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July 08, 2011
In a matter of hours, Microsoft decided on Thursday to remove its online store from the “Christian Values Network” after more than 500 people signed Stuart Wilber’s Change.org petition asking the software company to stop allowing the funding of anti-gay “hate groups” identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
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Pressure is increasing on Apple to remove their online store from the “Christian Values Network” (CVN), after several other corporations have removed their stores this week. More than 3,500 people have signed Western Washington University student Ben Crowther’s Change.org petition to Apple. CVN is used as a fundraising tool by several anti-gay, anti-women organizations like Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council.
Late Thursday, the Wells Fargo and Delta Airlines online stores were removed from CVN. Prior to removing their store, Wells Fargo was offering up to $300 to the religious charity of the shopper’s choice, money that could be donated to “Focus on the Family” or the Family Research Council. Delta offered $3.00 per ticket.
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Apple has removed their iTunes store from the “Christan Values Network” (CVN.org) after more than 22,000 people signed a petition on Change.org started by Ben Crowther, a student and Apple customer concerned about CVN’s funding of anti-gay, anti-women organizations like Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council.
The Apple campaign, which picked up significant momentum after 13,000 AllOut.org members signed another petition on Thursday, follows Microsoft’s decision to leave CVN two weeks ago, prompted by another customer-driven campaign on Change.org. Several other companies have removed their online stores since then, including REI, Macy's, Delta Airlines, BBC America, and Wells Fargo.
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Expedia says it ended an affiliate relationship with the Christian Values Network after learning the group donates money to some organizations that some people paint as hate groups.
Expedia’s sister company Hotels.com also is in the process of getting its links removed from a Christian Values Network site.
And, Priceline is at least temporarily removing the Christian Values Network from the online travel agency’s affiliate network while it looks into the matter.
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How and when does my chosen charity, school, or faith-based organization receive the financial support?
The choice of online store, as well as the type of product or service purchased will determine when your chosen charity, school, or faith-based organization organization receives your financial support. Typically, payments are received 60 to 90 days after the initial purchase; however, it could be longer depending on the online store’s guidelines.
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...your purchases from over 700 online stores and sites will financially support your chosen organization - without adding any additional cost to you! By downloading the ConnectionPlus™ toolbar, you'll be supporting your chosen organization whenever you shop with one of our partners.
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The Christian Values Network was founded in 2008 with help from two dubious celebrities: Stephen Baldwin, Alec’s born-again brother, who continues to work with the group; and Michael Lohan, estranged father of Lindsay, who is no longer involved. Huckabee has acted as a spokesman for CGBG, and now “helps with developing new partnerships,” according to the company’s CEO, Jed Trosper. But CGBG didn’t really get off the ground until about a year ago. “It was some friends we had worked with who proposed the idea, and we’ve kind of just been testing it out,” says Tony Perkins, president of the Washington-based Family Research Council.
CGBG acts as an affiliate for associated retailers, taking a commission on every purchase made through its site. The commission is split between the company and a faith-based charity of the user’s choice. Some are humanitarian groups like Habitat for Humanity, but many, including those prominently featured on the company’s website, are decidedly political. Among them is The Family Research Council, which was classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center last year because of its continual flood of “demonizing propaganda aimed at homosexuals and other sexual minorities.”
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Change.org, in collaboration with Allout.org and San Francisco-based activist Roy Steele's blog "Tie-Dyed Jive in the (415)," has also petitioned companies such as The Gap Inc., Expedia and many others with what CGBG calls "a bullying campaign fueled by false information."
In many cases, McCullough said, midlevel company managers made hasty decisions to drop CGBG without vetting the activists' claims.
"This bullying campaign just started, and yes, we do want to shut you down," Steele responded by writing online Monday. "Your hate and vitriol is politically motivated."
"Hate is too big a word to be thrown around with so little discretion," Focus' Daly said. "It is a damaging and dangerous thing to hang such an emotional epithet on a person or group because they think differently about some issues than you do. Believing what the Bible says about human sexuality is a personal conviction, not an act of persecution."
CGBG president John Higgins said the network will push back against the activists' efforts by doubling the amount it gives to designated charities Monday through Labor Day weekend.
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Apple Bows Before the god of Gay
Apple, Wells Fargo, Macy’s, Delta and some other companies have decided that it is god business to bash evangelical Christians for their convictions regarding sexual morality.
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Originally posted by Gemwolf
And should companies really be that sensitive about these issues, especially one as minor as this one actually is?
500 signatures to influence the mighty Microsoft... Microsoft has - what some would call a monopoly - so they should be the last company to be influenced like this... Again, a bit of over-sensitivity from the Microsoft camp?
Originally posted by Haxsaw
More political correctness gone mad, these perverted homosexuals will get what they deserve in the end.
he gay market is sometimes referred to as DINKs -- double income, no kids -- who have the freedom to travel more often and higher "disposable incomes" to buy luxury items.
FRC's Principal Issues:
Since the early 1990's, FRC has emerged as a leading conservative think-tank championing "traditional family values" by lobbying for state-sponsored prayer in public schools, private school "vouchers," abstinence-only programs, filtering software on public library computers, the right to discriminate against gay men and lesbians.
FRC's objective is to establish a conservative Christian standard of morality in all of America's domestic and foreign policy.
FRC has dedicated itself to working against reproductive freedom, sex education, equal rights for gays and lesbians and their families, funding of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. FRC supports a school prayer amendment and would like to 'disestablish' the Department of Education.
FRC's Activities:
FRC has testified before congress on many "pro-family" issues, filed amicus briefs, and published a lot of reports that they regularly circulate to politicians.
In September 2001, FRC's president attacked President Bush for his "implicit endorsement of the homosexual political agenda" with the appointment of two openly gay men by the Bush administration.
FRC has also defended the Boy Scout's discriminatory practices against gay men and lesbians and has criticized the Girl Scouts for not having the same practice. FRC has joined many other right-wing conservative groups by attacking and boycotting Disney's "gay-friendly" policies. FRC has lobbied against many "equal rights" measures that extend civil rights protections to gay and lesbian people, and has promoted the "ex-gay" movement as a way to combat civil rights measures for gay men and lesbians.
FRC strives to ban all federal or state support for family planning services and overturn the right to an abortion. FRC is a strong supporter of "abstinence-only" education and opposes sex education that addresses contraception.