Care to give your opinion on the ethics in this example?

I have a friend who just lost her job because the small Christian bookstore she worked for was forced into to closing due to actions of a few people who disliked the owner's religious beliefs. Here's the catch... the owner is an Atheist. He didn't make a huge secret of it, but he didn't exactly advertize his beliefs either. A few of the people who patronized the store regularly knew that and weren't bothered by it, and the store was quite profitable while providing good service to it's customers. But a local preacher found out, and went out of his way to publicize the fact an Atheist ran the store and tell people they should not do business there anymore, and to return what they could if they had bought anything there. Within a couple months the store was running in the red with no hope of recovery.



What are your thoughts about the ethics of all this, and what part did your religious beliefs play in forming your opinion?Care to give your opinion on the ethics in this example?
Hopefully now he'll open up a bar, strip joint, or adult sex/book shop. I'm sure the preacher will love that...
He was only in it for the money, just another business. His attitude shows clearly, when he did not

want to sell. He must have had another agenda.

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Care to give your opinion on the ethics in this example?
On the other hand darren, Yahshua did say, leave him

be , if he is not against us, he is for us.

Cannot find the scripture right now. The person in the incident was not one of the disciples.

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If this story is true it is not what should have happened. If the books in this store raised Jesus up as God's son and truly honored God then it was a big mistake by the pastor.



I would have gotten to know the atheist book store owner and over time win him over by kindness and encouragement.



The church I attend and where i was ordained believes that you win people to Christ through love and patience. I am glad I am attending there and not where that pastor preaches. In my mind he does not represent the Jesus I serve.



I wonder how many of his members now sneak into the adult book store. Now instead of God it is the sin of our country that is being lifted up.Care to give your opinion on the ethics in this example?
The preacher should mind his own business intead of worrying about somebody elses business.
Contempt for other people who think differently, preoccupation with supernatural matters to the exclusion of all things worldy (specifically, the well-being of other people)...sounds pretty Christian, if you ask me.
The way you tell the story it sounds rather bad. When I do business with a person, in general, my custom is based on the quality of his service, and I think it should be, regardless of the person's affiliation to any group. (Maybe that is partly because there are so few of us who believe in scripture, and calling the Savior YAHOSHUA by His right name, that I would be hard pressed to restrict any part of my business to believers)
For once! A good question on R%26amp;S! You are no Bible-thumping fool with "proof", and no know-it-all atheist with a disrespectful attitude.



Try as I might, I cannot see anything Christian about what the pastor did. He used his influence in the community to drive a law-abiding person out of business, simply because he disagreed with the guy's religious beliefs--or lack of them.



The pastor was away out of line, and so were those who went along with him. The church people had no business trying to do harm to the proprietor, even if he was selling blasphemous or disrespectful articles. You didn't say that he was. Many Christians, including the pastor himself, probably shop in department stores and supermarkets that sell stuff they don't like--beer, sexy underwear, makeup, tasteless bumper stickers, or whatever.



My religious beliefs (Christian) play a big part in my reading of this situation. My beliefs require me to do no harm to others, and to live in harmony with my neighbours.
Priest is a dangerous fundamentalist WHO should be avoided at all costs. He IS a danger to anyone he doesn't agree with. He probably has a lot to hide, perhaps like he is a child Molester.
I am an atheist, and I am appalled. Where in the Bible would you find instruction on destroying the life of someone else?



I find it ridiculous that this "Man of God" (much like the early Christians who destroyed many cultures and nations) could find his actions Christian.



Having read the Bible, Jesus was the ultimate example of acceptance. Why is it that most Christians are least accepting?
It's shameful and evil to have treated a person that way. And unfortunately, it's typical religious behavior.
I think the preacher was in the wrong for ruining another person's way of providing for his family. It wasn't like the owner was using his business as a way to criticize and demean others. If his regulars didn't have a problem with it, then the pastor shouldn't have either. I can't exactly pull scriptures together for this, though.
my thoughts are as follows....IT IS NOT OUR BUSINESS..

im not God..
I think we should all leave each other alone.
Honestly? I don't see that anything went wrong. A bookstore is a bookstore, but if someone goes to a bookstore specifically oriented toward a particular viewpoint, they usually do so because they expect the people who manage the store have their best interest in mind and actively find new and good materials themselves.



It would be a bit like going to a store specializing in laypeople's publications of popular science, and finding out that the people running it were Unabomber-like technophobes - it would cause me to doubt their genuine interest in what they were selling.
I don't think it was right. Whether the Atheist owner acknowledged it or not, he was spreading God's word. No one had the right to interfere with what God used this man to do, whether he knew it or not.



He could have started reading himself and became a Christian, instead, someone has pushed him even further back. Don't think God is happy about that.
It is indeed distressing that a local preacher is going to condemn someone for doing a good thing, even if it was an atheist, who was just making a living.

If it was a hooker giving money to his church, would he be so hot and heavy to discredit her actions?

There is common good, given from God
Quite stupid, but what can you do.



It is interesting that the preacher succesfully shut down a venue of christian literature.



If it was the opposite situation, a Christian running a store specializing in atheist literature, I think the owner would get respect from athiests in the community for her/his open mind.
I think the preacher was hateful and mean-spirited, and his sheeple followers shouldn't have followed his orders. I do not think Jesus would have approved. Who cares what the owner's beliefs are? Was he providing an honest product or not? Seems to me that he was.
Sucks for the bookstore. The preacher should remember what St. Paul said about Christ being preached. Whether it is sincere or mocked as long as Christ is preached is all that matters.
Wow. I think it is pretty sad that this preacher encouraged people to not buy from there as well as return their items. I have a shirt from WalMart that says "Work hard, Pray hard, Property of God, John 3:16". Now WalMart is not known to be a store ran by Christians, but that doesn't mean I'm going to return that shirt. I believe this situation is purely a matter of opinion.
Good ol' Christian values at their finest.