Questionable Values?

My family just found out that Starbucks, creator of excellent coffee and fancy frappacinos, financially supports Planned Parenthood and gay marriage rights. Now I've been telling some friends of mine that I am not surprised in the slightest- it suits Starbucks. And they don't seem to know what I'm talking about and tell me things like "it's a coffee shop. How could it suit Starbucks? That doesn't make sense." And then I get all tongue tied and feel kind of stupid. So let me try to explain on this here blog.  Because my parents agree with me, so just maybe I'm not completely off my rocker.

Starbucks is a cool coffee shop that has spread all over the place, and it seems fitting to me that it would try to support much of what is considered politically correct. It isn't just me who thinks so. They do not just stick to selling coffee but have opinons on things, like a lot of other big companies. For example, supporting the idea of legalizing same-sex marriage, as the executive vice president of Starbucks said, "is core to who we are and what we value as a company". They really believe in the idea of accepting all types of people, and one can see a lot of eccentric people working in Starbucks shops. That's not a bad thing. Being tolerant and accepting of all people is very important. However, when they say they accept all types of people no matter what their sexual orientation, skin colour, race, etc,what they are also doing is promoting  certain behaviors which the Catholic Church considers disordered. They want people to believe that we all determine the morality of our own actions, and we don't have the right to point the finger at anyone else. Which I guess is true, if you don't have the Church to guide you. As Catholics, we are called to love the sinner, but hate the sin.

Most people say that it's fine to go to Starbucks even if you disagree with Starbucks' financial support of certain political movements. It's not directly supporting them, after all. But then again, would you buy something from a store that supports abortion services? Even if it was just a couple of cents going to the cause? Or anti-Jewish groups? Or maybe the hatred-of-homosexual groups! Get my point? Maybe it's not such a good idea to go there if we can help it. Would it not be better to support your local coffee shop rather than Starbucks, and if you can't get to one, perhaps sacrifice that mocha? Anyone feel like giving me their opinion? And by the way, I still own a Starbucks card. Is it hypocritical for me to go there on my birthday and get a free drink? If you think about it, it's actually taking advantage of them and wasting their money. ;)