The Story of the Good Gay Bar Owner

Once, a lawyer approached Jesus to test Him, asking, “Teacher, what should I do in order to have eternal life?”

Jesus answered, “What is written in the Law of Moses? What is your reading of it?”

The lawyer replied, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘you shall love your neighbour as yourself.’”

Jesus said, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”

But the lawyer wanted to appear smart, so he asked, “And who is my neighboour?”

So Jesus told this story:

A man suffered a great personal loss and lamented this in a Facebook status update. Now by chance a church ministry director read the update, and quickly moved on as he needed to update the church website with the latest articles on caring and Christian living. Later, a Christian accountability group leader read the update, and quickly moved on as she needed to examine her Facebook News Feed to see if anyone in her Christian accountability group has posted anything un-Christian on Facebook. If so, she is to immediately inform the Pharisee church pastor (who does not have a Facebook account, because Facebook is un-Christian) about the infraction so the offending church member can be held to account – which is what Christian accountability is all about.

Finally, an owner of a gay bar in the city of Sodom logged on to his Facebook account. He thought, how can I further promote and celebrate homosexuality and transgenderism, so as to increase the profits for my establishment? Perhaps a fetish fashion show featuring the latest in revealing and titillating leather gear, or a bisexual dating marathon where people can meet as many new casual sex partners of all orientations as they can? Then he saw the status update by the man with the great personal loss. The gay bar owner immediately sent the man a message of condolence and encouragement, and immediately alerted all mutual friends so they can help console the man with the great personal loss as well. As a result, the man was comforted and moved on from despair.

Jesus asked, “So which of these three do you think was neighbour to the man who suffered a great personal loss?”

The lawyer answered, “The one who showed mercy on the man.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

(Adapted from Luke 10:25-37)

Response from Loblaw (No Frills)

I received this email response from Loblaw regarding the No Frills incident.  I consider the response to be satisfactory:

“Thank you for taking the time to write to us. Please accept my most sincere apologies for the fact that you have not received a more timely resolution of your concern.

At Loblaw Companies, it is our hope that customers have a positive experience every time they visit us. This includes maintaining a store environment in which our customers feel comfortable while doing their shopping. I’m so sorry to learn about your recent experience at Michael’s No Frills. Please know that I have been in touch with James Chung, the Associate Store Manager at your No Frills, who also asked that I extend to you his apologies for any undue inconvenience the presence of these two individuals have caused, as well as for the fact that store colleagues did not alert management of the concern when you shared it with them. James informed me that the matter was brought to his attention and the solicitors were asked to leave immediately, as they did not have permission to collect donations in front of the store. Please be assured that James will certainly monitor this situation closely moving forward and asked that I invite you to speak to either himself, or Michael Lo Presti, the Store Franchisee, if you have any further concerns.

Thank you again for bringing this matter to our attention. I truly hope you will continue to allow us the pleasure and privilege of serving you as one of our valued customers.

Sincerely,

Julie Dunham

Senior Customer Relations Representative

Loblaw Companies Limited”

Bank of America fail

Why would Bank of America ask for customers’ Social Security Numbers when customers call for service, while at the same time do business with illegal immigrants who do NOT have SSN’s?

Bank Of America has a Double Standard for Immigrants

Customer harassment at No Frills

I visited Michael’s No Frills (Silver Star Blvd., Scarborough, Ontario) recently. At the entrance were two individuals who were aggressively soliciting money, which they claim were for some charity. They were very persistent and were harassing customers who were entering or leaving the store. I informed the pharmacist about this, and she said “I don’t know” and did not do anything. I next informed the cashier in the lane nearest to the entrance (not the express lane, it was the lane next to the express lane) about this, and she also said “I don’t know” and did nothing.

I have two concerns about this:

1. Customers should not experience harassment when entering or exiting a No Frills store. If these two individuals were authorized by management to solicit funds at the store entrance, I ask that this authorization be revoked immediately. If they were trespassing, I ask that store management be more vigilant to ensure that such harassment does not occur again.

2. The “I don’t know” response from the pharmacist and the cashier were unacceptable. Security and maintaining a harassment-free shopping experience are the responsibility of every employee in the store. At the very least, employees should immediately contact management when they hear that customers complain about harassment. Saying “I don’t know” and doing nothing is absolutely wrong. In this case, the worst that could happen is customers be scammed of some money by a fake charity; if the situation were a pedophile abducting a child, would the pharmacist and the cashier also reply “I don’t know”?

I ask that store management take these events very seriously.

A (non) conversation with the Pharisee church pastor

I was visiting the Pharisee church pastor (“PCP”) in his office the other day when the following exchange took place.  He was working on some sermon, while I was reading the newspaper:

Me – Check out this profile of a senior executive in the global investment banking firm “Sack Them Goats”.  He has been accused by the regulators of knowingly selling crappy financial products to his clients, while making bets that pay him lots of money when those products fail.

PCP – Uh huh. (Eyes remained focused on his work)

Me – One of the state attorneys general has also accused this executive of knowingly setting up and promoting unfair mortgage schemes, which resulted in thousands of families losing their homes during the financial crisis.

PCP – Um, ah huh. (Corrects some typo in his draft sermon)

Me – According to an investigative documentary, this Sack Them Goats executive was also instrumental in artificially suppressing the price of gold for many years, which contributed to the impoverishment of many African nations, making millions of children malnourished or even dead due to hunger.

PCP – Hmm. (Looks up something from a thick reference book)

Me – Last year, this executive collected over $100 million in cash bonuses alone, stock options extra.

PCP – Sure. (Gently taps his pen while pondering his draft)

Me – On the personal level, however, this Sack Them Goats executive is a dedicated family man.  He has been married to his same sex partner for over 10 years, and they have adopted two children from overseas orphanages.

PCP – What?!  An evil homosexual?!  (Screaming)  He is going to burn in hell for eternity!!!  Homosexuals like him are what’s wrong with society today!!!  (Followed by a tirade about “the demonic gay agenda”, “corrupting children”, “destroying marriage”, etc.)

It appears that, to some people, the speck of homosexuality is more significant than the log/plank of rapacious greed.