Several sources have commented on the promotion of Christian conservative ideology within the Amway organization.[52][61][62][63]
Mother Jones magazine described the Amway distributor force as "heavily influenced by the company's dual themes of Christian morality and free enterprise" and operating "like a private political army."[52]
In The Cult of Free Enterprise, author (and former Amway distributor) Stephen Butterfield wrote “[Amway] sells a marketing and motivational system, a cause, a way of life, in a fervid emotional atmosphere of rallies and political religious revivalism.”[61]
Philadelphia City Paper correspondent Maryam Henein stated that “The language used in motivational tools for Amway frequently echoes or directly quotes the Bible, with the unstated assumption of a shared Christian perspective.”[62]
Businessweek correspondents Bill Vlasic and Beth Regan characterized the founding families of Amway as “fervently conservative, fervently Christian, and hugely influential in the Republican Party”, noting that “Rich DeVos charged up the troops with a message of Christian beliefs and rock-ribbed conservatism.”[54]
High-ranking Amway leaders such as Richard DeVos and Dexter Yager were owners and members of the board of Gospel Films, a producer of movies and books geared towards conservative Christians, as well as co-owners (along with Salem Communications) of a right-wing, Christian non-profit entity called Gospel Communications International.[52][62][64][65][66]
Rolling Stone's Bob Moser reported that former Amway CEO and co-founder Richard DeVos is connected with the Dominionist political movement in the United States. Moser states that DeVos was a supporter of the late D. James Kennedy, giving more than $5 million to Kennedy's Coral Ridge Ministries.[67][68][68] DeVos was also a founding member and two-time president of the Council for National Policy, a right-wing Christian-focused organization.[69]
Sociologist David G. Bromley calls Amway a "quasi-religious corporation" having sectarian characteristics.[70][71] Bromley and Anson Shupe view Amway as preaching the Gospel of Prosperity.[72]
Patralekha Bhattacharya and Krishna Kumar Mehta, of the consulting firm Thinkalytics, LLC, reasoned that although some critics have referred to organizations such as Amway as "cults" and have speculated that they engage in "mind control", there are other explanations that could account for the behavior of distributors. Namely, continued involvement of distributors despite minimal economic return may result from social satisfaction compensating for diminished economic satisfaction.[73]<< LOL
We can't have any of THAT, now, can we. </sarcasm>
Cordially,