About my Starbucks article....

As many of you know, my recent article about Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and his statements about gay marriage has been part of a viral movement to boycott the coffee chain. In response, Christian Post author Marty Duren, in an apparent attempt to ride the wave of publicity, is offering a counterpoint that my article was a "complete fabrication." He claims Schultz's statements were presented out of context.

It seems Mr. Duren, who has offered a few contributing articles to The Christian Post and runs his own blog, seems completely naive to the message Schultz was sending. His article is an attempt to build some sort of journalistic and editorial credibility for himself at the cost of my own. When Schultz made his comment to Tom Strobhar, he prefaced them by stating if he wasn't happy with the profits of Starbucks stock, he should sell his stock and invest somewhere else.

Mr. Duren seems willing to let Schultz off the hook because of it, but he obviously doesn't understand the league he is trying to play in. He also doesn't have the journalistic or spiritual discernment to properly dissect his statements. Duren seems to forget that Schultz also said that not every decision is about money, and he is willing to make a principled stand. His statement to Strobhar to 'sell his stock and go elsewhere' is the same sort of marginalizing the left attempts against anyone who disagrees with gay marriage on moral grounds. If Schultz wasn't trying to slap Strobhar down over his gay marriage stand, why did other stockholders break out into applause? They weren't applauding Starbucks profits. They were loving the fact that the evil Christian bigot was being "put in his place" and being shown the door.

Duren seems completely oblivious to this, and if he doesn't understand the intent or the purpose of the arguments, he shouldn't try to publicly dissect them. His article will likely be used by the left to discredit traditional marriage supporters, while ignoring the intolerant statements Schultz made. I hope he's happy with that.

When Christ confronted the Pharisees, he cut through their legalistic rhetoric and cut them at their core. He didn't get mired in the muck of their pious verbiage. I don't seriously consider myself on the same intellectual or spiritual level as Jesus, but I will attempt to cut through the careful (and obviously planned) wording of Schultz's response to what he truly meant. Mr. Duren would be wise to wake up to the ways of the world and realize when his faith and beliefs are being insulted.