Posted on 08/15/2005 2:41:50 PM PDT by Responsibility1st
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--After nearly a decade of lying low, Starbucks has reentered the homosexual rights movement in a few ways that have put at least one conservative watchdog group on alert.
The worlds most famous coffee shop chain has begun a program called The Way I See It, which is a collection of thoughts, opinions and expressions provided by notable figures that now appear on Starbucks coffee cups, according to the chains website.
But one particular quote -- #43 -- blatantly pushes the homosexual agenda. Its by Armistead Maupin, who wrote Tales of the City, a bestseller-turned-PBS drama advocating the homosexual lifestyle, and it reads:
My only regret about being gay is that I repressed it for so long. I surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there loving someone. Dont make that mistake yourself. Lifes too [expletive] short.
Concerned Women for America, one of the nations leading conservative public policy organizations, is sounding the alarm about the cups after one of its employees received one when she purchased coffee from one of the stores.
Meghan Kleppinger, assistant to the national field director at CWA, wrote a column about Starbucks involvement in the homosexual movement which was posted by WorldNetDaily Aug. 10.
Kleppinger, who had been a frequent patron of Starbucks until recently vowing to stop, was put on notice about Starbucks earlier this summer when she received an e-mail from the California arm of CWA describing an annual gay pride parade in San Diego. The parade sounded like a typical event, she thought, until she read on.
I read where there would be childrens gardens and basically in the midst of all of this sexual activity there would be events for children, she said Aug. 8. And then I read that two registered pedophiles were volunteers at this event. When I scrolled to the bottom I saw who the sponsors were, and the one that jumped out was Starbucks because that is a favorite company of mine. So it just frustrated me that a company was giving money to something like this where children would be exposed to this sort of thing.
If Starbucks knowingly was sponsoring a parade that put children in danger, that would be blatant irresponsibility, Kleppinger wrote in her column. And if they were doing it unknowingly, they should have investigated before handing over the money, she said.
Kleppinger then found that the company is listed on the website of pro-abortion rights Planned Parenthood under this introduction: The following companies all generously match employee donations to Planned Parenthood Federation of America. If your employer is on this list, then you can make your gift go as much as twice as far.
And at gay pride events in Seattle, Wash., in July, about 75 Starbucks employees wore promotional T-shirts while followed by a van with the company logo in a parade, Kleppinger reported, and employees passed out samples of a new specialty coffee drink.
Robert Knight, director of the organizations Culture & Family Institute, noted that Starbucks is not alone in pushing the homosexual agenda.
There are active homosexual groups in most major corporations now and they do a shake down, where they say, If you dont promote our events, youre exhibiting bigotry and hatred, and were going to let everybody know that and youll feel bad about yourself and maybe it will hurt your sales. I dont think it has ever hurt a companys sales. I think they just cave in all too easily, Knight said Aug. 8.
But Starbucks was promoting homosexuality about 10 years ago ... and a lot of conservative groups got together and said, Why are you doing this? and I remember getting a letter back from them about 10 years ago saying, Well, you know, we were doing it, but it was an oversight and were not doing it anymore, he added. And I noticed that over the years Starbucks was not among the corporate logos at the bottom of these ads sponsoring gay pride events -- until recently. Theyve started to creep back in.
Once CWA employees were made aware of the possible harm to children at the San Diego events sponsored by Starbucks, they decided to speak up. They are not calling specifically for a boycott of Starbucks, but they are trying to alert as many people as possible to what the company is doing, Knight said.
The American Family Association has been doing this for years with great results. Often we dont see the results because a company will notice that it has gotten out to thousands of people and they pull back whatever thing they were doing that caused the concern in the first place, he said.
And then they ask the American Family Association, Dont make a big deal out of it because then well have the gay pride activists on us. So they just back away. Many victories have been won like that and the public isnt aware of it. ... Most companies do not want bad publicity. They dont want customers mad at them, and theyll do almost anything to avoid a boycott or something short of a boycott like publicizing what Starbucks is doing right now.
Knight suggested a strategy for Christians -- letting Starbucks know they are not happy with the companys promotion of the homosexual agenda.
Its not enough not to go to Starbucks anymore, he said. You really need to visit your neighborhood Starbucks and ask to see the manager and just say, You know, Ive gone here a lot and I would love to go here but I have to tell you your companys promotion of something that is against my values prevents me from having coffee here anymore, and Ive found alternatives ... You make a great product, but you deserve to know why people arent buying your product anymore.
That strategy goes for almost anything, Knight added. Anytime you find out that a company has been sponsoring something that you disagree with, its best to tell at the dealer or shop or store level people why youre not buying their product anymore. Believe me, this gets back to corporate headquarters real fast.
Starbucks said it started the The Way I See It program as an extension of the coffeehouse culture -- a way to promote open, respectful conversation among a wide variety of individuals. Some notable figures whose quotes appear on the cups include actor Quincy Jones, New Age author Deepak Chopra, film critic Michael Medved, Olympic medalist Michelle Kwan and coaching legend John Wooden.
The coffee chain welcomes comments on the program or a specific quote via an online feedback form, available at www.starbucks.com, or through brochures in stores.
Aw, come on. Don't sell yourselves short...I know you Texans like to just boil the water in a saucepan over an open fire and throw the ground coffee into it...:)
I'm sorry...I just don't know what to do about this thread other than be flippant. It is too weird. The insidious assualt on values does take place at lower levels, and we all risk being the "Frog in the pan of hot water" (I know...if you go to http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/frogboil.htm they debunk the frog thing)
But you know what I mean.
I don't drink Starbucks Coffee, just because I don't like it. The cigarette butt taste thing turns me off. Now I have another reason. My wife won't understand, though.
I thought it was Barbara Walters REAL last name...
Well, in the not-too-distant future where homosexuality, beastiality and pedophilia will be considered normal, Starbucks will fit right in and will probably be considered a trailblazer.
Some of the coffee cups are really good, some aren't. No one should be surprised at the left leaning.
I think a cup of coffe with "butt" in the title is slightly more gay than the one we are complaining about.
And you were shopping at a perfume and soap store because...
No surprise here. I'm semi-certain Starbucks is one of the companies whose political donations go 100.0% to Democrats. I stopped giving them my money long ago.
MM
That is what they call a Homoccino!
Are all your homo boyfriends conservative too?
they must have done a demographic study and found that 98% of the population is not their customer.
I also worked at a Borders Bookstore when I was in college. There were plenty of us heteros working on the floor. The cafe, however, was largely staffed by "Blatino" Local #357 of the Friends of Dorothy.
Insecurity sucks huh.....oops....guess sucks scares you also...
And this is cup #43. I imagine everyone can find a cup they don't like/find offensive, if they look hard enough.
That's a pretty rude and intrusive question.
he must be phil hendry's "gay" man reporter. (gratuitous radio show reference)
Why are there so many troll acounts from 1998?
This is an interesting question, and one I hope we can discuss with mutual respect and honesty, if not agreement. And we're not going to come to complete agreement, because I'm an Christian of an evangelical mindset, and I have strong opinions on the morality of a homosexual lifestyle.
That aside, here's my take. I can "accept" that some people choose to live a homosexual lifestyle, but when I'm put in a position that I must "approve" or "celebrate" that lifestyle, then the "homosexual agenda" is in play (from my perspective).
On the one hand, if two men choose to live together and share their lives in an intimate way, that's their choice, and I can accept it.
If I'm expected to applaud the prospect of a Gay Pride Parade, or if the school system is exposing children to views that their parents clearly don't agree with, then that's never going to get my approval.
Frankly, the printing on a coffee cup from a store I don't frequent is not that big a deal to me. Fisting lessons in high schools are.
I guess I am pretty insecure, I got rid of all the gay cups in my house a while ago. I have a gay crock pot I can't seem to part with, though.
I suggest that she really likes their coffee for the caffeine.
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