Fr Ray Blake has rather disturbing news
on his blog: Tesco, it seems, are berating orthodox Christians for our moral beliefs with regard to homosexuality. He refers us to the
Iona Institute website where we are told the Head of Research and Development for Tesco's website, Nick Lansley, called us "evil" for not supporting the gay political agenda.
It seems Tesco has a history of attacking Christian teaching. So much for tolerance. One would imagine that Tesco would stick to retailing rather than promoting political agendas.
I was going to do some of my Christmas shopping in the company's outlet in Drogheda, but I will no longer give them my custom. If Tesco is so ready to attack the sincerely held beliefs of Christians, then they do not need our business. So spread the word - don't shop at Tesco, go elsewhere. If you want to register a complaint, you can contact the Chief Executive at:
philip.clarke@uk.tesco.com.
Kudos to the Iona Institute for exposing this one: they deserve our support.
UPDATE:
I have just sent an email to Philip Clarke, Chief Executive of Tesco, I am posting it for your information.
Dear Mr Clarke,
My attention has been drawn to comments by your Head of Research and Development, Mr Nick Langsley, in which he referred to Christians as being "evil" for not supporting the redefinition of marriage so as to facilitate homosexual "marriage".
While Mr Langsley is entitled to his opinion, he is not entitled to judge the sincerely held beliefs of others and brand us Christians as evil because we follow the teachings of Christ and his Apostles with regard to moral matters. Disagree with us if you want, but please respect our beliefs.
Contrary to what some in the homosexual lobby would have us believe, we Christians do not hate them nor want to deprive them of their rights as human beings. While we do not support the idea of "gay marriage" and we will refuse to define our understanding of marriage to faciliate it, we seek to treat all people with respect.
Given that many of your customers are Christians, and I was one myself, I suggest that you as Chief Executive deal with this issue and seek to make amends to Christians who are deeply offended by your employee's remark.
Until such time as a proper response is made, I will no longer be shopping at your retail outlet in Drogheda (Ireland), and as a pastor of a parish I will be encouraging my parishioners not to shop in your stores either. I will also encourage similiar action through my blog which has a wide readership.
I hope as Christmas draws near and your stores benefit from the celebrations of Christians who buy food and other items from your company for their annual feast, your company may take careful note of the need to respect our sincerely held beliefs and not just take our money and then denigrate us.
Sincerely,
Rev. John Hogan
