WARNING: This blog contains a graphic and sacrilegious reference to feminine hygiene. Read at your own risk.
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First of all, I want you to understand that I don't have personal issues with my Christian friends, at least the ones who don't try to push it on me. I've had interesting and rewarding discussions of faith with some people who are probably reading this. But these discussions are voluntary.
I hate discovering that companies, especially large national or regional chains whose business has nothing to do with religion, quietly push a religious agenda. Yes, especially a Christian agenda. Throughout history, my people have been "encouraged" to convert, and if we refused, we were forced into hiding, tortured, and/or killed. Why shouldn't I be uncomfortable when Jesus watches me shop?
Hobby Lobby isn't all that quiet about their corporate faith. I've been annoyed at them for years, feeling marginalized by the sign on their door that announces, "Closed on Sundays so our employees have time for family and worship." Do they not hire Jews, Muslims, or Pagans? I've always been glad to work on a Sunday so somebody else can go to church. Rumors even abound, and I am looking for documentation, that the company gives direct financial support to Fred Phelps' church in Topeka. I can't take a chance on my money going in that direction, and I avoid the store whenever possible - occasionally, theatrical needs trump my stance, especially if I've already tried Michael's.
Yesterday I was on my way from Leawood (Grandma) to Crown Center (lighting work at the American Heartland), and I really needed to stop and get some dinner. I hadn't eaten since breakfast, and was getting lightheaded and irritable. I also needed the *ahem* facilities, since I do not like to use bathrooms at nursing homes. Chick-fil-A was on the way, and a breaded chicken sandwich sounded like exactly what I needed. I went inside and headed first for the ladies' room.
The store's overhead music was much louder in the restroom than in the dining area, and while I was attending to my needs, I realized that it wasn't simply irritating country music. The guy was singing about Jesus. I was horrified. Jesus wasn't just watching me shop, or eat. Jesus was watching me change my tampon.
Maybe it was inadvertent. Maybe the Muzak dial slipped, or it was on a country station that dropped in the occasional religious song. Maybe that particular store manager was feeling especially faithful yesterday, and would benefit professionally from being made aware that religious music in the bathroom could alienate customers.
So here's how it went at the counter:
Me: Are you aware that there's religious music playing in your bathroom?
Chicken Lady: Yes, Chick-fil-A always plays Christian music.
Me: (astounded, forgetting all about the bathroom) Is Chick-fil-A a Christian company?
Chicken Lady: Yes! Chick-fil-A is a Christian company!
Me: Okay. I just want you to know, that's why I'm not placing an order.
Chicken Lady: (sanctimonious smile, because obviously she's going to Heaven and I'm not)
As low as my blood sugar was by that point, I give myself props for staying calm and just leaving. I finally got a double Winstead's burger, fries, and a butterscotch Coke.
Religion and spirituality are personal matters. Just as the government should run on secular, logical principles that can apply to all people, no matter which spiritual path they choose, a publicly-operating business should not subject its customers or its employees to a particular dogma.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
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6 comments:
You know, I sort of agree, but sort of not.
agree- this country would not stand for a pagen or atheist restaurant. (one advertised as one) Yet it condones and even pushes christian ones.
disagree- it is anyone's right to eat there or not. As long as they are not asking me to 'accept jesus as my lord and savior' during the entire experience, I'm fine.
I had similar thoughts on my way to work today, as I passed by a van labeled "Calvary Heating and Air", with a graphic showing three crosses on a hill. What the site of the crucifixion has to do with Heating and Air is beyond me. On the one hand, it's a good business move, because the people who love Jesus can be a bit...clique-ish in their shopping habits, so I can see why a business would choose to market itself that way. On the other hand, I think it plays into humanity's worst tribal instincts, and I'm glad you decided to make your stance known on the issue.
Ah, America at its finest... every company has the right to pimp its X-tian values/agenda as much as you have the right to exercise your purchasing power there or elsewhere.
Bully for you I say!
I'll admit I was surprised when I heard about this, because I have eaten several times at the new Chick-fil-a in Liberty, and had no idea they were overtly Christian. Of course, they have been insanely non-stop busy since opening a couple weeks ago, so I guess nobody's had time to proselytize me over my waffle fries.
(Deadpan laugh) I'm kidding. But seriously, the first thing that I thought about this post was: the practice of this restaurant offended a friend of mine - a friend with whom I share some common political, social and philosophical viewpoints - so I expected I should likewise be offended.
But I wasn't. (perplexed furrow of eyebrows)
Now I began to worry that I've become a 'typical' self-centered, ethnocentric Christian apologist middle-age white guy. NOT good. I've got enough self-loathing neuroses to cope with without adding THAT dreadful personality stereotype to the mix. So, I thought of some comparisons.
For example, I love to eat at The Jerusalem Cafe. The Mediterranean environs include large wall portraits of “The Holy Land” of Jerusalem, showcasing the many Jewish temples and Islamic mosques. And in the back corner table where our family is usually seated, there is a small but surprisingly loud speaker that emits the exotic (to Midwestern ol’ me) sounds of the sinewy zither and the crisp goblet drums and the plaintive wailing of a singer whose voice fluttered up and down the scales like a tilapia madly flapping its body in a fisherman’s net. Is he singing about Allah and Mohammed and crying out for Jihad? I dunno. I’m too busy diggin’ on this yummy falafel and hummus to care.
I’ve also enjoyed the DE-LISH-OUS lunch buffet at Swagat’s in Zona Rosa more than once. Again, couldn’t tell you too much about the music there, other than it sounded like… well, what you’d expect Indian music sounds like (much like Jerusalem Café’s music, to my untrained ear). They had several savory meat dishes there (sorry, vegetarian friends) but not beef - of course, since the cow is sacred in Indian culture. After paying the check, I looked around at the décor and saw a small statue of what was – I’m fairly certain – a Hindu deity. I did not feel alienated by these public displays of other-culture spirituality. In fact, had the smiling statue been alive, I’m almost certain it would have waved me a sincerely friendly “Goodbye!” with all its myriad little hands.
I could go on about the plentiful fat-and-happy Bhuddas I’ve seen in numerous Chinese restaurants, but you get the point. Plus, my comments are about to rival your original post for length, which must be some sort of blog etiquette faux pas. Pardon moi, si vouz plait.
I guess what it comes down to is: I agree with the others who say it’s your right to spend (or withhold) your money wherever you please. And I certainly don’t begrudge you your belief that publicly-operating businesses ought to maintain a stance of religious neutrality. But I’d be remiss as a friend if I didn’t honestly share my teeny-tiny little disagreements with you (that and I vainly love to read my own typing, of course). As much as I am repelled and embarrassed by open and brazen acts of evangelism, I’m cautious about being too far anti-expression-of-faith in the other direction. I’m not saying you did something terrible (and granted, if the Chicken Lady just smiled sanctimoniously at you instead of offering a sincere apology for your feelings, then she kinda’ had it comin’). But if they’re not handing out apocalyptic tracts from the drive-thru or performing baptisms in the kids’ play area, I don’t see the harm in a little background gospel music.
At any rate, I’m glad we liberal peoples-o’-faith can candidly express our differing opinions to one another without fear of the one burning the other at the stake. Shalom.
P.S.: Don’t be intimidate that Jesus saw you change your tampon; He’s seen worse, and he’s not afraid of a little blood.
P.P.S.: God forgive me for that last joke.
Guy, that last one had me screaming! Thank you all for your comments - agreeing or not. A little healthy disagreement between friends never hurt anything. :-)
I've been conscious my whole life of being "other," and it's probably a subject for a post of its own. Maybe I should look at Chick-fil-A as an unfamiliar cultural experience. I wish it had been real gospel music instead of Country Christian, though. I kinda dig gospel music.
Tom: By responding to tribalism, am I being tribal as well? For the record, I'd never support a Zionist business, or any that makes a point of being anti-Palestinian.
There's a coda to this that truly disgusts me. I had to talk to my aunt, so I called her between CFA and Winstead's. She just doesn't like the food at CFA, and was pretty sympathetic about the unexpected music experience. Then when I said I was going to Winstead's, she said - without the irony that I can see typing it out - "Well, Winstead's is owned by a [racial slur for Arab]." WTF? My own aunt!
A few notes:
I've also heard the Hobby Lobby / Phelps connection rumors, but I've never seen them documented. The CEO does contribute heavily to Jerry Falwell's Liberty University and other dominionism-based organizations.
Chik-Fil-A is closed on Sundays for the same reason as Hobby Lobby. It is also posted prominently; it just doesn't expressly say "for worship".
Hobby Lobby pays for full-page ads every Independence Day declaring the US is a Christian nation and will not be at peace until it is under the control of Christian rule.
Jewels said: As long as they are not asking me to 'accept jesus as my lord and savior' during the entire experience, I'm fine. Well...they kinda are. The evangelical music is played constantly. Far more alarming is that, in their kids' meals, Chik-Fil-A has distributed not only VeggieTales toys (which sounds innocuous until you actually see the show), but also CDs produced by Focus on the Family. Little Susie needs to learn submission at a young age, after all.
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