Update: Office Depot CEO and Roland Smith has apologized. “We sincerely apologize to Ms. Goldstein for her experience and our initial reaction was not at all related to her religious beliefs,” he said. “We invite her to return to Office Depot if she still wishes to print the flier.”
It should be noted that Office Depot assistant general counsel Robert A. Amicone and corporate spokeswoman Karen Denning initially defended the decision.
Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life composed a prayer for the elimination of the abortion industry and the conversion of those whose hearts are hardened to support it.
Maria Goldstein thought it would be nice to distribute it at her Catholic parish’s Sunday mass and ordered 500 copies of it at the Office Depot in Schaumburg, Ill.
Office Depot refused do it. It violated corporate policy it claimed. The prayer advocated religious discrimination it claimed. Yes, they actually said that without even comprehending the irony.
And the corporate headquarter people are defending the decision so we can’t blame some misguided store manager.
Pope Francis gets criticized by conservatives for the things he has said about American corporations and that is quite unfair as he is dead right.
Our big businesses are more often than not run by selfish people with distinctly anti-Christian mindsets.
The strident advocacy for gay marriage and the ensuing corporate celebration of the Supreme Court’s gay marriage decision is mind-boggling from the economic standpoint. It’s not, though, if those that run things think their gravy train will last forever and don’t want to be bound by old-fashioned morality regarding how to treat spouses, employees and others whom they think can’t retaliate.
But gravy trains don’t run forever and consequences are never ultimately escaped.
Ms. Goldstein is preparing legal action against Office Depot. It really doesn’t matter if she is successful in forcing them to do the right thing via this route.
Office Depot will not escape the consequences of its bigotry. The knowledge of what they did will quietly and slowly become known to the tens of millions of Americans who feel the very profitable “non-profit” abortion business is vile and tens of millions of Americans will put Office Depot last on the list when seeking the services it provides. This decision-making change won’t be announced or declared or even be a full-fledged boycott. They will see something they want in an Office Depot ad and they will look for it online or at Staples or at Walmart first.
Yes, shareholders, it will affect the bottom line.
Here is Father Pavone’s pro-life prayer that offended the corporate suits:
Lord, for whom all things are possible,
We are confronted once again today
With the evil of the abortion industry
And the corruption found
In the world’s largest abortion business, Planned Parenthood.
Lord, we pray for all who plan to be parents,
And we ask your mercy on those
Who teach others to reject parenthood.
In the light of your Word, Lord,
We affirm today that children are a blessing from you,
And that the origin of all parenthood
Is likewise in You, the God of life and love.
Therefore, Oh God,
We stand against the evil that has been exposed
In Planned Parenthood
And in the entire abortion industry.
We stand today for the triumph
Of truth over falsehood,
Of light over darkness,
And of life over death.
Bring an end to the killing of children in the womb,
And bring an end to the sale of their body parts.
Bring conversion to all who do this,
And enlightenment to all who advocate it.
Close the doors of the death camps in our midst,
And open the doors of your mercy and healing!
Close the grisly trade in baby body parts,
And open the abundant gifts of your salvation and life!
Hasten the day when our land
Will no longer be stained with innocent blood,
And when the bodies of all your children
Will be raised from the dead
And set free forever.
We pray in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen!