Monday 28 November 2011

Letter To Tesco PLC re their Sponsorship of Sodomy


Sir Richard Broadbent
Chairman
Tesco PLC



28 November 2011

Dear Sir,

It was with a sense of deep disappointment that I recently learned that ‘Pride London’ (which will host ‘World Pride 2012’ in London next year), has identified Tesco as a “Gold Sponsor” of World Pride 2012.

RECORD ON CHARITABLE GIVING
I am well aware of the support that Tesco gives to a plethora of excellent charities and good causes. I was especially delighted that Tesco chose ‘Alzheimer’s Society’ and ‘Alzheimer Scotland’ as its Charity of the Year for 2011 - generating support that runs into millions of pounds. I have also been informed that one of your officials, in response to letters you have received that may be of a similar nature to mine, has been citing the fact that 1.8% of Tescos pre-tax profits are channelled into charitable and good causes. This, of course, is very commendable and I congratulate you on this very considerable effort.

However, I was dismayed to read that Tesco has pledged a significant sum of money towards World Pride 2012 (building on its former sponsorship of Pride London during 2011), and is committed to organising an area for families at this event. In my opinion, there is no way in which this can be construed as promoting a good cause, since it is promoting a behaviour that is inherently detrimental to family life and empirically dangerous to those who adopt it as their lifestyle of choice.

One lesbian who was present at Pride London this year enthused about Tesco’s “family area” on her internet blog. Her report on the day’s events commences with the intriguing caveat, “I’m not sure how much of the language we used on that day will be allowed in this article ... .” She continues: “If you ever feel low on hope, please just imagine a little grassy area full of little kids and babies with either two mums or two dads. Happy children and happy parents. All eating discount fresh fruit salad from Tesco.”

This may well be an idyllic scene in the eyes of a fraction of 1% of the population, but I am quite confident you are aware that the overwhelming majority of people in our country view such a “family area” - and worse, Tesco’s sponsorship of it - as a bizarre anomaly.

PROMOTING PERVERSION
The reason they are of this opinion is because the historic foundation of our society, the great tenets of Bible Christianity, simply confirms the feeling that is innate within them that homosexuality is both unnatural and perverse (Romans 1:26-27).


GOD'S MODEL FOR THE FAMILY
Basic teaching on family life is found in the first two chapters of the Bible, Genesis chapters 1 and 2.

God, in this portion of Genesis, teaches us that, “male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27). We were created to a plan - male and female complementing each other - and so enabled to enhance each others’ lives and produce and nurture offspring as commanded in Genesis 1:28, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” This command is repeated to Noah after the Flood (Genesis 8:15-17). Cain and Abel had neither ‘two mommies’ or ‘two daddies,’ but a father and mother. In this they fulfilled God’s own model for family life.

When Jesus, in New Testament times, was questioned about marriage, He referred back to these two chapters at the start of Genesis (Matthew 19:1-12; Mark 10:1-12).

The Bible provides the foundation for the Christian’s faith - and this foundation has become the focal point of homosexuality’s aggressive assault against Christianity.

THE PATRONS OF PRIDE LONDON
That such a struggle is ongoing is brought into sharp focus by the public activities of at least several of the patrons of the event you have sponsored, ‘Pride London.’

For example:

• one patron of Pride London, Elton John, has opinioned: “I would ban religion completely,” arguing that religion’s product is “hateful lemmings.”

• another patron of Pride London, Sir Ian McKellen, boasted in an interview with the ‘London Telegraph’ that he rips out the book of Leviticus, which condemns homosexuality, from the Gideon Bible in every hotel room in which he stays. He followed this statement up with a further attack on the Bible when he insisted that Scripture should carry, “a disclaimer in the front saying this is fiction.”

• Peter Tatchell, another of Pride London’s patrons, has stated: “More than any other institution in British society, Christianity has waged an almost ceaseless 2000-year-long war against homosexual people.” He is also responsible for the horrendous allegation that, “The Bible is to gays what Mein Kampf is to Jews. It is the theory and practice of Homo Holocaust.”

TESCO AND EQUALITY FOR ALL
Judging by a sentence that appears in a letter sent from the Chief Executive’s Office to some who have complained about Tesco’s sponsorship of Pride London - “We believe that everyone should be welcome at Tesco” - I assume that Tesco prides itself on pursuing a policy of equality for all.

A CASE STUDY IN LIVERPOOL
A recent discussion about the opening of a new Tescos store on High Park Street in Liverpool appeared on the Equality Law website under the banner headline, “Promoting Equality. Preventing Discrimination.”

Store manager Richard Hatley seemed to articulate Tesco’s own commitment to the promotion of equality and the prevention of discrimination when he explained concerning the choice of an appropriate name for this new store:

“We had a problem. Do we call it Tesco Toxteth or Tesco Dingle? The border lies literally right here at our feet. Dingle’s got a bit of a reputation for drugs and crime and Toxteth’s got the riots. Both sides wanted it [the name] because it’s good for the area.”

In the end you plumped for Tesco Park Road after the name of the busy road on which the store sits. “And both sides are happy,” Richard Hatley affirms.

We believe that everyone should be welcome to shop within your stores. After all, this is what is expected from a major retailer, providing a service for all the people in any given community in which you have a store.

However, in your decision to become a headline sponsor of ‘London Pride / World Pride 2012’ - an event fronted by many who are openly intolerant of the Christian Faith and virulently opposed to the Bible on which this faith is founded, and also an event that showcases a practice that is particularly abhorrent to true Christianity - it is evident which side you have espoused.

FURTHER EVIDENCE OF DISCRIMINATION
This discriminatory promotion is further emphasised by the fact that:

• the Tesco Board sponsor and support a corporate initiative, ‘Out At Tescos’ - a grouping within Tescos that has been established for the specific purpose of, “creating, supporting and publicising the LGBT network.” Evidently this group is encouraged to turn out ‘en force’ at ‘London Pride’ and has been given special permission to adapt the company logo so that it reflects a homosexual symbol, the ‘rainbow flag.’

In explaining your promotion of this group, the answer to the first question in the list of FAQs on the ‘Out At Tesco’ site states: “At Tesco ‘no one tries harder for customers’ and ‘treat people how we like to be treated’ are two of our key values and are at the core of everything we do.”

I wonder if any other group has been reserved for such indulgence?

Or has Tesco made any attempt to strike a balance between the protagonists on this modern battlefield by offering support to the Christians who many prominent homosexuals so clearly ‘love to hate’?

Or, indeed, has Tesco raised even a voice of support on behalf of Christians who are being persecuted in some of the countries in which it operates, or financially assisted any of the Christian charities that provide solace for these persecuted souls?


I have searched for evidence of Tesco’s involvement in this good cause – but all my investigations have drawn a complete blank.


BLASPHEMY AGAINST CHRIST EMANATING FROM THE HEART OF TESCO
Additionally, Tesco’s discriminatory behaviour in favour of homosexuality and against Christianity once more rises to view when you appear to be turning a blind eye to the virulently anti-Christian activity of one of the ‘founding fathers of Tesco.com,’ (currently a key player in your ‘Research & Development’ team and a known participant at Pride London), who is featured on the internet reciting one of the most vile poems ever written about our Lord Jesus Christ.

This activity is patently blasphemous and highly offensive to Christians. Should we conclude that you view this as acceptable behaviour for a person who occupies such a key role in your company? And once again, is this the image you wish to cultivate - that of aligning yourself with persons and groups who take such obvious delight in offending Christians?

400th ANNIVERSARY OF KJV
It cannot have escaped your attention that 2011 is the 400th Anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible - a Book widely hailed by world renowned linguists as:

“the fountainhead of good English prose” (John Dos Passos);

“the greatest English text” (Mark Schorer);

“unquestionably the most beautiful book in the world” (H. L. Mencken).

It may shock you to learn that some of these eminent linguists made no profession of Christianity; in fact the last quote is from a notorious nonconformist and self-confessed “infidel,” who did not believe in God and who despised bigotry.

What continues to shock me is that Tesco, the third largest retailer in the world, appears to have allowed this historic anniversary to slip by without significant recognition or support and, at the same time, has chosen the year of this anniversary to donate further funds towards an event whose patronage includes persons who denigrate the Christ of this Book in the foulest manner possible and gleefully rip out its pages.

This is certainly a strange way in which to promote equality and prevent discrimination, or to ensure that Christians remain happy shopping at Tescos.

Yours sincerely,

Ian Brown

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