Gloria Jean's Coffee - Would You Like Some Jesus With Your Latte?

18/03/08 - for the latest on this story, please visit this link to my G'Day World blog.

John Safran covered this story on his show last Sunday night. I heard it on his podcast today. It struck me because I was in a Gloria Jean's with the boys just this afternoon and was looking at the ad in question.

 

On 8th and 9th of October, Gloria Jean’s coffee houses   around Australia are hosting a special event, Cappuccino   for a Cause, to support the work of Mercy Ministries. When you buy a   Cappuccino or Cappuccino Chiller over the event weekend, 50 cents from each   sale will be donated to Mercy Ministries.

What is Mercy Ministries? 

 

Mercy Australia runs   a residential program for young women aged between 16 and 28 years with life   controlling issues.  These issues range from eating disorders, unplanned   pregnancies, substance abuse, eating disorders, self harm, suicidal   tendencies, depression and anxiety, and the effects of sexual and physical   abuse.  The average stay for a resident is approx 10 months, depending on   each individual girl.

 

 

The program is very structured and is based on   Christian principles.  The residents have class time and bible study   daily.

According to the SMH,

 

The founders of Gloria   Jeans, Mr Irvine and Nabi Saleh, are both members of the Hillsong Church.   

Hillsong, as most Aussies by now know, is a pretty scary evangelical church based in Sydney that is making a major push to get its members elected to Federal Parliament, and had some recent successes. The church has attracted several high profile Australian politicians to its events. The line between Church and State in this country is blurring and it scares the hell out of me. How long before we end up like the US?

 

What many Aussies may not know, however, is that the church has it's share of skeletons, including the founder's father, who held senior positions in the church, but was forced to resign in 2000 "following exposure of his homosexual paedophile activities whilst ministering in New Zealand some thirty years earlier."

 

Hillsong also, allegedly, makes a LOT of tax-free money. On 3 August, 2005, The Australian reported that both Brian and Bobbie Houston were under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading for failing to file financial statements.

 

Hmmmm... Mick, maybe we should register TPN as a church. There's a lot of profit in being a prophet.

 

So, anyway, the bottom line is - if you buy coffee from Gloria Jean's on Oct 8 & 9, be aware that those funds are going to go towards the fundamentalist Christian brainwashing of some already pretty messed up young women. Telling them that they were born into sin and are damned to eternal hellfire if they don't worship a guy who died 2000 years ago is really what they DON'T need right now.

Comments

[Rob Irwin]

Juliet, you're clearing one of these people who deliberately misinterprets what other people say to try and win the argument.

At no point did I say it was morally bankrupt and desperate to offer counselling and practical help.

What I said was it was morally bankrupt, not to mention desperate, to prey on anyone under mental duress to add to a group's numbers.

That is why these counselling services would be a good thing if they didn't come with the obligatory bunch of God-botherers trying to capitalise on someone's anguish.

Because, you know what? If the Christian way of life is so good -- and it might surprise you to know that I say this as a Christian -- it doesn't need to be sold to people when they are at their most emotional and mentally fragile state.

End of story.

[Nerida]

I guess it gets down to choice Cameron. If I was buying coffee from any franchise that openly advertised they were donating money from each coffee sale to fund transporting thousands of women into Germany to provide prostitutes for the influx of men during the world cup, for example, then I would probably choose to buy coffee somewhere else. The same choice you would have to purchase coffee elsewhere.

Does the difference lay in the shop owner advertising where a percentage of their profits are going? Is it this point that means someone can knock their beliefs?

Would you feel as strongly if Mercy Ministries had an Islamic foundation? If not, why?

[Cameron Reilly]

Nerida, I think you miss my concerns. They are

1) The fact that Gloria Jeans were giving the money to a fundamentalist christian organisation wasn't advertised clearly.

2) more importantly, I am concerned that Mercy Ministries take in young girls who are emotionally vulnerable and lay the bible on them. If religious organisations or religious people want to help the less fortunate, then that's great. Me too. But, like Father Bob, I think they should help in an ethical and secular fashion, not take in people who are in a delicate emotional state and lay fundamentalist principles on them as a condition of their assistance.

And yes, I'd be just as concerned with an Islamic foundation pulling the same trick.

BTW, if you know of any coffee franchises who are providing prostitues, then please let me know.

[Gnoll110]

BTW, if you know of any coffee franchises who are providing prostitues, then please let me know.

Cam, it might be earier to find a brothel with a good coffee machine?

You really did walk into that one, mate! ;)

[Cameron Reilly]

Gnoll, do you know of any? I'm fussier about my coffee than I am about my hookers.

[Gnoll110]

Sorry mate, I don't frequent either type of establishment.

Coffee tastes like dish water to me.

Speaking of dish water, I'm a VP2 kinda guy. For when too much protien is never enough ;)

[judy]

I am a coffee lover, and Gloria Jeans does the best coffee ever in my opinion.Iwill make damb sure i buy a chinno on those dates now i know it may help out a young girl in trouble.Good on you Gloria Jeans.

[nick]

Gloria Jeans coffees makes great coffees not just cappucinos or cappucino chillers, if people love it so much then why dont you just order something else. If your affraid of your money going to causes you dont want, just dont buy those drinks!

It seams as though everyone has this one track mind that gloria jeans supports this charity and all money goes to hillsong. The way i see it is quite simple, go to any gloria jeans and u will find young females buying there products so isnt it write to give something back to this group of people?

I will be at gloria jeans next weekend no questions asked!

[Tony]

If Gloria Jeans didn't support Hillsong why are they/did they have this promotion?

[VeeGee]

It's worth pointing out that the scientists quoted here were from a tiem where the church controlled public opinion and freedom of speech by sentencing to death anyone who spoke against God, no matter what they coudl prove using scientific method - so it's no surprise that these prominent scientists said these things.

Are you aware that Galileo was placed under house arrest for daring to suggest that Copernicus was right and in fact the earth is not the centre of the universe? This was seen as being against against god and he was threatened with death if he didn't renounce his findings.

This is the closed mindedness of the church that science has been battling with since the dawn of time. Scientific theories are just that - theories - they are updated all the time with constant research. So if the church doesn't like the results, perhaps they should perform their own investigation instead of relying on an obsolete book.