threshold’s question as to why Home Depot wouldn’t adopt pro-Christian policies and trumpet them so as to gain Christian support.
Your other points I agree with completely, as I do with Home Depot’s decision to fire him as I mentioned upthread.
What would be an example of a “pro-Christian policy?”
I can’t believe I’m with **Dio **on something. I think the Earth is going to end soon…
But, yes, SA, please explain where all of this anti-Christian stuff takes place. Open a thread about it if you wish. No snark - I’m really quite interested to see specific examples of things that make Christians feel oppressed.
According to Fox News, it’s oppressive to tell a Christian “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.”
50% off crosses every easter!
Lumber yard organized in convenient ark-building product sections.
Interlocking patio bricks designed to make trumpet-proof walls.
Free pile of ashes with every sack cloth purchased.
Free plastic Jesus with any carpenter’s tool purchased.
New storage baskets sized to hold 40 loaves of bread.
New store slogan: “Home Depot - let us help shoulder your burden, brother.”
To be fair, SA hasn’t in this instance claimed oppression of Christians, as far as I can tell. Intolerance, yes, and discrimination, which I don’t see where he’s getting from if he’s referring to this specific instance as being of the type, but not oppression, per se.
He used the words “intolerance and discrimination.” What are some specific instances of “intolerance and discrimination” against Christians, and who’s doing the discriminating
No specific person or persons in mind. But there are plenty of people both out in society and here on the Dope who object quite a bit to Christmas imagery and what they view as the imposition of it upon everyone else. It’s not for nothing, after all, that Target decided two or three years ago to advertise their Christmas trees as Holiday trees. And I’ve seen sentiments expressed around here to the effect that the only proper place for Christmas imagery and decoration is inside people’s houses. Sorry, no cite. (If for no other reason than we have a particularly inadequate search function here and the key words would be too common to do any good.) I would point out though that in addition to Target’s attempts to rename Christmas trees to something more palatable to non-believers, Bill O’Reilly has gotten quite a lot of milage out of what he has portrayed as the “war on Christmas.” I don’t care enough about it right now to open a thread, but if you really want to know more about this issue you should be able to Google plenty of information about it online.
I’m not sure about Fox’s take on it, but I only find “Happy Holidays” offensive when it’s the deliberate result of a person’s saying it as a way to avoid saying Christmas for some political or philosophical reason, or because they’ve been told not to say “Merry Christmas” by their employer. To me, the mere fact that this has become an issue is evidence enough of the movement to suppress Christmas decorations and imagery. Nobody thought twice about either phrase at the time It’s A Wonderful Life was released, so it’s clear that things have changed in the meantime.
That’s right. I’m not claiming Christianity is being oppressed per se, though I most definitely do think efforts are afoot to suppress it, and the reasons are twofold: One, to avoid “offending” non-believers; and two, to make it seem less pervasive throughout society.
Now, having said that, I’m not interested in getting into a heated debate on the issue. We haven’t even cleared Halloween yet and Thanksgiving is still a month away. I’m sure there will be plenty of argument about it as it approaches, just like there has been at Christmas time the last several years.
I just want to say that I find it laughable that Christians still claim some kind of ownership in Christmas. Sure, it’s “Jesus’ birthday” to them, but it is celebrated by all sorts of people, and is joined by celebrations of all sorts of other beliefs.
It’s just a winter solstice celebration, for family and warmth and happiness.