Fed-up Christians go to war against food giant

Fed-up Christians go to war against food giant

wnd.com

A Christian ministry has launched a boycott targeting the Green Giant brand name of canned vegetables because of General Mills’ advocacy for homosexual marriage.
WND recently reported the Minnesota food giant whose Honey Nut Cheerios Bee, Lucky the Leprechaun and Trix Rabbit are familiar to children is now publicly supporting homosexual marriage.

General Mills CEO Ken Powell announced at a homosexual pride event his company opposes a proposed amendment Minnesotans will vote on in November that protects traditional marriage.
Same-sex marriage is illegal in Minnesota, but supporters of the marriage initiative say the constitutional amendment would keep marriage safe from activist courts and legislators who may attempt to overturn or change the law.
Already, a case in Hennepin County effectively has put the Minnesota Defense of Marriage Act on trial, and Minnesota pro-traditional marriage groups say the November ballot measure is crucial.
At the On the Box with Ray Comfort website run by the Living Waters ministry, contributor Tony Miano announced the targeted boycott of the company’s Green Giant vegetable brand name.
“To General Mills, I say, ‘No, No, No Green Giant!’” he wrote.
Miano explained that broad and general boycotts seldom accomplish their stated purposes, and the Bible neither commands nor prohibits such actions.
So, he said, the launch of a specific and short-term project seems best.
“A case in point is the boycott against ‘The Last Temptation of Christ,’ a blasphemous movie released in 1988. The boycott was specifically targeted against a particular movie. The boycott garnered a great deal of media attention at the time, because of the passion and widespread participation of the Christian community. And while the movie continues to be cherished by the secular Hollywood elite, it ranks as little more than a cartoon before a feature presentation when compared to movies like ‘The Passion of Christ’ or the Narnia films.”
While Living Waters is a Christian organization, “which exists to inspire and equip Christians to fulfill the Great Commission,” the column explains there are times “when it is important for us to talk about issues – not at the expense of gospel preaching, but in keeping with our visions of bringing the gospel to the entire world.
“With the above in mind, Living Waters is asking the Christian community to join us in a boycott of General Mills products. Living Waters will focus on the Green Giant vegetable brand. The boycott will run from the posting date of this article, until Labor Day 2012 (September 3).”
The campaign, which urges consumers to contact the company, explains its effort  is not about “winning and losing.”
“Standing up to be heard, standing up to be counted is, at times, enough,” the column explains.
“Additionally, and more importantly, there is more at stake than simply winning and losing a fight over gay marriage. Souls are at stake. And more important to us than the outcome of any social debate or boycott is where people will spend eternity. As with everything we do at Living Waters, loving God, loving people, and furthering the gospel of Jesus Christ is of first importance.”
Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, said the General Mills position in Minnesota “will go down as one of the dumbest corporate PR stunts of all time.”
“Marriage as the union of one man and one woman is profoundly in the common good, and it is especially important for children,” Brown said. “General Mills makes billions marketing cereal to parents of young children. It has now effectively declared a war on marriage with its own customers when it tells the country that it is opposed to preserving traditional marriage, which is what the Minnesota Marriage Protection Amendment does.”
NOM points to U.S. Census Bureau data indicating there are more than 100,000 same-sex households in America with children under the age of 18. The group contrasts that figure with the more than 35 million traditional American households with children under 18.
“It’s ludicrous for a big corporation to intentionally inject themselves into a divisive social issue like gay marriage,” said Brown. “It’s particularly dumb for a corporation that makes billions selling cereal to the very people they just opposed.”
NOM recently sent a letter to Minnesota’s 50 largest corporations urging “neutrality” regarding the November ballot measure.
Minnesotans for Marriage, a broad coalition of supporters of the Minnesota marriage amendment, sharply criticized General Mill’s outspoken opposition to traditional marriage.
In a statement, marriage coalition chairman John Helmberger said it’s “very disappointing that General Mills has decided to play PC politics by pandering to a small but powerful interest group that is bent on redefining marriage, the core institution of society.”
“[The General Mills position] thrust the company into a war against marriage that goes against the beliefs of an overwhelming majority of their customers and the best interest of their shareholders,” he continued.
“Marriage is more than a commitment between two people who love each other. It was created by God for the care and well-being of the next generation. The amendment is about preserving marriage and making sure that voters always remain in control over the definition of marriage in our state, and not activist judges or politicians.”