40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade brings Hobby Lobby’s Fight for Religious Liberty into Focus

January 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Faith Driven Consumers Question Conflicting Constitutional Rights

January 22nd marked the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision on abortion. Despite roe v wadeeveryone acknowledging that abortion is the law of the land and that the present court is unlikely to change that fact, Americans remain highly divided on the issue. Recently, in the context of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, the ruling that abortion is a fundamental unenumerated right under the U.S. Constitution has come into direct conflict with the enumerated First Amendment right to freedom of religious expression.

Nowhere is this conflict more clearly seen than in the lawsuit filed by Christian family-owned retail giant Hobby Lobby against the Health and Human Services mandate under Obamacare requiring individuals who are employers to violate their religious convictions and pay for employee contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs. For Hobby Lobby, failure on the part of the owners to violate their consciences will result in a $1.3 million daily fine for the company.

As a national chain with 13,000 employees and 525 stores in 42 states – and $2.6 billion in  gross sales in 2010 – the owners of Hobby Lobby face a governmental assault on their right to religious expression as private individuals and business owners seeking to operate their company in alignment with their faith convictions.

Ironically, the Obama Administration is forcing taxpayers to pay for the unenumerated right to abortion without any corresponding demand for taxpayers to pay for other  rights like religious liberty, speech, assembly, press, petition, association and belief enumerated in the First Amendment.

The faith convictions of Hobby Lobby’s owners resonate deeply with the rapidly emerging and economically powerful group of 46 hobby lobbymillion Americans known as Faith Driven Consumers – comprising fifteen percent of the U.S. population. This group, which makes its purchasing decisions based on the degree to which a brand’s values are compatible with a biblical worldview, has chosen to stand by Hobby Lobby in the conflict between the constitutional right to religious expression and the right to abortion.

Here, the juxtaposition of the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade with Hobby Lobby’s lawsuit brings into clear focus the irreconcilable conflict in the constitutional rights arena forced upon Americans by Obamacare. Now, more than ever, Faith Driven Consumers question whether their right to religious expression will survive the outcome of a national debate in which the Obama Administration has taken sides and declared that the rights of favored groups trump the rights of those whose views fall outside the bounds of politically correctness.

In contrast to the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious liberty and freedom for all Americans, the Obama Administration argues that Americans lose their freedom to exercise their religion when they form a corporation and engage in commercial activity. And it asserts that persons can be forced to act against their religion so long as the coercion is under the authority of a law that is generally applicable and not designed to persecute one group over another.

Faith Driven Consumers strongly disagree with this line of argumentation. In contrast, they see no distinction between the secular and the sacred and seek to integrate their deeply held, religious values and ethics into every area of their lives – including business, purchasing and voting decisions.

With a purchasing power of $1.75 trillion annually, the one-out-of-every-seven Americans who are Faith Driven Consumers stand with Hobby Lobby. And they are directing this collective buying power behind companies that welcome them into the rainbow of diversity and acknowledge faith-friendly values.

In the political arena, Faith Driven Consumers are directing their collective voting power toward leaders that represent true tolerance and diversity and welcome their biblical worldview into the public square.

Political and business leaders who are committed to creating a safe harbor to protect religious liberty in the stormy sea of conflict over competing rights should be richly rewarded by us Faith Driven Consumers when we choose them over their less inclusive competitors.

Filed Under: Company Reviews, Culture, Politics, Pro-Life Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Religious Freedom Day Raises Questions for Many Faith Driven Consumers

January 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Can there be true tolerance if some are excluded from the rainbow of diversity?

On January 16th America recognized Religious Freedom Day – as it has every year since 1993. Based on presidential proclamation, Americans were called upon to celebrate the anniversary of the 1786 passage of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom and “observe this day through appropriate events and activities in homes, schools, and places of worship.”

Penned by Thomas Jefferson, the 1786 Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom laid the foundation for the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees Americans their deeply cherished freedoms of religious expression, speech, assembly, press, petition, association and belief – all monumental concepts of tolerance rarely seen in societies throughout the course of human history.

But more than 220 years after the ratification of the Bill of Rights, many Americans are questioning what religious freedom means today.  Does it mean the freedom to freely exercise one’s religious faith in every arena of one’s life, or merely the freedom to freely worship within the confines of a church building?

Indeed, with more than 40 lawsuits by companies and religious employers currently wending their way through the courts at the state and federal levels over mandates found in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), many Americans feel that their precious religious freedom is under the greatest level of threat since the first settlers arrived seeking freedom from religious persecution in Europe.

For example, the owners of Hobby Lobby are being forced to choose between their deeply held religious beliefs or a $1.3 million daily fine for failure to pay for abortions and abortion-inducing drugs in their employee health plan. No small player in the economic arena, Hobby Lobby is a family-owned chain that employs 13,000 Americans at more than 525 stores in 42 states.

Similarly, many American Christians are deeply troubled by the recent controversy over the White House’s awkward – but revealing – handling of its invitation to Evangelical pastor Louie Giglio to offer the benediction at President Obama’s second inauguration. When it was revealed that Giglio believes in the traditional and biblical understanding of sexuality, marriage and family held by fully half of Americans, he was ironically pressured to withdraw on account of the Obama Administration’s stated commitment to the politically correct version of tolerance and diversity.

In the retail arena, the rapidly emerging and economically powerful group known as Faith Driven Consumers is collectively asking similar questions about religious liberty in America. As a subset of the broader Christian market that comprises 46 million Americans and spends $1.75 trillion annually, Faith Driven Consumers see an increasingly secular culture that marginalizes those who hold to biblical views and beliefs.

Here, Faith Driven Consumers see a business culture that on the one hand proclaims its commitment to niche markets and a wide embrace of tolerance and diversity, but on the other hand does little to include or welcome them as a viable and loyal market segment comprising fifteen percent of the population.

When it comes to corporate America, the intersection of tolerance, diversity and religious liberty beg two questions:

How can brands afford to not proactively embrace a segment of the population that is seeking to do business with companies that are compatible with historical and traditional American values and beliefs?

And, can there be true tolerance and a full embrace of diversity in a nation founded upon religious liberty when a large and economically powerful group like Faith Driven Consumers is not welcomed and included in the rainbow of diversity?

Filed Under: Culture, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Intersection of Politics and Christmas Shopping

December 20, 2012 by 1 Comment

Faith Driven Consumers can match their wallet to their worldview this holiday season   

What do politics and some of your favorite stores for Christmas shopping have in common?

After entering through the doors of retailers decked out with Christmas sale advertisements and then paying at the cash registers, corporate decision makers will then choose where your money goes—both inside and outside of the company.

Between charities, organizations, and even political parties, the money you spend with retailers is then redirected to support a wide variety of groups and causes – whether you as the paying consumer like it or not.

A recent Christian Science Monitor article sheds light on the political sway of various leading companies. The Center for Responsive Politics compiled a guide based on campaign contributions from employees and corporate Political Action Committees (PACs) during the 2012 election cycle.

Here’s a snapshot of various retailer contributions from the 2012 election cycle.

  • Toys ‘R’ Us‘ employees contributed $36,000 to Democrats of their total $39,000 given in the 2012 campaign cycle.
  • While Macy’s employees favored Democrats, its PAC favored Republicans by a three-to-one margin.
  • At Best Buy, the employees as well as the company PAC had a slight preference for Republicans; combined, the workers and PAC gave $585,000 to both major political parties and their causes in 2011-2012.
  • Target‘s workers and PAC leaned GOP – giving a total of $484,000.
  • Individuals working at Wal-Mart have a strong Republican preference. The company’s PAC gave almost the same amount to Democratic causes as Republican ones. The company’s total contributions from both sources: $2.7 million.

Based on this snapshot as well as what you learn from the latest FDC resource, “2012 Faith-friendly Christmas Guide,” keep in mind that your spending directly supports the organizations and causes that retailers choose to support.

And while researching the corporate contributions of your favorite retail brands, be sure to fully consider the degree to which the company supports causes you find to be either compatible or incompatible with your deeply held faith and values. Remember that every choice matters, and every choice has consequences – including everyday purchasing decisions.

As Faith Driven Consumers, we can each choose to align our wallets with our biblical worldview when marking things off our Christmas lists. Let’s be good stewards of the precious resources God has entrusted us with this Christmas season and throughout the year to come.

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Faith Driven Consumers and the Election of 2012

November 14, 2012 by 1 Comment

Moving from disunity and discord to unity and concord

Now that the dust is settling on one of the longest, costliest, most rancorous and divisive election campaigns in U.S. history, it’s time for Americans to take a well-deserved break from the toxic political climate and refocus on the things that unify us and make our country the envy of the world.

Regardless of how one personally feels about the outcome of the election, be assured it is what God gave us.  The results were not a surprise to Him, nor have His plans been altered. We now have the opportunity to find joy in our present circumstances and trust God for the future.

But what does this look like?  For Faith Driven Consumers, we are called to be salt and light within a culture increasingly hostile to Christianity  and to fulfill our role as peace-makers and reconcilers in a deeply divided nation (2 Cor. 5: 18-19).  As we see in Matthew 5:14: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”

Given this, what can Christians do to help America move beyond the disunity and discord and encourage – through our actions – a climate of unity, concord and repurposed thriving?

Beyond knowing that peace, comfort and joy for Christians are not dependent on election results or events in the ever-changing world we temporarily call home, we can rest in our call to simply and obediently steward well the good gifts God has entrusted to each of us.

One of these good gifts is the call to prayer. In Jeremiah 29:7, we are taught to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city” and to “pray to the Lord for it.” By humbling ourselves before God, seeking His forgiveness for our sins as a nation, and interceding on its behalf, God brings unity to the body of believers and heals our land (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Three ways Faith Driven Consumers can help unify our nation

1. Continue to vote on a daily basis.

While election day has passed and our votes have been counted, the election process never ends and the opportunity to vote remains. In fact, every choice we make in life matters and has consequences—including those we make in the marketplace. Every decision we make, every action we take, is a vote cast for one kingdom or the other. In our daily decisions we either vote for the kingdom of the “prince of the air” or the Kingdom of God. Thus, how and where we spend our treasure matters – as does the way we steward our time and talent. What “votes” will you make today with your actions and choices?

2. Pray for our president and leaders. 

The Bible calls us to pray for those who are in authority over us. 1 Timothy 2:2 urges us to “pray for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.” Prayer gives us the patience to persist, the grace to move forward in love, and the strength to continue stand on what God has called us to do as obedient stewards.

3. Stay the course.

As Faith Driven Consumers, Paul teaches in 2 Timothy 4:7 to fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith. He reminds us that winning is not our end goal – whether in political elections or in our daily lives. Instead, God calls us to remain faithful and obedient to Him until the end. No election will alter God’s sovereignty nor change His eternal truths.  Let’s keep our eyes on the prize and run well the race we’ve been called to run.

While many Faith Driven Consumers find themselves discouraged by the divisiveness and outcome of the 2012 election, ultimately our hope and rest is found in Jesus.  By pressing into Him during this challenging time, we are encouraged knowing that our faithful stewardship of daily choices, prayers and dedication to stay the course help bring healing, unity and concord to the nation we love.

Filed Under: Culture, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Does God Care How You Vote?

October 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Voting as an Act of Stewardship for Faith Driven Consumers 

We’re hearing a lot about voting our values these days. Some say Christians shouldn’t get involved in the political process because Jesus is neither a Democrat nor a Republican. They see the 6 billion dollars spent on this election cycle as fostering a corrupt process and conclude that when faced with the choice between the “lesser of two evils,” it’s best to simply abstain.

Similarly, some say that God ordains the election results and gives us the leadership we deserve.  Therefore, believers have little impact on the outcome and should focus instead on winning hearts to Jesus one by one – and transforming the culture in the process.

In contrast to these views, many Bible-believing Christians see voting as an act of stewardship.  Like any other good gift entrusted to us by God, we are called to steward the vote well and participate in a civic process bestowed upon us by our Founding Fathers through the Constitution.  Indeed, comparatively few people groups in the history of the world have been as blessed as Americans are today with the opportunity to regularly select its leaders and peacefully transition from one government to the next.

From this perspective, our vote is a good gift from God – a privilege to be cherished and stewarded well, and to which we will be held accountable as seen in the parables of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and the Good Steward. (Luke 16:10-12)

And for those who see the Bible as being reliable, trustworthy and true, surely St. Paul’s teaching in Romans 13 helps inform us about God’s view on government. Here, we see that earthly governmental authorities are established by God and that we are to submit to the laws of our land.

While this can sometimes be challenging to navigate when laws are passed that we disagree with, how wonderful it is that God has entrusted to us Americans a vote in the establishment of who will lead our governments at the local, state and national levels.

Given that God establishes our rulers and authorities, and that we in America are privileged to participate in the selection of our governing leaders, then several questions arise:  Does God really care about how you vote?  And if so, what factors should we use to determine how best to steward our vote?

Here, an understanding of the call to be “ambassadors of Christ” may resonate with biblically orthodox Christians:

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” (2 Cor. 5:20)

Being an Ambassador for Christ

Historically, to be an ambassador meant that one was sent by the king to another country to represent him and his interests there.  In the case of Christians, we are sent by our heavenly king, Jesus, to be His ambassadors in our temporary, earthly country – to be in the world but not of it, and to represent Him and His interests here in this realm.

Here are some resources for you to become more educated in regards to voting during this election. Check out the links at the bottom of this article to find out more information.

Given this, how do we discern what the interests of King Jesus are here in America – the country to which we’ve been called to represent Him?  How do we know His heart on the matters before us and then act accordingly – as ambassadors – as we steward well the vote we’ve been entrusted?

Fortunately, there are many great resources available to help us as Christians learn about the various ballot issues and candidates before us at the local, state and national levels.

By researching the issues and candidates – and then prayerfully seeking God’s heart on the issues before us – we Christians can serve as an ambassador of Christ in the voting booth and do our best to reflect His heart and mind on Election Day. 

Here are a number of resources to help you steward well the gift of the vote to which you’ve been entrusted.  As an ambassador of Christ here in America, God does care about how you vote.

Filed Under: Culture, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Comparing Republican and Democratic Party Platforms

September 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Worldview Matters for Faith Driven Consumers 

Now that we’ve had some time to catch our collective breath from two weeks of nationally televised, highly choreographed major party convention rhetoric, it’s time for Faith Driven Consumers to digest the speeches, talking points and sound bites of the Republicans and Democrats and decide which party best represents a biblically informed worldview in the November elections.

As Faith Driven Consumers, we understand that every choice matters and that every choice has consequences. We desire to give glory to God in all that we say and do, and see the daily decisions we make as matters of stewarding well the gifts we’ve been entrusted by God. And while biblical stewardship means thinking wisely and prudently about the economic choices we make, it also means consistently applying a biblical worldview to how we vote.

Voting Matters.  Voting Your Worldview Matters Even More

When it comes to the election this November, pundits on both sides of the aisle agree – Americans have a very clear choice between two starkly different worldviews. These contrasting visions are best reflected in the political party platforms that are approved at both conventions. They reflect the underlying philosophies held by the parties and the policy goals each will strive to implement if elected to govern.

In order to compare and contrast the views of the two major political parties, here are links to both the Republican and Democrat 2012 party platforms.

Beyond the respective party platforms, Faith Driven Consumers are encouraged to consider not just executive and legislative factors in their voting decisions, but also the underlying philosophy for judicial picks since the next president will likely nominate at least three Supreme Court justices and hundreds of federal judges during his tenure – with Congress ratifying the nominees.

The outcome of cases decided by these courts will reverberate throughout the culture for decades to come on topics like the degree of government in our lives, healthcare, abortion, same-sex marriage, and more.

Vote Your Values

In addition to the party platforms, a number of issues of importance to Faith Driven Consumers came out of the 2012 conventions.  For example, the Democrats initially decided to drop all mention of “God” from their party’s platform, then clumsily reinstated it despite loud opposition from a majority of the delegates.

On the highly contentious issue of abortion, the contrast between the two parties is quite clear.  The Republican platform is solidly pro-life and states “the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed.” It opposes using public funds to promote or perform abortion or to fund organizations that perform or advocate abortions. It says the party will not fund or subsidize health care that includes abortion coverage.

In contrast, the Democrats oppose all limitations on abortion, declaring that “The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy, including a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay.” Here, Democrats call for taxpayer funding for some abortions, and oppose all efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. Previous Democratic platforms, while also strongly pro-abortion, contained language calling for the procedure should be “rare.” However, that wording is absent from the current platform.

On the equally divisive social issue of same-sex marriage, the distinction between the Republicans and Democrats is also striking.  Whereas the Republican party “…affirms the rights of states and the federal government not to recognize same-sex marriage…” and “backs a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman,” the Democrats for the first time in history call for the redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples and the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.

For Faith Driven Consumers who are concerned about America’s commitment to Israel, pornography, and understanding of the people’s relationship to government, the difference between the parties is also clear.  So, too, are the distinctions on a host of other issues like Medicare/Medicaid, small business, taxes, job creation, defense, education, healthcare, immigration, energy, gun control, and voter integrity.

Voting as Stewardship

With two so fundamentally different worldviews up for grabs, Faith Driven Consumers are called to prayerfully study the issues and learn where each major party stands. Then we are called to steward our votes in ways that best glorify God.

Here in America, we have been blessed with the privilege of voting our values and making our voices heard in a representative democracy – a gift that most people in history have never had.  To the degree that we steward our vote well according to a biblical worldview, God will continue to bless us with the precious vote we’ve been entrusted with.

Every choice matters and every choice has a consequence, perhaps never more so than in the 2012 elections.

Filed Under: Culture, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Movie about Obama’s Worldview Strikes a Chord with Faith Driven Consumers

August 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

“2016: Obama’s America” leads at the box office

The recent outpouring of support for Chick-fil-A was a powerful display of what happens when the worldview of a particular group stirs wallets to action in the consumer marketplace.

From the reports of last weekend’s box office figures, it appears that another example of Faith Driven Consumers in action is unfolding with Dinesh D’Souza’s new politically themed movie, “2016: Obama’s America.”

One of the defining characteristics of Faith Driven Consumers is how their worldview consistently affects every aspect of their lives.

For this group, their worldview is based on biblically driven faith and values – with little distinction made between the secular and the sacred.  Faith Driven Consumers see everything they do in the context of stewardship and seek to give honor and glory to God in their behavior and daily choices.

For Faith Driven Consumers, every choice – whether direct or indirect – matters and every choice has consequences.   Here, even choices like voting and participating in the American political process are a matter of stewardship – raising the questions, “Does my vote for a candidate or ballot measure reflect my values and Biblical worldview?” and “How can I know?”

Worldview Matters

While Faith Driven Consumers should make the effort to fully consider the worldview of all the candidates, an opportunity currently exists to explore the worldview of Barack Obama.

As the reviews roll in on “2016: Obama’s America,” one thing is clear:  Dinesh D’Souza’s documentary, which explores the largely unexamined worldview of Barack Obama, fills a void and strikes a chord for those who want to know more about the man who has led America for nearly four years – and who could lead the nation for the next four.

And who wouldn’t want to know more?   While some reviews are dubiously dismissive of D’Souza’s perspective, others offer more praise for the film and chide the media and commentators for missing a golden opportunity to more fully scrutinize Obama during the 2008 election cycle.  And while another review criticizes D’Souza for following the outline of his book, what’s undeniable is that this low-budget documentary is leading at the box office.

Given the high stakes in the 2012 election, as a matter of stewardship, Faith Driven Consumers have an obligation to investigate more fully the worldview of the man who would be President – whether that is Barack Obama or Mitt Romney.  It’s a matter of stewarding the vote we’ve been given by God to most wisely choose our next government.

For a relatively small expenditure of time and treasure, Faith Driven Consumers can consider for themselves D’Souza’s thoughtful, reasonable and plausible perspective of Obama’s worldview that contributes to the understanding of the man and his actions as leader of the United States – and presently the world’s lone superpower.

Check out “2016: Obama’s America” for yourself – and encourage your friends to do the same.   See the movie trailer here, find a theater near you, then pray and vote your worldview.

Filed Under: Entertainment, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Definition of marriage up for a vote in North Carolina

May 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

On May 8, 2012, North Carolina voters will go to the polls to vote on North Carolina Senate Bill 514—also known as Amendment One.

For Faith Driven Consumers who seek, on a daily basis, to honor God and His revealed Word in all that they say and do– including voting – it is important to consider the full impact of what a vote in favor or against Amendment One actually does.

The purpose of the bill is to “amend the state constitution to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that should be valid or recognized in this state.” This amendment would prevent same-sex marriages, civil unions and other forms of domestic partnerships from being recognized by the state of North Carolina.

The proponents of this bill have made clear that its purpose is to protect the families of North Carolina. According to VoteForMarriageNC.com, the bill will protect families by doing the following:

  • “Protecting the interests of children is the primary reason that government regulates and licenses marriage in the first instance.”
  • “Marriage is a special relationship reserved exclusively for heterosexual unions, because only the intimate relationship between men and women has the ability to produce children as a result of that sexual union.”
  • “By encouraging men and women to marry, society helps ensure that children will be known by and cared for by their biological parents.”

Opponents of the bill suggest that the bill could do the following:

  • Harm North Carolina’s children” because parents in unmarried relationships may not be able to provide health care benefits to their children.
  • Have “negative effects on NC seniors” who are living with a partner but remain unmarried.
  • Have “dangerous consequences for NC women” because it “threatens domestic violence protections for unmarried women.”

While opponents of the bill believe that it could have negative effects on the people of North Carolina, proponents have done their research and refuted the opposition’s claims – recently running an ad to rebut the claims. Specifically, VoteForMarriageNC.com cites a “report from independent legal experts at Campbell University Law School, proving that this Amendment does not disrupt protection for all qualified citizens under our domestic violence laws, and nobody will lose health insurance benefits.”

While it’s easy to be swayed by emotional and heated rhetoric from both sides on a topic as culturally divisive as homosexual rights in society, Jesus clearly affirms the male-female paradigm for the ordering of human relationships in Mark 10:6-9 where he says, “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’  ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one.  Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

While some argue that the essence of marriage as an institution is to unite two people who are in love, Scripture supports that which natural law and tradition in virtually every culture across time and place has affirmed:  marriage is the bringing together of the two halves of humanity – male and female – in a societally recognized union that creates the safest and most stable arrangement for raising the next generation.

As such, marriage is not – nor has it ever been – primarily about adult wishes. Instead, from a social policy perspective, its role is focused on what’s best for children.  And here, social science research affirms that children have a deep longing for both a mother and a father, and that they do best on virtually every social indicator when raised by their biological parents in a stable, low-stress marriage.

Government has a vested interest in defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman in order to ensure the best possible context for the children that can potentially come from the sexual union of male and female.   In contrast, governmentally recognized unions involving same-sex couples signal that male and female no longer matter, that one sex or the other is dispensable and that children do not deserve both a mother and a father.

If you are registered to vote in North Carolina, learn the facts about Amendment One and vote your values on Tuesday, May 8th.

Filed Under: Culture, Politics, Traditional Family Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Kony 2012 impact for Faith Driven Consumers

March 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment

More than 84 million people have viewed the “Kony 2012” video. This viral video was created by the Invisible Children organization “to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.”

Joseph Kony is the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army–a guerrilla group in Uganda. The group has been “accused of widespread human rights violations, including murder, abduction, mutilation, and forcing children to participate in hostilities.” Kony is said to be the man who has ordered these heinous crimes.

Invisible Children started in 2005 with the creation and release of its first video, “Invisible Children: Rough Cut” that shed light on a war in Africa still going on today. With promotions and tours of the video across America, Invisible Children set out to make a difference in Uganda through making this issue known. Today, its Facebook page has fans in excess of 3 million and more than 410,000 followers on Twitter.

Since the video launched, it has spread through Facebook and Twitter at viral rates. Because of the demand the video has created to see Joseph Kony brought to justice, Invisible Children is beginning to see that Kony really is becoming infamous.

Kony is now on the cover of Time Magazine. Further, the video and demand is starting to “spur action on Capitol Hill.” Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said, “’[t]his is about someone who, without the Internet and YouTube, their [sic] dastardly deeds would not resonate with politicians. When you get 100 million Americans looking at something, you will get our attention.’”

While the video is popular among millions of people, many others have doubts about its truthfulness. Further, if the video speaks truth, then some are worried that Kony may not even be in Uganda. This would make the mission of Kony 2012 difficult, as it is to catch and arrest the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army.

As Christians, we are called to “love the least of these.” Our hearts should ache for the injustice of the children in Africa who are torn away from their families and forced into a group that murders innocent civilians and rapes young girls. We should fight for the rights of these children and help them become the people God made them to be.

Additionally, as Faith Driven Consumers, we have the ability to make Jesus famous and make His name known. We can do this by spreading the gospel around the world through missions or where we live by making purposeful decisions in our everyday lives. In doing this, we will make the name of Jesus glorified and show others He is “mighty to save.”

Filed Under: Culture, Philanthropy, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Obama health care mandate as a consumer issue

February 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The White House recently announced that under the Obamacare health care mandate, “any organization that offers health insurance to employees will be forced to cover contraception, abortion, sterilization, and abortaficients—no matter what their objections.”

This announcement provoked major opposition among religious communities such as the Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention. On Friday, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops “denounced Barack Obama’s compromise over whether to require religiously affiliated institutions to provide contraception to female employees, saying the proposal raises ‘serious moral concerns.’”

Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission commented, “Southern Baptists and people of other various faith communities are outraged with President Obama’s so-called compromise on his administration’s abortion mandate. In his attempt to mollify his radical pro-abortion supporters, President Obama has declared that individual conscience is subject to government edict.”

Obama’s mandate to buy insurance covering items which violate our faith forces each of us to make a choice- a choice between our God and our government.  Ultimately, life is about choices and if this mandate stands, we will be forced to make one. Consumer choices include: who we vote for, what we buy and even where we attend church.

Obama’s health care mandate is an issue of religious freedom, but also one of consumer choice. It is a consumer-facing issue for which we have an obligation as Christian consumers. Let’s make sure our money supports things compatible with our spiritual beliefs and convictions.  Whether you stand on your faith or bend to Obama’s mandate, either way we have the choice.

As Christians, we have the responsibility to speak out against a government mandate that compromises our deeply held religious convictions.

Some elites claim “separation of church and state.” Prayer has been removed from our schools, the Ten Commandments are taken out of our courts, and  even Christmas trees have been banned from public places. And now there is a rule mandating religious institutions provide their employees with contraception, sterilization, and abortion—a practice many do not support. It seems that Christianity is not only being removed from the public forum, but from our churches as well.

According to USA Today, “while challenges of the rule could take legal and legislative assaults, the White House and the Obama re-election campaign are comfortable with the rule, believing most Americans—and particularly most women—are on their side.”

Additionally, one Huffington Post critic said “a majority of Catholic women support the administration’s rule” and that the Church “will dictate to the flock, despite the fact that their dictates are not being listened to by their own people.”

Why is it that the Administration believes a majority of women, even Catholic women, would support the mandate? As Faith Driven Consumers, we must step up and realize that our faith matters and we must support leadership that aligns with our Biblically-based values. The choice is ours. It is a matter of our willingness to do something about our convictions.

As Faith Driven Consumers, we must exercise our choice in voting for politicians and buying from companies which support our Christian values. Let’s encourage companies and politicians who share our Biblical values.

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