Where does religion fit?
by Miki Saxon
Last week Kristen King asked Should Religion Be Part of Your Brand? She said “I wish companies would keep their religious views to themselves…[it’s] unprofessional and it makes me angry.”
It makes me more than angry.
Kristen used Covenant Transport and a design element on their truck that says “It Is Not A Choice It Is A Child” as her example (read her post, I’m not going to repeat it all here).
One of the comments said, “To try to dictate that I should not stand up for the rights of human beings is tyrannical… Would you want to work with a practicing Murder?”
But as Kristen says, “Morality and ethics according to whom?”
Last year in Are ethical values set or fluid? I said “Universally, murder has always been considered bad, but what constitutes murder is ever changing.”
For centuries killing your wife was considered bad taste, but since she was property it wasn’t a crime; certainly killing your slave wasn’t murder in ancient times and in the pre-Civil War days it depended on where you lived and what you believed.
The Army of God thinks it’s OK to bomb abortion clinics and kill the staff, while Osama bin Laden wants to kill “infidels.”
Religion, like sex, used to be private. Now it is evangelized, advertised and promoted the same way as any other commercial product.
But commercial products don’t vilify you for not buying them.
As I said in my comment, “I am so tired of having almost every person I meet explain to me why
1. I’m a horrible person because I don’t have “the true faith” and will go to Hell.
2. The only true faith is their version and if I don’t switch I’ll go to Hell.
3. They’ll pray for me.
I find number three the most insulting, since it dismisses everything else and assumes their superiority.”
Some defend religion in business as nitch marketing, but where is the line drawn? I’ve been on the receiving end when a “Christian” business owner found out that I didn’t share his beliefs. Fortunately, the court didn’t agree that the differences were an acceptable reason for violating a contract.
There may be valid reasons to mention religion, such as Hebrew National (mentioned by one commenter), but Hebrew National doesn’t spend its money lobbying to make kosher the law of the land.
I passionately subscribe to S.G. Tallentyre’s (not Voltaire) statement, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,” only I don’t disapprove, I just disagree.
What I disapprove of is the effort to cram it down my throat; to claim that YOUR morality, YOUR judgments, YOUR beliefs are CORRECT and should color every decision I make or become the law of the land.
What do YOU think?
Your comments—priceless
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Image credit: similarlee CC license
September 8th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
I’m more than a little surprised that I am the first comment on this. Must be a busy day at work.
Miki, you, like most people, have obviously run up against some misguided people who made you feel somehow condemned for not being like them. I think we all have had that experience at least once, and it is always distasteful, whether it is a “religious” context or a social one.
The interesting thing about that is that Christians (obviously the group you are most enraged by) are the least judgmental people I know — at least the real ones I know. The problem is that most people who claim to be Christians either are not or are “baby” Christians, who don’t understand what being a Christ-follower even means.
True leadership is inclusive more than exclusive. What you seem to feel you have experienced is an exclusive attitude, something that the real Christians I know don’t practice at all.
I have to say that the business persons who I have come across who most vocally proclaim that they are Christians have been some of the biggest frauds and cheaters I have met. Not all of them, but enough that I am always wary when I run into one. But I can also say that the most honest, forthright, and servant-hearted companies I have run into are run by Christians — they just don’t blatantly advertise it. They aren’t trying to cash in on their beliefs; they are just living them out.
I would only say that it is important to recognize the difference between those who proclaim to be something and are actually something else.
Thanks for bringing this to light, because I know you aren’t the only person who has experienced this.
September 9th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Hi Wes, most of the discussion is taking place over on Kristen’s blog (see link). I’m fully aware that what you say is true, although I take exception to “But I can also say that the most honest, forthright, and servant-hearted companies I have run into are run by Christians.” I know of thousands of ‘honest, forthright, and servant-hearted companies’ that are run by folks whose beliefs don’t encompass Jesus.
To me, it’s not inclusive vs exclusive, it’s private vs public and, to me, religion should be private. Further, “you” have no right to judge “me,” no matter what “you” think about what “I” believe.