Christmas is right around the corner and Christian consumers who want to be sure their hard-earned dollars aren’t going to companies that discriminate against them will now be able to participate in a new “boycott” which will help them find the most Christian-friendly stores with which to do business.
The Washington Examiner is reporting on the new program, launched by Faith Driven Consumer (FDC), which found that 70 percent of “faith consumers” want to shop at Christian-friendly establishments, but don’t always know which stores are the most welcoming to people of faith. If you’re anxious to spend your Christmas dollars in Christian-friendly stores, a new pre-Christmas campaign has been launched to help these consumers find the most welcoming stores.
Organizers told the Examiner that companies who claim to be “diverse”, which usually means they are focused on minorities such as LGBT persons, must also start including Christians and their values. For example, if the company hosts a gay pride day, they should also be open to hosting a Bible study.
“Most companies are behind on the issue,” the Examiner’s Paul Bedard writes, “but Hollywood has already embraced the 41-million Christian market with a wave of family and religious friendly movies like the upcoming ‘Risen’ and ‘Ben Hur’.”
So where do the others stack up?
The FDC has just unveiled its first Faith Equality Index (FEI)which ranks 300 companies from 1 (poor) to 100 (excellent) on just how “diverse” they really are.
Surprisingly, none of those ranked had very high grades, including those most noted for their defense of Christian values such as Chick-fil-A which scored 63 on the scale, Hobby Lobby which scored 62 and Tyson Foods scoring 60. Walmart comes in at 51 with Cracker Barrell restaurants scoring 53.
Some are much worse. Health Insurers Kaiser Permanente and United Health Group scored 21 and 27 respectively. JetBlue was the highest scoring airline at 37. The scores for department stores were also paltry, with Dillard’s beating out Sears for the top spot, scoring 42 to Sears’ 36. Lowe’s easily beat Home Depot with a score of 40 to the Depot’s measly 28.
“In a marketplace that celebrates diversity, the Faith Equality Index focuses major brands on the newest color in their rainbow, Faith Driven Consumers. Like every community, Faith Driven Consumers expect to be welcomed by the companies they do business with and work for. FEI affords the marketplace a transparent tool to measure where brands stand,” said Chris Stone, founder of Faith Driven Global.
“We congratulate the inaugural leaders and look forward to working with them, and the other rated brands, in the coming months—helping them all progressively improve their scores. We recognize that many brands still have a long way to go in welcoming, embracing, and celebrating Faith Driven Consumers at parity with their other diversity communities, and are diligently working with all brands as they seek to understand and embrace this key constituency.”
By using this handy Index when doing your Christmas shopping this year, you will be sending a powerful message to companies who claim to be diverse while discriminating against Christians and their values. Real diversity welcomes all, not just the politically correct.
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