Supermarket chain Tesco's decision to sponsor homosexual festival Pride London could be costly, depending on the reaction of those most likely to be morally offended by the move.
Tesco's management may have convinced itself that running a family area at the London WorldPride festival in 2012 can safeguard the company's image as a family-friendly retailer. But if sales are lost from customers who abhor the thought of bringing their children to a global gay pride parade, then Tesco's shareholders will not share the management's perception.
Roman Catholics, evangelical Christians, and Muslims, whose religions are opposed to practising homosexuality, often have large families, meaning that a significant proportion of their weekly budget goes on groceries. A boycott by them of Tesco would be significantly more costly than a boycott by the gay community, which tends to be comprised of smaller households.
Though it is not socially and morally responsible for any company to sponsor homosexual festivals, for the compelling reasons Anglican Mainstream gives, from a purely commercial point of view one can understand vodka brand Smirnoff sponsoring Pride London. Its product fits with the lifestyle many homosexual people choose to pursue. But a grocer like Tesco reliant on the big family shop?
Speaking to a Tesco press officer, Cranmer's Curate got a firm impression that Tesco is ideologically committed to promoting homosexual parading, even passionately so. Its shareholders will of course foot the bill for this ideological commitment, if there is one.
So far there have been no calls from orthodox Christian leaders for a boycott of Tesco. Such calls may come but church leaders would be advised to say that it is an option for Christians rather than insisting on it as a Christian duty.
Each servant of Christ must make up his or her own mind as to whether Tesco has crossed the line here.
This - Dialogue trick on orthodox bishops visiting the West - appeared on US-based orthodox Anglican news service VirtueOnline.
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Dear Julian. I have just come across your site by 'accident' and am delighted to see your comment about Tesco. I heartily concur.
ReplyDeleteI think I recall seeing an article of yours on Anglican Mainstream about Christian marriage.
There is no doubt that Mr Cameron and this Coalition have fallen for the "gay" ideology, and apart from this being a daring and arrogant attack upon the God given institution of marriage (for all - whether Christian or not), I believe it will be his undoing electorally.
I'm sure you will agree that this is a battle which we must win, and with the Lord's grace we WILL!
I am glad to see too that bothe the Christian Institute, which I support, and Christian Concern for the Nation are both vigorously opposing this move.
I see you link to Abp Cranmer's blog. He is an excellent man, and I regularly contribute to it when I have time.
May the Lord bless your labours and witness for Him. In Christ
Graham Wood (York UK)
I mentioned Tesco's actions over a week ago and the fact that my family are boycotting Tesco.
ReplyDeleteI was quite surprised at the reaction in favor. I have asked each person how much they spend and so far have reduced our local Tesco's income by about £250,000 per year. Many people are saying that they prefer ASDA, Morrisons,Lidil etc and say how much they are saving. It is getting quite popular, many of the people I suggested it to are coming back to me with how much they have saved!
I am hoping that I can reduce Tesco's income by £1million over the next few weeks.
So far it does not seem to pose many difficulties at all !
I don't quite follow your argument here, Julian. You're claiming that Tesco, by advertising through a particular medium (in this case event sponsorship), are inherently making an ideological 'commitment' to said medium. So, to extrapolate this argument, if Tesco advertises on, say, ITV, are they making an 'ideological commitment' to the four companies that own the channel? Surely not.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, the bill for this is surely not footed by the shareholders, but consumers who shop at Tesco, just as consumers always pay for an advertising budget. So, we see Tesco advertising regularly on Channel 5, then, indirectly, Tesco consumers are funding Richard Desmond's pornographic business. However, I don't notice any calls amongst evangelicals (or anyone, for that matter), for a boycott for this reason. It could well leave you open to an accusation of cherry-picking of topics on which there is division in the church, rather than something on which there is consensus. The Christian faith is about co-operation and understanding, not point scoring and posturing. I think you can see why you would not want to leave yourself open to such accusations.
My third point, and the one which I am most concerned about, is this. You seem to advocate the boycotting of companies that openly support Gay Rights issues. This involves the assumption, in your mind, that there is no legitimacy for a company to support gay rights. It can be argued that a shop or small business run by gay people implicitly supports gay rights. Do you think their businesses should be boycotted? Should we organise pickets outside them to ensure no-one enters? Tell me, where do you draw the line? Or do you go the whole hog, and set up a fully fledged Kristallnacht?
To preserve basic freedoms within our society, it is so, so important that freedom of speech, expression, and, yes, media (inc. advertising) are present within our society. Surely, as a vicar, you are in a position to understand many aspects of human society and relationships. Please, please don't support policies constraining freedom and damaging our society.
Thank you Sir/Madame - I would if I may encourage posters to leave their name and location.
ReplyDeleteThe shareholders own the company, so they do 'foot the bill' if it performs badly.
I said this is a judgement issue as to whether Christians boycott or not. You're right - secular companies will do many things a Christian would disapprove of. But it could be argued that sponsoring WorldPride is more than advertising. It could be seen as an offensive move in the culture war.
"...from a purely commercial point of view one can understand vodka brand Smirnoff sponsoring Pride London. Its product fits with the lifestyle many homosexual people choose to pursue."
ReplyDeleteWould you care to elaborate on this point? I'm not entirely clear what you are getting at.
Thank you - it might be helpful to think of it like this. If you were wanting to sell bed socks or a non-alcholic bed-time drink you might want your logo displayed at, for example, an international bowling competition or a vegetable growing festival.
ReplyDeleteA global gay pride parade probably wouldn't spring to mind in the first instance.
Thanks for replying to my comment. I'm still a bit unclear as to the notion of 'the culture war'. As far as I was aware, it is possible for several cultures to coexist in close proximity to each other. I see very little evidence of a 'war'.
ReplyDeleteAs Christians, we should be aiming towards a 'peaceful co-existence' approach, rather than a more hostile outlook.
Thank you for the response, but it didn't really address my query. Could you please elaborate on what "...the lifestyle many homosexual people choose to pursue" is, and how that is a good fit with Smirnoff vodka?
ReplyDeleteThe Smirnoff marketing people clearly did their research and considered that their brand fits with the kind of people minded to attend a gay pride parade - those wanting to pursue what you might call a clubbing life-style. Clearly that wouldn't be true of all homosexual people, but enough to convince Smirnoff.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that somewhat of an assumption? Not everyone who goes to a Pride event goes to clubs. To return to my (admittedly tired) TV advertising comparison, not everyone who watches ITV goes to clubs, yet Smirnoff chooses to advertise through that medium. The insinuation that all Pride attendees go to clubs is a gross oversimplification, and doesn't represent the wide range of people who attend the marches.
ReplyDeleteHomosexual people often pursue what you might call a "Tesco grocery shopping lifestyle" as well, so it seems to make as much sense for a gay pride event to be part sponsored by Tesco as by Smirnoff. I honestly can't imagine that there are enough people in the UK who are so completely opposed to homosexuality that a boycott of Tesco by them will make any real difference in profit. Beliefs such as yours are very much in the minority nowadays - your impact is bound to be limited.
ReplyDeleteChristian beliefs were once held by a small minority in approx AD 30 in the Roman Empire and at the end of World War II in China...
ReplyDeleteTesco say they are an 'inclusive' store - that everyone is welcome.
ReplyDeleteThat is fine.
What is not fine is having their charitable giving going to gay lobby group.
I think it more effective to point this out to the Tesco chairman (address on Anglican Mainstream website)
Here we go again. Homosexuality is a natural, neutral and unchangeable trait. That's what every medical and psychiatric institution says in the western world. However, here is a man who claims to have better information than all those most qualified to speak on the matter. I love it how Christians claim to be so humble, yet at the same time make the mose arrogant claims.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't accept that homosexuality is a natura;l expression of love, fine - you can believe what you want in your crackpot church. So long as I don't have anything to do with it. Gay Pride is also a family event - many gay families with their children will be taking part.
The great thing about the Tesco sponsorship is that it shows gay people are part of society like everyone else. Christian extremists hate this because it doesn't fit in with their prejudices which are based on nothing but fantasy. The sad fthing is that Mann's wailing rant, and the whole boycott campaign is based on hatred - hatred of that fact that a small minority of people, who mean Mann and others no harm at all, are accepted and included.
Who needs Richard Dawkins to drive people away from faith - all we have to do is let you open your mouth. Keep talking, 'reverend'.
Is the 'Golden Rule' Christianity not "love thy neighbor"? Nowhere in the Bible does it say you can pick and choose who to love and accept. It also states "let he who is without sin cast the first stone". No-one is without sin, Christians included, therefore no-one has the right to judge a fellow human being. Do you really think if Jesus walked the earth today He would spend His time judging homosexuals? I don't believe He would. He would show them love, accept them regardless of their lifestyle. He loves all and I can't understand why His followers feel they have the right to speak such hate in His name. I'm sure he wouldn't approve at all.
ReplyDeleteCertainly in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus warned his followers against judgemental hypocrisy (see Matthew 7v1-5). But he never commanded his followers to suspend moral judgements over what is right and wrong. Indeed just the opposite. They are to exercise such judgement in the light of his teaching. For example, in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus warns his followers to beware of false teachers (Matthew 7v15-20), which involves making a judgement as to who is a false teacher. 'By their fruits ye shall them,' he said.
ReplyDeleteSorry that should read: 'by their fruits ye shall know them' (Matthew 7v20).
ReplyDeleteThe Bible makes it clear that Jesus does not accept any one, regardless of lifestyle, He forgives our sins if we genuinely repent and seek to live holy and righteous lives through the power of His Holy Spirit with in us. Jesus knows our weaknesses, our idols that we put before Him and He exposes them (eg telling the rich man to give up all that he had, to follow Him). Christians are to love others but not condone and encourage sin, in any form; our love can best be shown by warning people of the terrible consequences of living a sinful life (as we all do) with out knowing the Lord Jesus and seeking His forgiveness and His power in our lives to follow His commandments. We will not shop at Tesco now and will pass on this information to as many as possible.
ReplyDeleteRevd Mann
ReplyDeleteI wouldn’t be caught dead at Gay Pride and I think there are far better things Tesco could spend its money on. But the fact Christians choose this issue as something to ‘fight’ about, when there has and is so much about corporate business that rightly deserves Christian opprobrium, yet Christians have kept silent, demonstrates a lack of moral integrity that rightly deserves scorn and contempt. The Tesco example above demonstrates just how much this is an example of moral cowardice: big business, employment practice that severely impacts upon the family, unbridled capitalism, Sunday trading etc. – all issues Christian could lobby about. But no, that is too hard, so go for the ‘easy’ morality – which by a curious and spooky coincidence happens to dovetail nicely into well-worn cultural prejudices that might get people on ‘our’ side when awkward questions about business etc. would make ‘us’ unpopular. Bleat about ‘moral harm’ etc. all you like, but if you really want to help the family then there are far more important things that you could be concerning yourself with, instead of the easy moral ‘tokenism’ of getting your knickers in a twist over this issue, when there are REAL issues that impact daily on the life of children and families that are ignored. Gay Pride takes place one day in the year, in London, where the vast majority of the population (even of London) will not see it or wish to attend (I have lived in London for 17 years and have never even seen Gay Pride). Whereas the business practices of such companies impact daily on the lives of families in the UK and the rest of the world. Joining in the hype concerning the Tesco’s debacle may make Christians feel better about themselves, but it shows they are lacking any true moral fibre: as noted, it is a case of straining gnats and swallowing camels. The real casualty in such ‘campaigns’ is of course Christianity itself, because for the vast majority of the population, whining about homosexuality is synonymous with bigotry; people know that homosexuality is such an inconsequential issue in day to day life (affecting around 1.5% of the population - with little indication this is increasing). It is not the ‘moral’ voice that people object to, it is the disproportionality that irks – people see it for what it is – taking a pot shot at ‘easy’ targets. The Tesco fiasco is another example of this disproportionality and while some Christians can take pride that they are not going to shop at Tesco because of its support of Gay Pride (no doubt boring anyone who will listen with their act of cheap righteousness) they will stand accused of falling foul of the spirit of Matt 23: 23 & 24.
Thank you for this - would you like to give your name and location?
ReplyDeleteI agree that this is not the only issue around the ethics of commerce that Christians ought to be concerned about.
Marketing that contributes to the sexualisation of children is also a concern.