winged had some
commentary, since nuked, about Christian references at In-N-Out, stating that he and his
friends were highly offended at them, and that they had decided to
boycott the chain because of them. To them, I say:
go for it.
It's your right to withhold your business from someone whose beliefs you don't support. Go to Wendy's (oops, Dave Thomas was a well-known United Methodist layman), or Chick-fil-A (aw, shoot, that doesn't work either; their corporate purpose is "to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A" (www.chickfila.com/Company.asp) -- they're even closed on Sundays). Even the widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc recently donated $1.5 billion to the Salvation Army (update 3 February 2004). Guess you're just going to have to stick with Burger King. Fine by me; if In-N-Out, or any other such business, find that their religious references are causing them to lose business, they'll either stop doing so or fold the company.
Capitalism's a great thing. It allows us to run our business affairs the way we think best, so long as we're not violating a certain basic set of rules. If that means the owners of In-N-Out subtly proclaiming their Christianity, and you refusing to go there because of it, that's fine by everybody involved. And if you start a competing burger chain and drive them out of business through competition, that's the system working well.
A more general theme running through this is that in America over the past 20-30 years, some vocal non-Christians seem to have developed a finely-tuned sense of outrage toward any Christian references appearing in their daily lives -- for example, winged's original WU mentioned some sort of lawsuit against In-N-Out over this, although my research has led me to believe that's an urban legend. While I understand that they don't particularly care to have religion appear in unexpected places, they have the right not to listen, read, buy or whatever once they find out that the people behind those places aren't in it solely for the dollars. I therefore find their outrage to be a bit of an overreaction.
The free market allows you to direct your social and economic activity elsewhere if you so desire -- there's no element of force being used to make you go there, just your stomach's desire for good fast food. If you're really disturbed, drop a corporate office a letter stating why you will no longer patronize their business -- they will take notice, although they may send you back a letter kindly informing you that they prioritize their subtle evangelism over profit margins.
The boycott option is there, and it is legitimate. If you'd prefer to limit your consumption to strictly non-religious organizations (granted, that's not too limiting) the same way some evangelicals will only buy Christian music, read Christian opinion sites, and send their kids to Christian schools, go right ahead. Your dollars won't be going to endorse something you don't believe in. But don't deny people of faith the same freedoms to express their faith that you prefer to use in the other direction.
Live and let live, OK? And enjoy your burger and shake, whereever you buy it.