[Apologetics] Chick-fil-A not alone in touting religion alongside products

[DianneD]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/01/chick-fil-not-alone-in-touting-religion-alongside-products/?cmpid=cmty_%7BlinkBack%7D_Chick-fil-A_not_alone_in_touting_religion_alongside_products


Chick-fil-A not alone in touting  religion alongside products
By Joshua Rhett Miller
Published August 01, 2012
FoxNews.com
	* As one of the longest running sponsor-owner relationships, Interstate  Batteries has sponsored NASCAR's #18 car since 1994. Chairman of the Board Norm  Miller, who touts his beliefs on the company's website, is also a board member  for Dallas Theological Seminary and the Dallas Seminary Foundation.  (AP)
Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy is not the only business tycoon who refuses  to hide his faith under a bushel — top executives from some of America’s  biggest companies are born-again Christians who talk about their beliefs more  often than their balance sheets.
Major corporations like Tyson Foods, Interstate Batteries and Hobby Lobby  were either founded or are now led by outspoken and deeply religious bosses.  While some of the companies distinguish between their corporate identities and  their leaders’ faith, others embrace it.
—Norm Miller, chairman of Interstate Batteries, discusses his faith and  salvation at length on the company’s website, even inviting people to write him  for advice on prayer;
—Tyson Foods, the Arkansas food processing giant, offers chaplains to counsel  its employees on life issues like deaths or family emergencies;
—In-N-Out Burger, the popular California-based hamburger chain, prints “John  3:16” on the bottom of its cups;
—Hobby Lobby, the Oklahoma City-based arts and crafts store chain, cites its  commitment to “honoring the Lord” on its website and closes its 500-plus  nationwide locations on Sundays, as does Chick-fil-A.
“We believe that it is by God's grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has  endured,” its website reads. “He has been faithful in the past, we trust Him for  our future.”
Cathy sparked a national controversy last month when he told the Baptist  Press that he was “guilty as charged” for supporting the “biblical definition of  a family,” leading to widespread criticism from gay rights groups and the mayors  of at least three large U.S. cities — Chicago, San Francisco and Boston — who  said the chain was no longer welcome there.
“It can come across as anti-something rather than pro-something.  It’s very important to do it positively and inclusively.”
- Jonah Bloom, chief strategy officer for Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal &  Partners
Another well-known company, furniture maker Herman Miller — which was founded by Christian evangelical  D.J. De Pree in 1905 — said despite its founders’ religious background, the firm is not a “religious company,” a spokesman told FoxNews.com.
“Although the founding family were deeply devout Christians, at no point in  the company’s history was their religious faith part of the ethos,” spokesman  Ron Reeves said. “The company’s ethos is based on values rather than  religion.”
Requests for comment from Interstate Batteries on what role religion plays in  its company were not returned Wednesday, but a “personal testimony” page on its  website clearly spells out the beliefs held by its chairman.
“Norm Miller is also a believer in God’s power to change lives, because it  was that power that turned his own life around after years of drinking as hard  as he worked,” the website reads. “That was the beginning of many changes in his  personal and professional life. At the same time, there were some things about  Norm Miller that stayed the same. His creative energy never flagged, and his  willingness to dream up and try new ideas remained his hallmark.”
One marketing expert said blurring the line between a company’s image and its  top boss’s religious beliefs can be bad for business.
Jonah Bloom, former editor of Ad Age and chief strategy officer for  Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners in New York, told FoxNews.com that while  having a “purpose” such as a social or environmental cause can be a very good  thing for a business, evoking religion can backfire.
“It can come across as anti-something rather than pro-something,” Bloom said. “It’s very important to do it positively and inclusively.”
With regards to Cathy’s statement on same-sex marriage, Bloom said it  appeared to have been a “bad business decision” and not the kind of “purpose” he  would have advocated.
But other business leaders, including Hobby Lobby CEO and founder David  Green, say being outspoken about their religious beliefs is non-negotiable. In  2011, the Green family — whose fortune was estimated by Forbes magazine at about  $2.5 billion — purchased 30,000 rare biblical texts and artifacts that now make  up one of the largest private collections of its kind in the world.
“We believe the Bible has a positive influence and I think that all people  should see what it has to say,” president Steve Green said. “We encourage people  to make their choice and follow its principals like we do and strive to  do.”

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