Coffee-drinking Christians, take note: There's apparently "no way" a truly righteous Christian can drink Starbucks beverages.
At least, that's the opinion of former evangelical pastor and conservative activist David Barton, whose May 19 sermon on pious caffeine consumption was recently posted online.
Speaking at Whitesburg Baptist Church, Barton said that Starbucks was "pouring money" into the destruction of traditional marriage, according to video of the speech.
"The question is, 'Can a Christian give money to a group he knows will use it to attack what God supports?'" Barton said. "If you know that when you buy a cup of Starbucks, 5, 10, 15 cents is going to be used to defeat marriage, can you do that? The answer is 'no.'"
In January of 2012, Starbucks was one of several companies that publicly supported Washington state's same-sex marriage bill, CNN notes. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz then re-affirmed his company's support for same-sex equality during the annual shareholders meeting in March of 2013.
As a result of the franchise and Schultz' statements, "there's no way a Christian can help support what is attacking God," Barton continued. "I'm sorry, you've got to find some other coffee to drink. You can't drink Starbucks and be Biblically correct on this thing. It's just a real simple principle."
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Barton is not the only one who has objected to Starbucks' support of gay marriage.
In March, TheTeaParty.net, a large Tea Party organization, linked to a "Dump Starbucks" boycott site on Facebook, Mediaite reports. As of Monday afternoon, the "Dump Starbucks" website had more than 63,000 pledges.
Barton, meanwhile, has been a clear opponent of gay marriage for several years. In April, Barton claimed that gay marriage is unconstitutional because it goes against "natural law." He has also compared homosexuality to the choice of smoking cigarettes and stated that same-sex marriage is similar to marriage between a horse and a dog.
Related
Before You Go
