Kroger Settles Religious Discrimination Case With Former Employees in Conway, Promises to Adopt New Policy

Earlier this fall Kroger agreed to pay $180,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit with two former employees in Conway.

As part of the settlement, Kroger agreed to create a religious accommodation policy and provide better religious discrimination training to store managers.

In September of 2020 the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a religious discrimination lawsuit against a Kroger store in Conway after two employees allegedly were fired for declining to wear rainbow-colored aprons at work.

According to the lawsuit, the employees believed the rainbow emblem was meant to endorse LGBTQ values and lifestyles, and felt that wearing it would violate their religious beliefs.

It may have taken two years, but it’s good to see a victory for religious freedom in this situation.

You can read the federal EEOC statement about the lawsuit here.

Photo Credit: Virginia Retail from Virginia, USA, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

In the British Isles, Priests Shock the Public With the Truth

Recently, a visiting priest in Kerry, Ireland, spoke clearly about sexuality and gender during his homily. Of transgenderism and same-sex sexual activity, he stated, “That is sinful. That is a mortal sin.” He then described the power and possibility of forgiveness. In response, the Irish Mirror called his message “bizarre.” The Bishop of Kerry apologized, saying that Sean Sheehy’s views “do not represent the Christian position.”

Except of course, they do. Unlike those of at least five bishops in the Church of England, who called this month for same-sex marriage ceremonies to be officiated in the Church.  

In response, Calvin Robinson, another “shocking priest”—so shocking the Church of England wouldn’t ordain him—boldly reminded them that “Christ will not fit into your box” of re-interpreting Scripture. 

Culture is most powerful in what it normalizes, and when lies are normalized, the truth becomes shocking. Thank God for Christian ministers willing to “shock” and speak truth. 

Copyright 2024 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

Color of Chaos

In the age of the internet, it is said that no parody is too ridiculous for at least someone to take seriously. These days, however, the opposite is true too. Serious content can seem like parody.

For example, Microsoft’s new “pride flag” background features hundreds of bars of random color interspersed with symbols burst from the center of the image like a psychedelic trip through hyperspace. The company boasts that it combines the flags of “40 LBGTQIA+ communities” and that it is an open template to which anybody can add more colors and symbols.

Transgender, “genderfluid,” “abrosexual,” “polysexual,” and “genderflux” are just a few of the identities represented, and “chaos” is a good description of the ideology behind them all. Many have nothing in common except for a rejection of the created sexes and marriage.

Just like an ideology that affirms everything, a flag that affirms everyone’s ideas about gender and the body ends in self-parody and as a source of headaches.

Copyright 2024 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.