Money = power

Amway Corporation comes mighty close.

I'm sure there are plenty of others, but that's all I can think of at the moment.

That doesn't surprise me, for some reason. My parents did Amway when I was younger and would listen to those motivational tapes.

I don't know if there is, but I bet Coors and Wal-Mart might be on that list.

I think Walmart is a lot more interested in the Almighty Dollar than the Almighty. Embracing the "family values" crowd is just a good way to succeed in the rural areas that are their biggest market.

There's been one previous post here that's touched on corporate funding of dominionism:
http://www.livejournal.com/community/dark_christian/227882.html

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)

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)

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 (sorry to have to correct you, Sunfell) (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)

This is a very partial list of people involved on the *national* level. On state and local levels, probably the best guide is to find a dominionist group and get a copy of the "Christian Yellow Pages"; there are many similar listings online available via Google search. (Most "Christian Yellow Pages" providers make their contributors sign a specific dominionist statement of faith before allowing them to be listed.)

Also, one thing to be aware of--some dominionist groups (notably state AFA affiliates, but the AoG has been known to do this too) set up "affiliate programs" with *non-dominionist* businesses--most of whom give money to any nonprofit group and are more often than not unaware of what is exactly being funded. In those cases, it's best to write the parent company and ask them if they are aware of some of the statements of the group and if they are willing to support this (many of the affiliates of kingdombuy.com, a web portal operated by an AoG minister that used "affiliate programs" to fund dominionist groups, pulled out after learning they were funding the AFA and similar groups).

Dammit, there is a good chance I'll be working for Mellon Financial before the end of the year :/

Then you can destroy it from the inside :)

Fortunately, Mellon Financial isn't 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

Ahhhh.. that's good to know. All of the research I've done on Mellon Financial says they are a good company.

I don't think those Chic-Fil-A links are correct. I mean, I couldn't find where they had info on Chic-Fil-A.

Both the Chick-Fil-A comments are actually in rather lengthy posts, so I'll snip the relevant bits:

(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))

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)

Yes, Chick-Fil-A is actually one of the most *explicit* funders of dominionist causes, and even targets kids specifically. :P

That's even worse b/c their stuff is so good. Darn it! Dominionism ruins everything. I'd suspected it before, but darn it. Also- I'm curious to hear more about Veggie Tales. They were a big deal at my church a few years back, but I never really examined them.

Halpi Halli in Finland is one(possibly). The only one....thank sweet rotting baby Jesus.

There's some indication that Tyson Foods may be taking a "faith-based" approach to workers' safety as a nice side dish to their union-busting entrée...see http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=7695 , for example.

I heard a rumor that Netflix is owned by some Christerific company.

This would surprise me. Last year around the holidays I saw on buyblue.com that they donated entirely to Democrats. However, seems they've given some to Reps this year.

Only two examples I know of ..

.. both anecdotal and possibly outdated info, your mileage may vary:

One Taco Bell franchise I was around a lot, mainly because I was involved with someone who worked there, from whom I got a lot of inside info, seemed to be making a point of playing a local "Christian" radio station on their PA instead of more generic canned music. Word from inside was that the national chain was giving franchise stores the choice of playing canned music or local "Christian" stations, and took a dim view of playing anything else over the PA. That was back in the mid to late 80's I think, may have changed since then.

More recently, Hobby Lobby (a chain of hobby/craft stores that has several outlets in central TX and maybe other parts of the country as well) is pretty blatantly "Christian"-owned and signage usually makes a big deal of being closed on holidays (mostly Christian religious holidays) "to allow our employees to spend time with their families". Nothing specifically *dominionist* about that, overtly, but knowing "family" is a very prominent dominionist code word sure makes me go "hmmm". (As does their choice in what products to stock particularly around Xmas, and various odd details about how they treat store employees. The fact that the vast majority of what they sell is really cheap stuff made in China is creepy, but probably not relevant.)

I will say that the only thing about privately owned businesses having dominionist ties that bothers me is that they tend to make up a "shadow economy" that reinforces the isolation of living in a dominionist world, as they provide a variety of ways to avoid getting involved in the mainstream life. ("In this world, but not of it." -- UPCI?) It's a secondary issue, bothersome but not as much so as dominionists building up the illusion of being part of the government ..

Re: Only two examples I know of ..

Actually, the info re Hobby Lobby isn't outdated; Forever 21 is a similar case of "business evangelism".

http://www.usatoday.com/life/2005-10-19-starbucks-quote_x.htm

For that matter, Hobby Lobby, Forever 21, XXI, and possibly In-N-Out Burger can *all* be classified as suspect based on this (Hobby Lobby has the best case for it IMHO based on what I've seen, but the others could have a case too).

Re: Only two examples I know of ..

Normally the things we discuss in this community bother me, but I guess this doesn't bug me much. It seems the companies' right to do all this, and I wouldn't be offended to see other beliefs and religious statements from outside Christianity appear. (Then again, I guess that's b/c I'm pretty open-minded.) It's important to know all this, just so we know who we are supporting. To me it's one thing if they print a Bible verse on their bags and quite another if they give to dominionist causes. Unfortunately these actions go hand-in-hand a lot of the time.

Also, it sounds like Starbucks is printing a variety of viewpoints. I'm not very worried about the Rick Warren quote. I'm not even sure what to think of Rick Warren. Any thoughts on him, just to make this thread go in even more tangents?

Re: Only two examples I know of ..

That's why I myself am not yet ready to say Forever 21 and In-N-Out are "dominionism supporters" (I actually can see how someone can be religious and even evangelistic without being *dominionist* per se).

Mind, those groups should be researched "just in case". I've not found any hard evidence like supporting dominionist causes (like with Chick-Fil-A or with Hobby Lobby).

Now, if I were to get info they are funding dominionist causes, or actively listing themselves in things like the "Christian Yellow Pages" (where you have to sign an explicitly dominionist "statement of faith" to even be listed)...that would be another thing altogether.

(The specific reason I list "Christian Yellow Pages" listings as suspicion of dominionism, by the way, is because not only of the "statement of faith" you have to sign to be listed but also because the lists are promoted almost *exclusively* in dominionist churches to show what groups belong to the dominionist "parallel economy". Many of the groups listed in the "Christian Yellow Pages" directories also actively donate to dominionist churches and groups. It's a deeper level of involvement than merely posting *Bible verses* on bags and all.)

Re: Only two examples I know of ..

Yeah, that Christian Yellow Pages creeps me out. I've seen it at my church.

I would be surprised if Forever 21 is dominionist, simply because of the scandalous (and very cute) underwear and clothing they sell. But you never know...

Re: Only two examples I know of ..

Normally the things we discuss in this community bother me, but I guess this doesn't bug me much. It seems the companies' right to do all this, and I wouldn't be offended to see other beliefs and religious statements from outside Christianity appear. (Then again, I guess that's b/c I'm pretty open-minded.) It's important to know all this, just so we know who we are supporting. To me it's one thing if they print a Bible verse on their bags and quite another if they give to dominionist causes. Unfortunately these actions go hand-in-hand a lot of the time.

My biggest worry is that dominionist-controlled businesses form a sort of "shadow economy" that eliminates the need to go outside the dominionist system for, well, anything. In the city where I live it's possible to live in an apartment,, go to work, go to a local church, and buy just about anything without ever doing business with non-dominionists. (This includes the apartment complex; I know of one that at least used to have a sign that read "A Christian Apartment Community" right at the gate, and I'm reasonably sure their leases have various kinds of "morals" clauses in them, haven't seen one but it sure wouldn't surprise me.)

I'm not against an individual business having the right to choose to be dominionist-affiliated, but when you have a whole parallel economy that's dominionist oriented, in a way it enables church control to extend far past the home and church out into the larger community. It's that *enabling* function that worries me more than anything else .. imagine if one "false step" in the dominionist sense cost you your job and your apartment, got your car repossessed, and tanked your credit rating.

That's bad enough even if it's only an extension of the doms' control over their congregants' entire lives. It gets even worse if the dominionist system gets bolder and starts to enforce their rules in other aspects of society, and all that has to happen to bring that about is for them to gain control of a few key aspects of the secular economy. Again, it's not the fault of individual business owners who may genuinely believe that's the right way to go (or, if the dominionists get stronger, decide that even if they don't agree with it they should comply to ensure their own survival), but the collective effect is still dangerous.

Imagine if your credit cards suddenly started being declined for no apparent reason, your car got repossessed, the bank foreclosed on your home, and you were suddenly and inexplicably pink slipped, and never found out that it was because you said in an online forum that you believed in evolution, or were seen being affectionate in public with someone of the same gender. Imagine if you found yourself unable to GET a job, or a home loan, or a car, for no apparent reason, or suddenly found yourself being passed over for promotion in favor of far less qualified but far more "loyal" dominionist coworkers. Currently we have safeguards against those sorts of things, but if the dominionist parallel economy gets much stronger, it could be a real danger. Possibly more so than physical threats or violence .. economic violence can destroy you a lot faster.

Re: Only two examples I know of ..

Wow, that was very insightful. Let's hope this stops sometime soon.

Other potentially dominionist businesses

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.

And as for a group that deserves its own category...

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)