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Corporate America and Theocracy

By mick arran	Tue Dec 06, 2005 at 06:55:24 PM EST	print story

The connection between the Christian Right and US corporations has a long and disturbing history. From prayer-breakfasts sponsored by right-wing churches to the massive donations from corporations to those same churches, it often seems as though the two are covertly working together toward the same goal. I once saw a painting in a real estate broker's office above her desk which showed two men in suits in a lusciously-appointed office suite shaking hands with Jesus. On the bottom it said something to the effect of 'Deals go better when Christ is your partner'. I was struck by how close it was to a Coca-Cola ad tagline of the time--'Things go better with Coke.'

For the most part, this partnership has been friendly and successful. It's good for both sides. It has been evolving, however, and it's not entirely clear in which direction.

For instance, this ADage article on Tyson Foods' 'Giving Thanks at Mealtime' program.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com)--Tyson Foods wants people to have a wing and a prayer.
The chicken, beef and pork marketer recently began offering free downloadable prayer booklets on its Web site with mealtime words of thanks expressed across a variety of faiths, from Christian to Muslim. The move is seen as one that could become more common as marketers position themselves as faith friendly to connect with spiritual Americans.
What started out as the internal manifestation of Tyson's mission statement--a set of core values that includes "striving to be a faith-friendly company...and to honor God..."--has over the last few years morphed into placing 128 part-time chaplains in 78 plants across the country and, now, the external marketing initiative to play a part in mealtime prayer.
"There is a broader trend among bigger businesses to be faith-friendly employers, acknowledging that employees don't want to leave their soul in the parking lot," said David Miller, director of the Yale Divinity School's Center for Faith and Culture and a professor of business ethics.

Tyson has long been a financial supporter of the Christian Right, not to the extent that Frank Perdue has, perhaps, but its support has been significant. The chaplains the article mentions, for instance, are nearly all Christian evangelicals, fundamentalists, or both. So far as I know, not a single one of them is a Muslim or even a Catholic. Some are mainstream centrists (Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregationalist), but very few.

That's OK in-house, but when you start injecting religion into your marketing, you're playing with fire and Tyson obviously knows it.

"People are not just buying our products, they're buying us and they're spending more and more time looking on the Internet and elsewhere to find out, `what does this company stand for,' " said Bob Corscadden, Tyson's Chief Marketing Officer. Consumers researching Tyson are likely to find on the Net a chronicle of Tyson's long history of accusations of labor violations and illegal political gifts. So a little religion couldn't hurt.
Tyson has been developing the Giving Thanks at Mealtime booklets (roughly 25,000 have been sent out since the program's kickoff in late August) for the past two years, taking its time with consumer research and working with Mr. Miller and others to determine that prayer books would indeed please rather than put off would-be purchasers. Although it has looked to tie to some faith-based organizations, "teaming with any one religious group could alienate other groups. It's a sticky wicket," Mr. Corscadden said.

Indeed. One has to wonder how long the 'interdenominational' aspect will last given John Tyson's personal orientation as a born-again, evangelical Christian and the Christian Right's infamous intolerance even of mere nods in the direction of other faiths. One is almost forced to the conjecture that Mr Tyson is most likely under tremendous pressure to drop the non-Christian booklets from the Tyson distribution list.

Or one would be if one didn't know that Mr Tyson has a much bigger pie to offer the Christian Right.

Tyson has no plans to use direct faith-based efforts for its traditional advertising in the near future. But its ongoing "Powered by Tyson" campaign is based on a larger brand promise of proudly powering the world that rose directly out of Mr. Tyson's Christian values in addition to the idea of protein as power, according to Craig Bamsey, director-business strategy at Faith Popcorn's BrainReserve.
Ms. Popcorn, whose group developed the "powering the world" strategy for Tyson, firmly believes that success for food companies in the future rests on selling their ideologies as much as their food. "It's a very different marketplace than it used to be and for a lot of people, seeing companies express their faith openly is a huge positive," Mr. Bamsey said.

Ms Popcorn is no fool. A little too ready to see the world in a slight, ephemeral trend, perhaps, but not a fool. Her reputation is based on her ability to be ahead of the curve. If she's seeing religion as a powerful marketing tool in the future, she's probably right. Certainly it would be no surprise to discover that the Christian Right is thinking along the same lines.

What does it mean for us? Maybe nothing, but we've all seen apparently loopy fundamentalist campaigns turn into commonly-accepted belief. Bill O'Reilly et al are busily trying to do that very thing with their idiotic 'Save Christmas' campaign. If Tyson's 'powering the world with religious protein' concept sells, pretty soon everybody will be doing it, and mixing religion into absolutely everything will become 'normal'. It's a small step from there to the majority religion (or the religion that claims to be the majority) flexing its perceived muscles to force their version of religion to the top, effectively pushing everyone else out.

The fundamentalists and Dominionists can't win unless their version of Christianity is perceived to be not just the most common but the dominant one, the one and only religion practiced by the vast majority of Americans. Alliances with corporations could be an enormous help.

Suppose US corporations became over the next ten or twenty years carbon copies of the military and sports worlds in the way they try to force fundamentalism on employees. Suppose that you took a job and quickly learned that unless you go to the 'right' church and 'bear witness' in the 'right' way every morning at the compulsory prayer breakfast, you won't have that job for very long. Suppose every corporation became a fundamentalist annex where non-believers were subjected to ridicule, abuse, forced 'exorcisms', and even beatings. And let's further suppose that globalization has removed once and for all any hope that there will ever be enough jobs here for every American to have a decent one, that a permanent job-blight has settled on the country. That is, after all, the road we're going down. In fact, after the last five years of Norquistian economic policies, we're almost there.

Suppose all that were true? How far do you think we'd be from theocracy then?

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Corporate America and Theocracy | 21 comments (21 topical, 0 hidden)

"Sermo-mercials" (none / 0)

My friend Jason Pitzl-Waters examines this in his Wildhunt Blog, where he takes a sharp look at the Narnia hype.

He coined the word 'sermo-mercials' to describe the deliberate marketing that Disney is doing to churches:

Disney Hypes "Narnia" to Christians. It's interesting, in a creepy way to see how Christians are the New! Improved! market to sell Stuff to.

by Lorie Johnson on Tue Dec 06, 2005 at 09:24:18 PM EST

the christian market (none / 0)

Actually, as far as Hollywood is concerned, this has been coming for a long time, ever since Mel Gibson's bloody screed pulled in $300M by being marketed to Christian churches. Narnia is just the first real chance they've had to capitalize on it. (Movies take roughly 2 yrs from greenlight to distribution on average.) Expect to see a lot more of it in the future as films that were greenlighted as a result of Passion start to hit the cineplexes.

The movies' sudden love for Christians isn't actually all that sudden. This deserves a post of its own, maybe, but Hollywood is a separate entity with its own rules. Movie studios aren't like any other corporations in the world, and it's a mistake to think they represent anything other than themselves. Yes, they ape the regular culture but in a weird, warped way common only to them. In Hollywood, everybody is a stranger in a strange land and no amount of experience in other corporate environments can prepare you for it.

- mick -

by mick arran on Tue Dec 06, 2005 at 11:40:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

: Parallel Universe (none / 0)

I've learned in my studies that the moderan Christian culture occupies a parallel universe of sorts, walled off from secular culture in a way that most mainstream people would find surprising. They homeschool, they have their own books, music, entertainment, social circles- even their own financial advice people. If you belong to a megachurch, you can pretty much get all the things you want or need right on the campus. I found a link to a blog called Sheepwatch on another post, and the writer nails it:

"Jesus said to be fishers of men but too many Pastors had turned into being keepers of the aquarium."
It's a very insular world, and very much an echo chamber. Note how uniform a lot of their websites, sermons, and press releases are? That is deliberate. It's more for their members than for us. The aquarium comparison is especially apt when you see all this stuff targeted at them. They're literally a captive audience.

by Lorie Johnson on Wed Dec 07, 2005 at 01:53:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

religious protein (none / 0)

I think this deserves much more discussion.

I think you are definitely on to what may be beneath the upsurge in the religious right, which is clearly connected to its unholdy alliance with big-money interests.

Obviously, we see this in the Republican party, and we know how wealth and elections are linked. But I think that we are only beginning to unearth the extent to which they are the protein for a vast range of policy shifts.

The religious right is commandeering politics and boosting the private sector, which pays back with support for the religious right.

We are headed for a corporatocracy as much as theocracy, or perhaps some corpotheo combination.

Corporate investment and religious right pressure on corporations are a part of the mix Religious Investment are only part of the picture.

Add to this donations to right wing think tanks and support for candidates who, in turn, support corporate policies of lowered wages, environmental destruction, union dissolution, amassing of monopolies, tax breaks, anti-consumer legislation, and all sorts of other schemes to increase profit, as well as to direct social welfare programs into religious right organizations which become increasingly wealthy in the process.

This is THE key, I think. I'd be very interested to know what else you have uncovered.

by cyncooper on Wed Dec 07, 2005 at 11:20:44 AM EST

So perhaps the Ford decision not to (none / 0)

advertise in the gay media is their latest marketing tool, a la Faith Popcorn, as well as another corporate alliance for the fundies and Dominionists?

I can't stand it.

by carole on Wed Dec 07, 2005 at 11:26:24 AM EST

As in fundamentalists? (5.00 / 2)

I understand and support your concerns, but I hope we can call fundamentalists by their name, rather than slipping into a shorthand that tends to dehumanize them. Just a thought.

= = = The Public Eye: Website of Political Research Associates Chip's Blog = = =

by Chip Berlet on Wed Dec 07, 2005 at 11:35:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Nomenclature (none / 0)

I try to keep the two separate in my own writings, because they're quite different when you examine them closely. While fundementalists can be strident and very hard nosed, they generally prefer to keep to themselves.

Dominionists on the other hand, seem to have gotten mixed up in power politics, and cannot help but try to swarm over everything.

Think about Jimmy Carter. He's a fundementalist Born Again Baptist, but he's not a Dominionist.

by Lorie Johnson on Wed Dec 07, 2005 at 01:56:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

: Fundamentalists (none / 0)

Not sure about assumption that fundamentalists "generally prefer to keep to themselves." What they tend to share is belief in literal interpretation of the bible. Beyond that, suspect there is a range in degree of activism. Certainly, many of them function as foot soldiers for religious right groups such as FOF, AFA, PTC, Promise Keepers, etc. This group can be extremely active in terms of e-mail, letter-writing, phone campaigns and, at times, demonstrating.
Also not sure that Jimmy Carter is representative - or would pass a strict fundamentalist test. He does identify himself as an evangelical - a group that includes social conservatives and liberals.

by Psyche on Wed Dec 07, 2005 at 04:21:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]
: Terms and tendencies (none / 0)

There are a wide variety of fundamentalists, some of whom are unhappy with dominionism in general and the Christian Right in particular. So I was trying to tease the categories apart, and suggest that using the term "fundies" instead of "fundamentalists" might be inadvertantly pushing away a few potential allies. :-)

= = = The Public Eye: Website of Political Research Associates Chip's Blog = = =

by Chip Berlet on Wed Dec 07, 2005 at 06:00:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]
: the tongue (none / 0)

I know 'dominionists' is become the preferred term on Talk2Action -- and this may be a contrarian view -- but, quite honestly, I don't find it rolling off the tongue. Often it lands somewhere near Dominoe's pizza in my mind -- although maybe that's not too bad since the founder is such a right-winger.

by cyncooper on Thu Dec 08, 2005 at 01:49:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]
: I seem to recall Jimmy Carter (none / 0)

explicitly saying he is not a fundamentalist, in a recent extended interview on C-SPAN. He describes fundamentalists as oppressive toward women, among other negative attributes, and with his wonderful late mother, his wife, and his daughter being such great, strong women, it is not surprising that he does not want to be termed a fundamentalist.

by MaryOGrady on Thu Dec 08, 2005 at 05:57:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yes, you are right. Sorry, I'm new to this and (none / 0)

still working my way through the new language and other articles on this site. I have read some of your research on Political Research Associates when I've needed a quick answer, but mostly fundamentalism and dominionism have been subjects and people that I just ignore (at best).

That approach has not actually worked in real life, so I am here to learn a different way.

I came here because of the political, but of course, people are much more complicated. I'll keep reading.

Thank you.

by carole on Wed Dec 07, 2005 at 07:09:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

back to the point (none / 0)

You are very right to point to the decision by Ford not to advertise in gay media, at the behest of the religious right, as another arrow in this strategy. For a long time, boycott tactics and bullying efforts by the religious right had little effect. Now, companies seem to be laying down at the first twitch.

I hope someone is monitoring this and can create a long-range chart to determine if there is more capitulation. It certainly feels that way.

In the meantime, here is a site that has some action steps to encourage Ford to do the right thing -- America's Blog. http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/12/ford-spokesmen-jim-cain-and-mike-moran.html

by cyncooper on Thu Dec 08, 2005 at 02:04:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

thank you for posting this (none / 0)

The relationship between the Christian right and elements of the corporate sector is important to understand, and to be able to explain clearly and well. Also to differentiate between companies that are for example, indoctrinating emplyees in the preferred religion of the management, and those that are just caving into perceived or actual organized consumer pressure.

There are also elements of the corporate sector that would naturally resist the Christian right. They are important allies.

by Frederick Clarkson on Thu Dec 08, 2005 at 02:10:47 PM EST

Tyson is a notoriously terrible employer. (none / 0)

Like other chicken processors in the US, Tyson exposes its workers to needless, permanent, disabling injuries in the name of "speeding up the line." It's a commonplace that Tyson and its corporate colleagues recruit undocumented foreign workers because of their reputed docility, then use them up and spit them out, crippled, without pity for them or their families.
So, when Tyson's mission statement says the company is "striving to be a faith-friendly company...and to honor God...", is the word I am looking for "hypocrisy," or is it more like, "blasphemy"?

by MaryOGrady on Fri Dec 09, 2005 at 10:41:03 AM EST

Companies and dominionism (none / 0)

Some companies go even further than Tyson and are explicit funders of the dominionist movement. A few that I documented in this thread:

Corporations known to have supported dominionist causes:

Chick-Fil-A (multiple dominionist links; http://www.positiveatheism.org/writ/moore12.htm and http://blog.hamdems.org/archives/025021.html document this fairly extensively)

(from http://www.positiveatheism.org/writ/moore12.htm which is an article on the antics of Roy Moore)

Another religious celebration covering the Thanksgiving period is "National Bible Week." This celebration began in 1941, when the first Bible Week proclamation was made by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Support for this event is better organized and funded than the "America's Christian Heritage Week," since the latter is relatively recent. But the Bible Week celebration has the same objective of prompting elected officials to declare the holiday and issue proclamations. In 1996, governors in 29 states declared National Bible Week (up from 27 in 1995).

NBW organizers include major leaders in the business and political sectors. Chairing the Bible Week committee is S. Truett Cathy, chairman and founder of Chick-Fil-A, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia. Acting as Co-Chairs are U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Representative Steven Largent (R-OK). Governor Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania is in charge of the Governors' Committee for NBW. And overseeing the committee charged with recruiting municipal leaders on behalf of the Bible Week cause is Mayor Kurt Schmoke of Baltimore, Maryland.

(from http://blog.hamdems.org/archives/025021.html)

Also, if you don't like Focus on the Family, don't eat at Chick-fil-A, who heavily sponsors FOTF.

Speaking of which, here's some evidence even more damning of Chick-Fil-A being dominionism-friendly:

http://www.whitsend.org/chickfila/ (Chick-Fil-A's children's meal incentives promoting a radio show targeted at children and broadcast by Focus on the Family's "godcasting" radio affiliates)

http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/04/03/wo_jenkins030504.asp?p=1 (notes Chick-Fil-A promoting FotF-related children's incentives)

http://www.family.org/fofmag/pf/a0026162.cfm (from Focus on the Family themselves; notes that Chick-Fil-A not only uses FotF material as children's incentives but other dominionist incentives targeted at children (such as Veggietales, which is a "Christian" children's program generally carried on "godcasting" networks, especially PAX TV affiliates and whose creators have multiple links to dominionist and spiritually abusive groups))

http://www.thecross-photo.com/Chick-fil-A_Restaurants-Closed_On_Sunday.htm (promotion by Arthur S DeMoss Foundation--a group which itself has indulged in "stealth evangelism" using athletes including NASCAR drivers; will post more on the DeMoss Foundation in a short bit)

http://www.truettcathy.com/ (website for the owner of Chick-Fil-A; yes, it does talk about his funding of dominionist causes)

Amway/Quixtar/Alticor (multiple dominionist links, including promotion in AoG churches as "Christian Business" (see in previous Dark Christianity article re dominionists and pyramid schemes at http://www.livejournal.com/community/dark_christian/211907.html); DeVos Foundation (operated by Amway founder) major funder of dominionist causes (see http://www.mediatransparency.org/funderprofile.php?funderID=17); Amway/Quixtar/Alticor itself has been noted as using coercive tactics (see first link); see http://www.freedomcrowsnest.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18222 for examples of what is being funded)

Coors Breweries (owners of Coors operate Castle Rock Foundation and Coors Foundations, both major funders of Christian Reconstructionist and dominionist causes; see http://www.mediatransparency.org/funderprofile.php?funderID=14 for info, and http://www.freedomcrowsnest.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18222 for groups funded)

Olin Chemicals/Olin Pharmaceuticals (operated Olin Foundation, major funder of dominionist causes; seems to have stopped trust fund as of November 2005 but multiple members are in Scaife Foundation; see http://www.mediatransparency.org/funderprofile.php?funderID=7)

Allen-Bradley Company (electronics firm)(founders operate Bradley Foundation, major funder of dominionist causes; see http://www.mediatransparency.org/funderprofile.php?funderID=1)

Mellon oil/industrial companies (possibly including Gulf Oil at one time, now owned by BP) (founders operate four separate groups collectively known as the Scaife Foundation, all of which are major funders of dominionist causes; see http://www.mediatransparency.org/funderprofile.php?funderID=3);
Mellon Financial may not be involved with the Mellon industrial/oil companies that I can see. If anything, Mellon Financial would probably piss off dominionists:

http://thechurchmilitant.blogspot.com/2005/09/they-think-sodomy-is-good-business.html
(re funding of GLAD, a gay/les/bi/trans advocacy group)

Then again, there's some confusion, because at least part of the Scaife Foundation hydra may have changed focus (due to takeover by a daughter that doesn't agree with the funding of dominionist causes) and is even funding some progressive causes:

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Scaife_Foundations
http://www.mediatransparency.org/funderprofile.php?funderID=2

B. F. Goodrich was formerly a Scaife company but has since been sold;
http://www.waternet.com/News.asp?mode=4&N_ID=20026

The closest thing I've found to a present link to Scaife-owned companies (and even THIS may be out of date) is this:

http://archives.cjr.org/year/81/4/scaife.asp
http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/speakout/scaife.html

One major focus of investment with Scaife, interestingly, is news media:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2004/04/19/story2.html
http://www.salon.com/news/1998/04/07news.html

(This is especially interesting in regards to consolidation of media by right-wing and dominionist interests)

In other words, it appears Scaife may be a trust-fund baby, and in fact much of the right-wing turn was recent (and may be in a process of reversal). Most of Scaife's interest seems to be in media concerns.

Alcoa Aluminum is now probably one to avoid as well, as Scaife still apparently owns that:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Mellon_Scaife

Curves, Inc. (spa chain) (apparently owners are linked with Randall Terry's groups; see http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2004/05/19/curves/)

Wal-Mart and Sam's Wholesale (group has funded dominionist causes in past, and Walton Foundation still funds dominionist groups involved in "stealth evangelism": http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Walton_Family_Foundation notes some info, as does http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=1415 and http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=10723 and http://www.mediatransparency.org/funderprofile.php?funderID=25; http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipientsoffunder.php?funderID=25 has a fairly complete list of recipients) (may not be as active in funding dominionist causes as in past but still group of concern)

Hobby Lobby (dominionist-run store that (per http://www.usatoday.com/life/2005-10-19-starbucks-quote_x.htm) even goes so far as to only play "Christian contemporary" music in its stores; http://forums.desmoines.craigslist.org/?act=Q&ID=35007861 notes how Hobby Lobby may in fact violate federal law by discriminating against non-dominionists in hiring; http://www.pubtheo.com/page.asp?pid=1190 notes how owner of Hobby Lobby is major contributor to Jerry Falwell and his Christian Reconstructionist efforts; http://www.hobbylobby.com/site3/ministry/ministry.cfm is pretty damning in and of itself in regards to dominionist ministries funded (which includes at least one "godcasting" group, Bearing Fruit Communications, associated with PAX TV)

In-N-Out Burger and Forever 21/XXI stores are known to put Bible verses on bags/wrappers out of religiosity (http://www.snopes.com/business/alliance/inandout.asp and http://www.boingboing.net/2005/07/23/forever_21_and_bible.html) but so far I've not found overt dominionist links with those two chains.

Alaska Airlines is similarly suspicious but actually has an even higher index of possible suspicion:
http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2004/02/27/askthepilot76/index_np.html
http://www.ffrf.org/action/alaska_airlines.php
http://politicalphysics.com/node/1188
(all in regards to placing (Protestant) Bible verses with meals)

Alaska Airlines is listed in at least one "Christian Yellow Pages" directory as well, which is a bit of a red flag.

People's Benefit Services, formerly National Liberty Corporation (change of name noted at http://www.directmag.com/mag/marketing_direct_coverage/); dominionist links are probably most notable under their previous identity as National Liberty Corporation.

The reason National Liberty Corporation gets its own special listing is because it was founded by an Arthur S DeMoss, who is also possibly one of the largest funders of dominionist causes in the United States and seems to specifically specialise in projects involving "stealth evangelism" or "bait and switch evangelism".

National Liberty sold via direct (snail-mail) marketing--junk mailing--and still derives the majority of their business from this. http://cfm.the-pdma.org/events/dm_oftheyear.cfm details a bit of this history.

Info on the DeMoss Foundation, National Liberty Insurance, and funding of dominionism:

http://dks.thing.net/Dominionism.html (on dominionism)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Religious_right (notes DeMoss Foundation as major sugar daddy of dominionist causes)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/wiki.phtml?title=Dominionist
http://www.sourcewatch.org/wiki.phtml?title=Arthur_S._DeMoss_Foundation (actually details where most of the money goes, gives some more back-history; notes involvement directly in the Iran-Contra arms scandal, also notes direct funding of Christian Reconstructionist groups; has directly assisted in bankrolling political campaigns for dominionists (notably John Ashcroft).)
http://www.au.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5950&abbr=cs_ (details stealth evangelism campaign by DeMoss Foundation in free giveaways of "Power For Living"--a dominionist religious guide--which was promoted by sports personalities on television such as NASCAR's Jeff Gordon; also notes dominionist groups funded by or assisted by DeMoss Foundation)

by dogemperor on Fri Dec 09, 2005 at 02:33:02 PM EST

good info (none / 0)

It would be nice to make all of this into a concise list. Certainly a lot of important info here. Have you seen anything on L.L.Bean?

(By the way, I believe Arthur DeMoss died. The Foundation is run by Nancy DeMoss.)

by cyncooper on Sat Dec 10, 2005 at 12:08:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Makin' a list? (none / 0)

This is probably an area we need to do a lot of research in and actually set up a list--I've seen requests on at least three anti-dominionist forums (two blogs--here and Dark Christianity--and discussion on an anti-dominionist mailinglist) for a list of known funders of dominionist causes for purposes of publication and boycotting.

I agree we do need to get a list up so we know who the funders of dominionism are. (Among other things, I'd love to know if In-N-Out and Forever 21 just have religious owners (which is all fine and good) or actually are corporate sponsors of dominionism (which is not).

I've not heard anything on L. L. Bean myself--anyone else?

by dogemperor on Sat Dec 10, 2005 at 11:58:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]

: research (none / 0)

Really important to have complete and solid research with the latest ownership information and policy implications. One false piece of information is really discrediting. That's the especially challenging -- and time consuming -- part.

by cyncooper on Sat Dec 10, 2005 at 05:14:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Hmm (none / 0)

Can't say that I like the idea of using religion in the marketing of a business. I guess plenty of people actually likes it, but I don't.
Gwen, Freelancer currently working on the 10 pounds to lose project.
by Gwen on Sun Mar 09, 2008 at 05:36:02 AM EST

Great ... (none / 0)

Corporate America and Theocracy | 21 comments (21 topical, 0 hidden)

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By Frederick Clarkson (6 comments)

Short Takes: The Family edition
Religion Dispatches: A number of religious leaders called on president Obama to condemn the proposed Ugandan kill the gays bill, which had been originally......
By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)

Will National Prayer Breakfast Once Again Flaunt Fake George Washington 'Prayer' ?
It was February 2006. President George Bush, King Abdullah of Jordan, and Bono all gathered at the 2006 National Prayer Breakfast. If they read......
By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)

NY Times, AP, Cable News Reports on Air Force Academy Don't Get the Picture
In recent weeks, there has been a pretty steady stream of articles reporting on the much improved religious climate at the U.S. Air Force......
By Chris Rodda (3 comments)

The Road to Remonstrance
I recently wrote about the need for mainstream and liberal Catholics to offer remonstrance -- an earnest presentation of reasons for opposition or grievance......
By Frank Cocozzelli (7 comments)

Angry Voters, Right-Wing Populism, & Racial Violence
Eric Ward is nervous. He's seen it before--the angry right-wing populist crowds, the strident calls to "Restore America" and "Take it Back." In the......
By Chip Berlet (8 comments)

Historians Whack "Liberal Fascism" Thesis
David Neiwert has pulled together a critique of the idea of "Liberal Fascism" over at the History News Network: "It has now been just......
By Chip Berlet (1 comment)

Texas Churches and the Governor's Race
In Polk County Texas, Governor Rick Perry held a campaign rally in one of the Black churches. He was joined by the head of......
By wilkyjr (0 comments)

Richard Land and Presidential Politics
Andrew Hogue of Baylor University has chronicled the story of Richard Land's connection to Presidential power. Writing in Texas Baptist History's 2006 Journal, Hogue......
By wilkyjr (0 comments)

Good Riddance 'Jesus Rifles' -- Trijicon to Stop Putting Bible References on Military Rifle Sights
(I've updated this post to add some photos and other stuff to rebut the most common comments I'm seeing on other articles and blogs.)......
By Chris Rodda (1 comment)

Movement Behind Uganda's "Kill the Gays" Bill Organizing in Newark
Street by street, block by block, organized by city ward, PrayforNewark's squads of church members are walking their city, praying for residents and businesses.......
By Bruce Wilson (6 comments)

Resource Directory for the New Apostolic Reformation
The Apostles and Prophets of the New Apostolic Reformation view their postdenominational movement as the future face of the Protestant church and the end......
By Rachel Tabachnick (0 comments)

Sight Fight: U.S. Military Must See Problem With Bible Engravings
Yesterday I wrote on AU's blog about a controversy that has erupted over the revelation that a Michigan-based company has engraved references to biblical......
By Rob Boston (5 comments)

History Matters: Obama Declares Religious Freedom Day
President Barack Obama has issued a Proclamation declaring January 16th Religious Freedom Day. (PDF) In it he invokes the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom......
By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)

Video Exposes Antigay Western Theocratic Effort "Transforming" Uganda
My new 20 minute documentary, Transforming Uganda, exposes the immense political influence in Uganda of the International Transformation Network and ideological influence of George......
By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)

Pope John Paul II's Penitential Practices: The Opus Dei Connection
We are pleased to once again welcome theologian William Lindsey as a guest front pager. This piece is crossposted from the new progressive Catholic group blog, The Open Tabernacle: Here Comes Everybody. -- FC......
By William Lindsey (0 comments)

WallBuilders, Inc., Promoting a dominionist "Christian Nation"
Cherry Hill Seminary Supports Patrick McCollum in 9th Circuit Case Against California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation http://snipurl.com/u8kcj ......
By Dragonzmajick (0 comments)

Roeder verdict sparks fears of more anti-abortion violence
cross-posted at dKos Scott Roeder is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder of George Tiller. At the very least, he'll by 75 years old before he can......
By Christian Dem in NC (1 comment)

The dark underside of the Latter Rain--a walkaway's view
cross-posted at dKos I read Bruce Wilson's posts on dKos and Talk To Action regarding the "Pray For Newark" initiative with particular alarm. While Pray for Newark appears to espouse an admirable goal--community empowerment--it's......
By Christian Dem in NC (2 comments)

Bishops as Provocateurs
In a thinly-veiled reference to the campaign of President Barack Obama, Archbishop Emeritus of St. Louis, Raymond Burke, charged that Americans are "embracing a totalitarianism which masks itself as the 'hope,' the 'future' of......
By bettyclermont (0 comments)

The Vatican v. Children
Yesterday was not a good day for children seeking justice from the Roman Catholic Church. The internet brought the following news: ......
By bettyclermont (0 comments)

Religious bigots control supermarket chain
Well, they've won again. The religious bigots have forced Publix Supermarkets into bowing to their wishes. ......
By ArchaeoBob (5 comments)

Manhattan Declaration is to Theology what Fox is to Journalism
The December 20, 2009, New York Times ran a lengthy article by David D. Kirkpatrick about Robert P. George, "The Conservative-Christian Big Thinker." The occasion was release of George's "Manhattan Declaration" signed by the......
By bettyclermont (2 comments)

Merry Freakin' Christmas: I'm Taking Your Stuff, and you Can't Stop Me!
A humorous look at the larger implications of a seemingly harmless holiday tradition. ......
By John Sheirer (1 comment)

Lou Engle, September 25, 2007, Los Angeles: "Holywood"
[This is a partial transcription of a sermon/speech Lou Engle, Founder of TheCall gave on September 25, 2007, in Los Angeles. The full sermon is slightly over 63 minutes. This partial transcript is of......
By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)

Screen Shots of Rick Warren Doctoral Dissertation
......
By Bruce Wilson (4 comments)

Rick Warren Tweet complains my videos of his "Hitler/Lenin/Mao" speech are unfair
It's gratifying to know "America's most powerful pastor" seems to have taken notice of my videos, showcasing Rick Warren's 2005 speech at California's Anaheim Angels Stadium, during which Warren outlined a "stealth" program to......
By Bruce Wilson (4 comments)

Blurring Reproductive Rights and the Religious Right
The principle of the Hyde Amendment, which restricted federal funds from paying for abortion back in 1976 -- is now seen as an acceptable, "abortion neutral" position for the prochoice Democratic Party. How did......
By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)

Rick Warren Calls on Followers To Be Dedicated as Followers of Lenin and Mao
[note: for more recent news on Rick Warren, see Rick Warren's Dissertation Advisor Leads Network Promoting Uganda Anti-Gay Bill] Video, below contains audio recording, photos, and transcript from Rick Warren's April 17, 2005 speech......
By Bruce Wilson (6 comments)

Julius Oyet Touts The College of Prayer
A new Talk To Action story identifies Apostle and bishop Julius Oyet as a major player in the recent effort in the Ugandan parliament to pass a draconian anti-gay bill. In this video [transcript......
By Bruce Wilson (1 comment)

Mark Silk on the Hagee / Rodriguez Entente
Mark Silk, at Spiritual Politics has picked up on my notice of the Hagee-Rodriguez embrace and zeroes in on what's certainly one of the most notable aspects: "The key thing to understand about the......
By Bruce Wilson (1 comment)

Inscribing Christian Values in our Children Before Birth?
Following the evolution of evangelical discourse as it re-defines homosexuality as evidence of "fallen creation", Terri Murray looks at how the Christian right have shifted their rhetoric to adapt to empirical research showing that......
By TMurray (0 comments)

US News & World Report Showcases Creationist Ray Comfort
US News and World Report's Dan Gilgoff has charitably provided evangelist Ray Comfort a media platform in the form of a US News & World "exclusive" through which Comfort defends his efforts to distribute,......
By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)

Atheist billboard in Central Florida
The organization "Atheists of Florida" sponsored a billboard promoting atheism in Lakeland, Florida. I, however, have some concerns. ......
By ArchaeoBob (3 comments)

Transcript: Billy Graham and Richard Nixon, February 21, 1973
The following is my own transcript of a 20 minute phone conversation between Richard Nixon and Billy Graham, on February 23, 1973. As far as I am aware this is the only publicly available,......
By Bruce Wilson (1 comment)

Rifqa Bary being sent back to Ohio now
Well, there's a change in this case. After the judge gets immigration documents and so on from the parents, he will send her back. ......
By ArchaeoBob (0 comments)

The War on The War on Christmas Goes To Pot
The first day of Fall could be considered the official launch date for the annual war on the war on Christmas, which represents a significant part of the the American Family Association business model......
By Bruce Wilson (1 comment)

School Officials off the hook
Today it is reported that the judge excused the school officials who violated the agreement they had over separation of Church and State. ......
By ArchaeoBob (0 comments)

Dominionists trying to outlaw birth control
Well, they're at it again in Florida. ......
By ArchaeoBob (5 comments)

No Danger for Rifqa Bary
The FDLE just completed an investigation and found "no credible reports of threats" against Rifqa Bary. ......
By ArchaeoBob (1 comment)

Truth hitting the mainstream!
I've despaired of ever seeing anything critical or exposing Dominionism hit the mainstream press. There is now an exception. ......
By ArchaeoBob (0 comments)

Extremism?
The term extremism is currently in vogue to describe hate groups and other malcontents listed as such by knowledgeable monitors like SPLC and others in the T2A sidebar, but while we all know what......
By Jay Taber (2 comments)

My Netroots Nation Panel Talk
Where Do We Stand in the Bright Light of History? Netroots Nation August 14, 2009 Thank You, Professor Ledewitz, for initiating this discussion of a progressive vision for church and state -- and Netroots......
By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)

Transcript, Jan. 18, 2009 Steven Anderson Sermon Excerpt
Note: the sermon excerpt video and transcript below, from a January 18, 2009 sermon by pastor Steven Anderson of the Tempe, Arizona Independent Baptist Church, begins at approximately 21:30 into Anderson's one hour, four......
By Bruce Wilson (1 comment)

More anti-Muslim provocation
The local paper reports that students in Gainsville, Florida are wearing T-shirts with "ISLAM IS OF THE DEVIL" printed on them. ......
By ArchaeoBob (1 comment)

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