I know the very title of this post is going to raise eyebrows and begin the process of hate-mail but I must get this off my mind! The answer is NO! They shouldn’t! If you are truly a Christ Follower, would you support the advancement of the New Age, Zen Buddhism, Mysticism, etc.??? Under the disguise of casual interactions with friends, over-priced (and low quality coffees), and social status is a little company that has made its way into the store shelves. This company is the the supplier of Starbuck’s Teas…TAZO
You can visit their site by clicking here. Did you know that they claim each box of tea is “blessed by a Shaman” ? This is a crying out to all who read and even are daily drinkers of coffee to banish Starbucks from their vocabulary and checkbooks! You might be saying that you don’t drink tea so it doesn’t affect you…I site the many verses in the Bible warning us not to partake in the ways of the world and having nothing to do with paganism. So come on “Christians” stop giving your money to companies that support everything you “believe” to be wrong.
What are you proposing ? Are you saying that we should buy products only from companies that it’s official religion is christianity? How can this be done? Maybe if they write on their site that every product the make is blessed by a priest its ok? Maybe then the muslims or islamic fanatics do the same for the christian companies.. And what is the meaning of all that? Do you believe that if you do that you will go to Heaven? That’s rediculous my friend..
You should respect other’s religion. Not to be afraid of, or boycot any product from a man that doesn’t have the same religion as you. If you are a really christian then you should give love and understanding to other, not to hate, not to punish.
darkness,thanks for stopping by, my point is that Christianity in its true form is a committment to abstain from worldly desires and things that cause you to stumble in faith. This means not partaking or supporting events, products, services, businesses that promote the un-Godly. Is it absolutely possible to abstain from every company that is not “Christian”? well probably not, but the goal here is to expose how Christians are being influenced by the world in the little things we do like going to Starbucks. Having a product blessed by a priest means nothing to me by the way. My blessings in life are from God alone. I don’t know you or your religious beliefs but don’t non-Christians like atheists, secular humanists, etc. banish all things Christian becuase we believe in God? What’s the difference in boycotting prayer in school and me boycotting Starbucks? I also pray that God reveals to you great and mighty things in your life and that you will continue to read this blog.
Well, what I propose is to show love and compassion to this company, by sending an e-mail (not only you but every people shares your idea) and expressing your worries and sadness for their practice. I believe that this could “shake” them a little bit and of course -I want to believe- that they would change this way of marketing (because what they do is just a form of marketing).
I would describe my self as an sceptic, and I have many friends that are christians orthodox. My argument with many of them is that they don’t follow many rules of their church. They do things like saying lies, having sex relationships without marriage (some of them have 2-3 relationships at the same time), not going often to church and after all these they say “I believe in God”. Believe is something that you express in your every day, it’s not an empty word that many want to believe.
Of course I believe you have the right with what you accuse this company, because they don’t respect others religions with their practice. Every company should respect every religion in this world.
Love,peace,empathy.
Ah the age old battle of dealing with hypocrites! It bugs me as well that people who claim their religion (even if it is not the same as mine) and yet live otherwise. I understand that most businesses use religious marketing tactics to draw in a certain crowd and they have the right to do so. I know of business owners that pay for ads in Christian publications and even church bulitens to “persuade their Christianity” to the consumer. You make a good point.
An interesting issue, Thomas.
Do we want to support a company that clearly doesn’t support our faith? Or do we ignore it and consider that it has no power anyway, like Paul did with the idols of his day.
I have drank TAZO tea in the past, not reading it’s label, and was unaware of this connection. One question I have, is ‘is this just new agey kinda hype’ that is just for ’show’? How serious are they? I did check out their web site and found that they are in favor of helping the less fortunate, something I have to admire, regardless of their faith.
I am curious about this and will discuss it with some Christians I know that love Starbucks.
Thanks for starting the conversation.
I had a hot chocolate from SB this week. It was yummy. My friend Aaron over at the paper mirror also works at a SB when he’s not on the road. I have sat with you at SB before. I don’t vote for a boycott against SB I vote for one against Lifeway and Family Christian Stores (among others) for marketing Jesus on everything from “Share your faith at the beach” sandals to “share your faith on the construction site” measuring tapes. All I can think of is Jesus and the money changers.
It’s clear this topic is stirring up too many emotions…The point of this post was to expose how in a world where everything Christian in the mainstream world is shunned yet other religious views are printed on products and no one seems to mind…adn yes nothing beats lures in ranch dressing (or raw eggs!)