You may not know it, but the culture wars are being fought on many levels, including at the level of some of your favourite caffeine cafes. Even those who sell you coffee have gotten involved in some of the bigger culture war issues of the day – especially homosexual marriage.
Thus in one corner we have one coffee heavyweight declaring their full support for homosexual marriage, while in the other corner we have another coffee heavyweight declaring its full support for heterosexual marriage and traditional values.
To be precise, we have Starbucks on the one hand fully in bed with the homosexual militants, while Gloria Jeans, a Christian-owned company, is siding with traditional marriage. So a war of coffee beans has erupted, and those on either side of the debate are voting with their feet – or mouths.
Starbucks, the American-based coffee giant has come out quite clearly in its affirmation of the homosexual agenda. In a January 24 message from its vice president, we have this message (in part): “Starbucks is proud to join other leading Northwest employers in support of Washington State legislation recognizing marriage equality for same-sex couples. Starbucks strives to create a company culture that puts our partners first, and our company has a lengthy history of leading and supporting policies that promote equality and inclusion.
“This important legislation is aligned with Starbucks business practices and upholds our belief in the equal treatment of partners. It is core to who we are and what we value as a company. We are proud of our Pride Alliance Partner Network group, which is one of the largest Employer Resource Groups for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) employees in the U.S., helping to raise awareness about issues in the communities where we live and work.”
Because of its declaration of war against marriage and family, a campaign has been mounted to encourage pro-marriage and pro-family folks to give them the flick. The group, dumpstarbucks, says this on a website: “We are urging customers across the globe to ‘Dump Starbucks’ because it has taken a corporate-wide position that the definition of marriage between one man and one woman should be eliminated and that same-sex marriage should become equally ‘normal’. As such, Starbucks has deeply offended at least half its US customers, and the vast majority of its international customers.”
It continues, “Starbucks also used its resources to participate in a legal case seeking to overturn a federal law declaring marriage as the union of one man and one woman. In many areas of the world where Starbucks does business, the concept of ‘gay marriage’ is unheard of and deeply offensive to cultural, moral and religious values.
“In taking these actions, Starbucks has declared a culture war on all people of faith (and millions of others) who believe that the institution of marriage as one man and one woman is worth preserving. A portion of every cup of coffee purchased at a Starbucks anywhere in the world goes to fund this corporate assault on marriage. We urge consumers across the globe to join the ‘Dump Starbucks’ campaign.”
On the other hand, the Australian-based coffee company Gloria Jeans has been supportive of retaining the normal understanding of marriage. Its owner is a Christian, and the company has contributed to various Christian causes in the past, including the Australian Christian Lobby.
Because of this, the homosexual activists are spitting chips – or rather coffee beans – and have set up a boycott of the coffee chain. All the homosexual sites are getting agitated about all this. One site made these claims: “One of Australia’s biggest coffee shop chains has rushed to distance itself from the Australian Christian Lobby and Hillsong Church as news spreads of its recent hefty financial donation to the ACL’s activities. In a statement today, Gloria Jeans Coffees now confirms that in the 2010-2011 tax year it donated $30,000 to the Australian Christian Lobby….
“The coffee chain’s links to the controversial Hillsong Church – which used to offer so-called ‘ex-gay therapies’ as part of its ministry – are well known, but Gloria Jeans founders, themselves senior figures in the church, have in recent years denied their extensive franchise network was providing financial support to Hillsong.”
So the gloves are now off in this coffee culture war. People are being urged to support the coffee chain of their choice. It takes little imagination as to where I stand. I encourage you to get involved in letting Starbucks know what you think of their social engineering activism.
And I encourage you to support Gloria Jeans for taking a principled stance. And when it comes to your next cuppa, please enjoy the Very Vanilla Latte (or some such product) at Gloria Jeans. And I bet some of you didn’t even think it mattered where you got your coffee from!
Any word on where Biggby stands? Because there’s no Gloria Jeans that I’m aware of in Lansing.
Ivan Rider
Thanks Ivan
Hey, there’s no Biggby that I’m aware of in Ringwood, Australia! Guess you would have to check their website for starters.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
This is getting ridiculous, or are the homosexual lobby getting desperate? Dragging cafes into the fight? Or maybe they realize how good Gloria Jeans coffee is so they want them on their side. Nevertheless, finally a shop I don’t have to boycott! I’ll have a regular caramel latte please but hold the political correctness…
Alison Stanley
Now this is confusing. The above link to samesame, says that Gloria Jeans have made a statement in which they distance themselves from any religious affiliation and say they support diversity and equality.
I am hesitant to offer support to any pseudo Christian outfit that shows such a lack of courage.
Annette Williams
The interesting thing about coffee beans is that good coffee comes from berries that are cross-pollinated – the result of natural male-female fertilisation aided by bees and wind producing heavy crops. Self-pollinated coffee bushes, artificially done by human aid, produce only one or two beans of lower quality. But even then, the flower has both male and female parts. I would fully support Starbucks and SSM if a gay person is able to “self-pollinate”, or a same-sex couple is able to produce children. Maybe Starbucks should use only coffee from self-pollinated berries. This fight is getting ridiculous. Even two roosters know they cant produce chicken! LOLOL
Eddie Sim
Never did like ‘Starbucks’; even less so now. Where do other Coffee chains stand?
Arthur Hartwig
Thanks Annette
The founder of GJs, Peter Irvine, is a committed Christian. However with all the PC pressure and the attacks of the homosexual militants, GJs may be trying to straddle the fence here. Let’s hope they stay strong and don’t cave in. All the more reason to contact them and offer them our support.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Interesting comment by Eddie Sim: no such thing as gay coffee! Thanks, Eddie.
John Bennett
I’ve sent off an email to GJ and I will make a point to support them in the future. Let the haters – even though they have a mother and father like everybody else – rage.
Seriously, over 7 billion examples of one paradigm to literally create a future compared to absolutely ZERO of any other model – and there are adults who want to argue about this?
Homosexuality should be an uncontroversial subject that takes any thinking person 5 seconds to see the reality of. Everybody has a mother and father.
Mark Rabich
Thanks Mark
Yes quite right. These activists can ramble on about the normalcy of their lifestyle, but not one homosexual couple in the world has ever brought forth a homosexual – or anyone else for that matter. It is the same with the pro-death activists: they ramble on about choice, conveniently forgetting that their own mother chose life – not death.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Dear Bill, Rocky has a Gloria Jeans shop but no Starbucks, thank goodness. There are a few coffee shops in Rocky. Starbucks have had some negative publicity about other issues in recent years. I thought you might be interested.
Regards, Franklin Wood
Unfortunately it’s not just the coffee companies that are putting substantial weight behind the same-sex marriage debate.
The problem is that they don’t have to give reasons for why they support the push. Usually it is so PC that it is actually a legitimate business choice. Which takes it so far away from morality.
The only problem in supporting Gloria Jeans Coffee is that Dan Daniels who is on the board of SteriHealth (a clinical waste company that picks up aborted babies in Victoria) is also on the board of Gloria Jeans Coffee.
Well it is good to know that having a cup of coffee in a cafe is now no longer just an act of self-indulgence, but can make a supporting stand for a godly cause It is good to know these things so one can have “choice” when one considers where to have a cup of coffee. Similarly it is good to remember to buy, if we have to buy overseas products, products from Israel, a country all these ssm activists would love to boycott.
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
This is why you should be drinking tea. Coffee is such a divisive drink, I think everyone would be so much happier if we all drank some tea instead of the divisive coffee.
I do love the irony of boycotting Israeli products, since they are the most gay friendly country in the Mid east, and yet it seems to be fashionable against the Jews.
Ian Nairn
What a shame about Starbucks, we never had a decent cuppacino in UK until the American companies came to stay. I often met my Christian friends there for coffee and fellowship. We also had work meetings there. The staff always welcoming and friendly. The atmosphere comfortable and warm. The cakes delicious. Starbucks is different in Australia, not so many of them and they haven’t the ambiance of their UK counterparts. The best coffee at Dubai airport was Starbucks. Also Starbucks is pro Israel of which I approved. All I can say is what a shame.
Fay Allinson
Fay, this demonstrates why the idea of a corporate-wide policy like this is so preposterous.
It removes the freedom of individual outlets to be themselves, on an issue which has absolutely NOTHING to do with selling coffee.
And it is another reason why the Gloria Jeans stance is more appropriate. The owners can do what they like with their own money, but individual outlets can make their own views known.
John Angelico
Apart from anything else, Gloria Jeans is a far superior brew than Starbucks!
Rodney Gynther
Not easy shopping the “biblically correct way”, lots of mazes and unpredictable and complex hidden and not so hidden agendas to navigate. But it is certainly fraught with sacrifices, little ones. It costs more to buy Australian, it takes more time to check all the relevant information and you might not get to drink the best coffee. But I pray it will be worth it in the long run.
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
So I take it the Gloria Jeans protestors will launch a halal certified food boycott next?
John Smith
I guess we won’t hold our breath on that one John.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
John, I’m not quite sure which way your comment was meant, but we won’t buy anything with the halal certification symbol on it. Small beginnings, but a picture starts with the first brush stroke.
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
“Diversity.” To quote from The Princess Bride – “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
It appears that Gloria Jeans is now capitulating with a ever-increasing confusing series of fence-sitting statements in an attempt to appease (including using pc terms like the word above), but what they have not yet understood is that homosexual extreme groups do not accept anything less than 100% groupthink. (That is what they mean by ‘diversity’, btw) Not 98%, not 99% not even 99.9% – EVERYBODY must agree with the gay agenda FULLY. Only TOTAL agreement will mean you avoid getting the rainbow mafia ‘tolerance’ we have all observed so well.
My observation is this – if you get the same reaction for being not quite fully in agreement compared to being in 0% agreement, you may as well just stick with the reality of human biology, male and female, and let the bigots rage just the same. Fence sitting statements are only going to be counterproductive, you are not dealing with rational people here who care about logic or facts. After all, they do not even respond the the evidence of their own bodies.
Mark Rabich
Gloria Jeans has caved big-time. The latest official statement includes, “As a company we hold no position on marriage law, and in line with our values support people’s freedom to choose who they love.”
Ewan — For some of us this doesn’t come as a surprise. Others even try to whitewash it. Read my previous blog (no. 14).
Trevor Grace
Thank you Bill for your article. I have noted Ewan’s and Trevor Grace’s substantiated claims. The profits from a horrid abortion industry and the enforced political correctness of the homosexual lobby are taking “christian” businesses away from the constitutional framework of “humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God”. SteriHealth and Gloria Jeans have a mutual connection in Dan Daniels and he has not come clean on what actions he has undertaken to remedy his and his business interest’s involvement in the disposal of those babes murdered through the lucrative abortion industry. While I have enjoyed Gloria Jeans in the past, I can no longer do so.
Peter Egel
North Queensland gold coffee is the best, it’s Australian, it’s organic, it’s a lot cheaper, except the postage and what’s best, it is produced by a company with no PC barrow to push. Just stick it in your coffee machine at home and forget the coffee wars. By the way, coffee is not the first beverage to cause a war, remember the Boston tea party?
Sorry Neil
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
I fully support Gloria Jeans, now that i know what is happening, i will stay away from Starbucks!
The same is happening to Gardenia. The devil is on the prowl because Gardenia contributes a lot to various Christian charitable causes. Lies only come from the devil. We need to discern and pray for God to reveal the truth. Let’s pray for God to trample on the work of the enemy who is out to deceive the world with all the lies.
May ML YAP
I would not drink coffee at Starbucks because it is inferior to Hudsons.
95% of the time I drink coffee made by a person that will never cave into the pink gaystapo. Me. I have my own cappuccino maker so I can make my own lunchtime brew.
I make it with fairtrade coffee so I score in every way.
Any word on where Biggby stands? Because there’s no Gloria Jeans that I’m aware of in Lansing.
Ivan Rider
Thanks Ivan
Hey, there’s no Biggby that I’m aware of in Ringwood, Australia! Guess you would have to check their website for starters.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
This is getting ridiculous, or are the homosexual lobby getting desperate? Dragging cafes into the fight? Or maybe they realize how good Gloria Jeans coffee is so they want them on their side. Nevertheless, finally a shop I don’t have to boycott! I’ll have a regular caramel latte please but hold the political correctness…
Alison Stanley
Now this is confusing. The above link to samesame, says that Gloria Jeans have made a statement in which they distance themselves from any religious affiliation and say they support diversity and equality.
I am hesitant to offer support to any pseudo Christian outfit that shows such a lack of courage.
Annette Williams
The interesting thing about coffee beans is that good coffee comes from berries that are cross-pollinated – the result of natural male-female fertilisation aided by bees and wind producing heavy crops. Self-pollinated coffee bushes, artificially done by human aid, produce only one or two beans of lower quality. But even then, the flower has both male and female parts. I would fully support Starbucks and SSM if a gay person is able to “self-pollinate”, or a same-sex couple is able to produce children. Maybe Starbucks should use only coffee from self-pollinated berries. This fight is getting ridiculous. Even two roosters know they cant produce chicken! LOLOL
Eddie Sim
Never did like ‘Starbucks’; even less so now. Where do other Coffee chains stand?
Arthur Hartwig
Thanks Annette
The founder of GJs, Peter Irvine, is a committed Christian. However with all the PC pressure and the attacks of the homosexual militants, GJs may be trying to straddle the fence here. Let’s hope they stay strong and don’t cave in. All the more reason to contact them and offer them our support.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Interesting comment by Eddie Sim: no such thing as gay coffee! Thanks, Eddie.
John Bennett
I’ve sent off an email to GJ and I will make a point to support them in the future. Let the haters – even though they have a mother and father like everybody else – rage.
Seriously, over 7 billion examples of one paradigm to literally create a future compared to absolutely ZERO of any other model – and there are adults who want to argue about this?
Homosexuality should be an uncontroversial subject that takes any thinking person 5 seconds to see the reality of. Everybody has a mother and father.
Mark Rabich
Thanks Mark
Yes quite right. These activists can ramble on about the normalcy of their lifestyle, but not one homosexual couple in the world has ever brought forth a homosexual – or anyone else for that matter. It is the same with the pro-death activists: they ramble on about choice, conveniently forgetting that their own mother chose life – not death.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Dear Bill, Rocky has a Gloria Jeans shop but no Starbucks, thank goodness. There are a few coffee shops in Rocky. Starbucks have had some negative publicity about other issues in recent years. I thought you might be interested.
Regards, Franklin Wood
Unfortunately it’s not just the coffee companies that are putting substantial weight behind the same-sex marriage debate.
For instance:
Marie Clare – http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/marie-claire/features/campaigns/support-marriage-equality/
Sunrise – http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Z5G3Yf6bpcc
The problem is that they don’t have to give reasons for why they support the push. Usually it is so PC that it is actually a legitimate business choice. Which takes it so far away from morality.
Regards,
Cameron Spink
RESISTANCE THINKING CO-ORDINATOR
Yes quite so Cameron. I wrote about them here:
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2012/06/03/tv-networks-become-activists-for-militant-causes/
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
The only problem in supporting Gloria Jeans Coffee is that Dan Daniels who is on the board of SteriHealth (a clinical waste company that picks up aborted babies in Victoria) is also on the board of Gloria Jeans Coffee.
Read what Dan Daniels and other Christian leaders are doing in Victoria >> http://www.humanrightsforunbornchildren.com/facts/Hospital%20letters%20reveal%20truth.pdf
Read a number of Freedom of Information Responses (also, several more FOI Responses were received last month – May 2012 – revealing SteriHealth is still picking up aborted babies from Victorian public hospitals)
http://www.humanrightsforunbornchildren.com/facts/Freedom%20of%20Information%20responsest.pdf
If you are concerned about abortion please
Read >> http://abortsa.com/?p=1143
Read >> http://abortsa.com/?p=1020#more-1020
Trevor Grace
Well it is good to know that having a cup of coffee in a cafe is now no longer just an act of self-indulgence, but can make a supporting stand for a godly cause It is good to know these things so one can have “choice” when one considers where to have a cup of coffee. Similarly it is good to remember to buy, if we have to buy overseas products, products from Israel, a country all these ssm activists would love to boycott.
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
This is why you should be drinking tea. Coffee is such a divisive drink, I think everyone would be so much happier if we all drank some tea instead of the divisive coffee.
I do love the irony of boycotting Israeli products, since they are the most gay friendly country in the Mid east, and yet it seems to be fashionable against the Jews.
Ian Nairn
What a shame about Starbucks, we never had a decent cuppacino in UK until the American companies came to stay. I often met my Christian friends there for coffee and fellowship. We also had work meetings there. The staff always welcoming and friendly. The atmosphere comfortable and warm. The cakes delicious. Starbucks is different in Australia, not so many of them and they haven’t the ambiance of their UK counterparts. The best coffee at Dubai airport was Starbucks. Also Starbucks is pro Israel of which I approved. All I can say is what a shame.
Fay Allinson
Fay, this demonstrates why the idea of a corporate-wide policy like this is so preposterous.
It removes the freedom of individual outlets to be themselves, on an issue which has absolutely NOTHING to do with selling coffee.
And it is another reason why the Gloria Jeans stance is more appropriate. The owners can do what they like with their own money, but individual outlets can make their own views known.
John Angelico
Apart from anything else, Gloria Jeans is a far superior brew than Starbucks!
Rodney Gynther
Not easy shopping the “biblically correct way”, lots of mazes and unpredictable and complex hidden and not so hidden agendas to navigate. But it is certainly fraught with sacrifices, little ones. It costs more to buy Australian, it takes more time to check all the relevant information and you might not get to drink the best coffee. But I pray it will be worth it in the long run.
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
So I take it the Gloria Jeans protestors will launch a halal certified food boycott next?
John Smith
I guess we won’t hold our breath on that one John.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
John, I’m not quite sure which way your comment was meant, but we won’t buy anything with the halal certification symbol on it. Small beginnings, but a picture starts with the first brush stroke.
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
The GayStapo are out in force against Gloria Jeans.
Dr Jonathan Sarfati, US
“Diversity.” To quote from The Princess Bride – “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
It appears that Gloria Jeans is now capitulating with a ever-increasing confusing series of fence-sitting statements in an attempt to appease (including using pc terms like the word above), but what they have not yet understood is that homosexual extreme groups do not accept anything less than 100% groupthink. (That is what they mean by ‘diversity’, btw) Not 98%, not 99% not even 99.9% – EVERYBODY must agree with the gay agenda FULLY. Only TOTAL agreement will mean you avoid getting the rainbow mafia ‘tolerance’ we have all observed so well.
My observation is this – if you get the same reaction for being not quite fully in agreement compared to being in 0% agreement, you may as well just stick with the reality of human biology, male and female, and let the bigots rage just the same. Fence sitting statements are only going to be counterproductive, you are not dealing with rational people here who care about logic or facts. After all, they do not even respond the the evidence of their own bodies.
Mark Rabich
Gloria Jeans has caved big-time. The latest official statement includes, “As a company we hold no position on marriage law, and in line with our values support people’s freedom to choose who they love.”
http://www.facebook.com/gloriajeanscoffees/posts/10150972208299511
Ewan McDonald, Victoria.
Ewan — For some of us this doesn’t come as a surprise. Others even try to whitewash it. Read my previous blog (no. 14).
Trevor Grace
Thank you Bill for your article. I have noted Ewan’s and Trevor Grace’s substantiated claims. The profits from a horrid abortion industry and the enforced political correctness of the homosexual lobby are taking “christian” businesses away from the constitutional framework of “humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God”. SteriHealth and Gloria Jeans have a mutual connection in Dan Daniels and he has not come clean on what actions he has undertaken to remedy his and his business interest’s involvement in the disposal of those babes murdered through the lucrative abortion industry. While I have enjoyed Gloria Jeans in the past, I can no longer do so.
Peter Egel
North Queensland gold coffee is the best, it’s Australian, it’s organic, it’s a lot cheaper, except the postage and what’s best, it is produced by a company with no PC barrow to push. Just stick it in your coffee machine at home and forget the coffee wars. By the way, coffee is not the first beverage to cause a war, remember the Boston tea party?
Sorry Neil
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
I fully support Gloria Jeans, now that i know what is happening, i will stay away from Starbucks!
The same is happening to Gardenia. The devil is on the prowl because Gardenia contributes a lot to various Christian charitable causes. Lies only come from the devil. We need to discern and pray for God to reveal the truth. Let’s pray for God to trample on the work of the enemy who is out to deceive the world with all the lies.
May ML YAP
I would not drink coffee at Starbucks because it is inferior to Hudsons.
95% of the time I drink coffee made by a person that will never cave into the pink gaystapo. Me. I have my own cappuccino maker so I can make my own lunchtime brew.
I make it with fairtrade coffee so I score in every way.
Roger Marks