“You need to take down anything religious related from the board…yeah the regional manager flips out when there’s anything religious related on there”emphatically said the Starbucks barista into her headset (used to communicate with her co-workers) as she swept the floor in preparation for closing.
Her voice was loud, but it was her words and the implications behind them that jerked my attention away from Sunday evening studies. “Did she really just say that?” I thought to myself. Over the years, the community board in Starbucks has been the host for a multitude of outreach flyers. Among various job opportunity postings, group exercise activities, charity donation programs, and a variety of other social events, there are occasionally different church sponsored events on the board. I know this because I’m one of those people that takes the time to read the board. Let me start by saying I am a satisfied Starbucks consumer, but not a die-hard Starbucks consumer. I don’t own a gold card, I hate the social stigma of being a “white girl at Starbucks”, and quite frankly I prefer the flavor of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. That being said, my money is spent at Starbucks a couple of times per week primarily for the atmosphere. It’s a quiet gathering place with tasteful music and contains people of all ages reading books, thumbing through the newspaper, clacking away on laptops, and lost in deep conversations with other patrons. In essence, it’s an ideal study environment for me.
So, when I’m interrupted by this woman’s voice spouting corporate guidelines and how the regional manager “flips out” when anything religious related is posted on the board, my curiosity is sparked. I scurry over to the board and investigate this “religious-related” posting. What I find alarms me. The flyer is a church sponsored event advocating an “empowered conference…equipping you to bring hope and healing to adopted and foster children”. “How is this flyer worthy of being taken off the board?…” my thoughts begin reeling. This particular event is helping children. This particular flyer is not imposing religious beliefs upon patrons, nor is it condemning anyone or anything. This flyer is promoting an event that appears to be pure in intention and operating under a lens of humanity.
Let me make it clear that I’m not a religious person, but I do appreciate the positive events and attitudes that the church (on the whole) promotes. Although there are several ways that the church has discriminated (and continues to discriminate) against certain groups of people, stifling religion’s fundamental goal to inspire and uplift the community is awry. I understand that there is frustration and disagreement when it comes to the concept of religion, and that there are people that disagree with it as an institution, BUT to deny churches the opportunity to visually promote events that operate through a lens of humanity stifles the freedom of speech and discriminates against the freedom of religion. In the United States Constitution, the first Amendment clearly states that “no law should be made impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech”. The freedom of speech and the freedom of religion are both noteworthy, but operating as a private corporation (not a government organization) Starbucks is under no obligation to permit the expression of patrons’ religious beliefs on the community outreach board. Yet, as a private corporation, Starbucks claims to promote certain ideals while running their business. For example, on the official website, the Starbucks corporation claims that “Every day, we go to work hoping to do two things: share great coffee with our friends and help make the world a little better…We make sure everything we do is through the lens of humanity – from our commitment to the highest quality coffee in the world, to the way we engage with our customers and communities to do business responsibly.” What a wonderful claim! What a respectable goal! Creating an environment for people, such as myself, to congregate in a place, enjoy good coffee-all through the lens of humanity. Let the sounds of the heavenly angels’ trumpets ring loud in the name of STARBUCKS.
But wait!
Starbucks would not approve of the heavenly angels’ trumpets applauding efforts to conduct business through a “lens of humanity” because the angels are associated with (gasp!)…religion.
Sarcasm aside, it’s important to examine the social implications of this encounter at one of the most successful coffee houses in the entire world. I am aware that some people might be offended by a religious related posting, but at what point do efforts of maintaining a politically correct environment go too far? By removing the “religious related” flyer that’s advocating the humanitarian event, Starbucks is going against their own mantra. If the corporation has mandated that no religious related content be associated with their business for fear of offending an overly sensitive patron, perhaps they should rethink their own mantra of operating through a lens of humanity. Since early human civilization, religion has played a major role in shaping human kind. In fact, studies performed by Psychologists’ David Myers and Ed Diener found that there is a positive correlation between reported happiness and religion. As one of the most successful coffee houses, with a large consumer base, this company has the power to influence the population. Their approach to business has landed them success, but now residing at the top, why not harness the power to inspire social change? If Starbucks has the power to charge upwards of $5 for a coffee beverage, then I am confident they have the power to influence consumers in a social aspect as well. Starbucks Corporation’s mandate that all religious material be removed from the board is a passive act. An aggressive act would be allowing the Starbucks employees to distinguish what is acceptable for the board at their own discretion. I am not saying that allowing religious related postings will inspire social change, but in the midst of an ideologically divided America, taking a stance and distinguishing between what is right and wrong instead of constantly trying to avoid offending someone may serve to unite human kind. Taking an aggressive approach (as opposed to a passive one) will be the first of the corporations’ small steps in inspiring social change.
