Freeing Corporate America from its Far-Left Captors

Culture, Video, , ,

It’s no secret that Corporate America is in the censorious grip of ESG activists.

Far-left groups like the Human Rights Campaign require companies to take deeply partisan stances on or against legislation and to provide targeted marketing and support for LGBTQ+ consumers. To put it simply, HRC is demanding that each company risk becoming the next Bud Light, which famously torpedoed its own brand by partnering with the highly controversial transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney.

Companies shouldn’t take fringe stances on contentious political issues. It alienates customers, pushes away talented workers, and betrays the trust of the shareholders who want the company to succeed.

That’s why Alliance Defending Freedom developed the Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index. The first comprehensive benchmark designed to measure corporate respect for free speech and religious freedom, the index provides a roadmap for corporations looking to de-politicize their products and services.

Working with a broad coalition of financial professionals, business leaders, shareholders, and state officials over the past couple of years, we’re already seeing some important victories from our efforts.

Check out this video to see how ADF is making significant progress in this key arena.

Find more videos like this at https://ADFLegal.org/Freedom-Matters.

READ MORE

JPMorgan Chase Changes Policy That Led to Politicized Debanking of Conservatives

Religious Freedom, , , ,

On Tuesday Reuters reported that JPMorgan Chase changed a policy that had contributed to politicized debanking of conservative organizations.

Family Council has written repeatedly about how politicized debanking by JPMorgan Chase and others has hurt charities and people of faith.

In 2021, our credit card processor, WePay — a company owned by JPMorgan Chase — canceled our account with virtually no notice and no explanation. We eventually learned WePay had designated us a “high risk” client.

The only conclusion we could draw was that our conservative principles prompted the cancelation.

Reuters reports that JPMorgan Chase has changed WePay’s policy, writing,

An archived webpage shows that as recently as August, merchants using JPMorgan’s WePay service had to agree to not accept payments or use the service in connection with “social risk issues.” The bank defined those as “subject to allegation and impacts related to hate groups, systemic racism, sexual harassment and corporate culture.”

That language no longer appears on the WePay terms of service

This language about “social risk issues” and “hate groups” likely could have been used by WePay to debank legitimate, conservative groups.

Corporate shareholders, state attorneys general, congressmen, and news outlets all have expressed concerns over conservatives being wrongly labeled as “high risk” or “hate groups” and subsequently debanked as a result of policies like this one. This policy change by JPMorgan’s WePay is a remarkable step forward.

Banks that are too big to fail should also be too big to discriminate. Nobody should have their bank account closed for what they believe.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

READ MORE

Arkansas ESG Oversight Committee Blocks Financial Service

Religious Freedom,

Arkansas’ ESG Oversight Committee made headlines this week by opting to keep TD Bank Group and TD Securities on its list of financial service providers that allegedly discriminate against fossil fuel and energy companies. Other companies on the list include Goldman Sachs & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Royal Bank of Canada, RBC Capital Markets, UBS Group AG, UBS Securities, Nomura Asset Management, Nomura Securities, Credit Suisse Group AG, and Credit Suisse Securities LLC.

As corporations increasingly make decisions based on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors, Arkansas’ lawmakers have enacted legislation addressing financial discrimination against fossil fuels and related energy companies.

While many are concerned about businesses being driven by radical environmental agendas, it’s worth pointing out the “Social” element of ESG allegedly has caused some conservative organization to have their bank accounts closed.

Family Council has written repeatedly about how politicized de-banking hurts charities, conservative causes, and people of faith.

In 2022, Chase abruptly closed the account of Ambassador Sam Brownback’s National Committee for Religious Freedom with little warning or explanation, and PayPal similarly disabled the account of a group called the Free Speech Union.

In 2021, our credit card processor — a company owned by Chase Bank — canceled our account with virtually no notice and no explanation. The only conclusion we could draw was that our conservative principles prompted the cancelation.

Recently the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government released a report indicating the federal government actually weaponized banks against conservatives following the events of January 6, 2021.

The report shows that federal law enforcement officials from the Treasury Department and the FBI quietly contacted financial institutions to discuss ways financial institutions could share customer information with federal law enforcement outside of normal legal processes.

The report further revealed the Treasury Department provided banks and financial institutions with information listing legitimate, conservative groups such as Alliance Defending Freedom, American Family Association, Family Research Council, and many others as “Hate Groups” alongside the KKK and the American Nazi Party.

In April, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin signed a letter with 14 other state attorneys general asking Bank of America to come clean about its de-banking practices.

We appreciate Arkansas’ policymakers being willing to stand up for transparency and accountability at financial institutions. Nobody should have their bank account canceled because of what they believe.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

READ MORE