US pastor calls for boycott of Microsoft, HP

[Refalm]

Manorama / 17 januari 2006 21.03 IST

US pastor calls for boycott of Microsoft, HP
                                    
Washington: A pastor has called for a national boycott of Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and other companies that support a gay civil rights bill, saying the corporations have underestimated the power of religious consumers.

The Reverend Ken Hutcherson, pastor of Antioch Bible Church in the Seattle suburb of Redmond, said he would formally issue the boycott on Thursday on a conservative radio show. "We're tired of sitting around thinking that morals can be ignored in our country," he said. "This is not a threat, this is a promise. Check out the past presidential election. We made the moral issue the No. 1 issue."

Last week, several companies, including Microsoft Corp, Boeing Co, Hewlett Packard Co, and Nike Inc signed a letter urging passage of the measure, which would add "sexual orientation" to a state law that already bans discrimination in housing, employment and insurance based on race, gender, age, disability, religion, marital status and other factors.

Microsoft is restoring its support for the proposal a year after the company was denounced for quietly dropping its endorsement. Hutcherson, who has organized anti-gay-marriage rallies in Seattle and Washington DC, says he pressured Microsoft into dropping its support for the bill last year by threatening a boycott. The company, which was criticised by gay activists across the United States, insisted it took a neutral stance to focus on other issues but later said it would support the measure in the future.

[piratePenguin]

US pastor calls for boycott of Microsoft

Why didn't we think of that?

"We're tired of sitting around thinking that morals can be ignored in our country," he said.

Oh the irony.

[Refalm]

Basically, he's telling us to use SkyOS, because there are at least a few  gay Linux and BSD developers, Apple is from San Francisco, 'nuff said, and BeOS is basically made by Jean Louis Gass

[Aloone_Jonez]

Ahh the stupidity of religion. :rolleyes:

Fair enough boycot Bill Gates but do it for the right reasons.

I'd like to see what would happen in the US if gay marrage was allowed like it is now here in the UK.

[noob]

I have nothing wrong with gay anything. Aslong as they leave my arse alone, i'm fine with them.

[worker201]

This is the wrong reason to boycott Microsoft.  On this issue (and this issue alone) I am on Microsoft's side.  And they probably don't appreciate it.

"We're tired of sitting around thinking that morals can be ignored in our country," he said.

Whose country?  That's right, OUR country.  You and I and Bill have to share.  Which means that you don't get what you want when you want it.  I am sick of these fucking moralizing assheads who think their values are more important than anyone else's.

[piratePenguin]

This is the wrong reason to boycott Microsoft.  On this issue (and this issue alone) I am on Microsoft's side.  And they probably don't appreciate it.

I don't get why MS/any company would voice their opinions on these things... Who the hell cares what MICROSOFT thinks? Who the hell is "Microsoft"? What matters is the opinions of the people, in MS and everywhere else.

Microsoft probably are paying the wages of at least one anti-gay-rights fucktard anyhow. "Microsoft supports this bill" I think means "Top-MS managers support this bill", which wouldn't be a huge amount of supporters.

Or maybe in America they divide votes out to each company, that would explain alot.

[worker201]

Well, no politician can ever support or boycott anything, because they would lose voters.  But corporations can kinda do what they want.  Microsoft, HP, Nike, and Boeing probably think (correctly) that their support of this bill won't affect their sales all that much at all, so why not do the right thing?  Somebody's got to support this bill.  The companies listed probably have an open hiring policy anyway, which means that they support gay civil rights implicitly.  No harm in them supporting it explicitly.

On the other hand, the comment about the votes being handed out to corporations is so true it isn't even funny.

[Aloone_Jonez]

Sorry piratePenguin but Microsoft are someone and their oppinion does matter since that have a lots of ca$h they have lots of power.

[piratePenguin]

Sorry piratePenguin but Microsoft are someone

That's news to me.

and their oppinion does matter since that have a lots of ca$h they have lots of power.

You better have alot of cash and power if you expect me to believe this opinion of yours :p

[H_TeXMeX_H]

I disagree with the reason for this boycott ... it is because M$ is a monopoly that it should be boycotted ... and HP should definately NOT be boycotted ... they are one of the few companies whose printers are almost guaranteed to work on Linux and other UNIX based systems, they provide free drivers for them too ... UNLIKE LEXMARK :fu: Lexmark :mad:

[worker201]

However, HP is also a company that sells crippled hardware systems to grandmas at BestBuy.  They still do some innovating, but their consumer market has eclipsed their corporate image.  And consumer PC companies are crazy.  I could go out right now and get an HP laptop that would not work with Linux - that's part of the Windows market, I guess.

So HP isn't perfect just because their printers are Linux compatible.

[H_TeXMeX_H]

Yeah I guess so ... but their printers are pretty damn good ... compared to Lexmark

[hm_murdock]

Jimmy James calls for boycott of Rev. Ken Hutcherson

The Center Of The Universe: A badass has called for a national boycott of Ken Hutcherson, Jerry Fallwel and other biblethumpers that denounce equality, saying the thumpers have underestimated the power of intelligent thought.

The Jimmy James, hero of intelligent thinking persons on the Earth, said he would formally issue the boycott on Thursday on the people's haven of the Internet. "We're tired of sitting around thinking that some fat old white guy's morals can be forced on our country," he said. "This is not a threat, this is a promise. Check out the past presidential election. The people clearly proved their inability to make informed, intelligent decisions."

Last week, several hatemongers, including Hutcherson, Fallwell, Fred Phelps, and Jimmy Swaggart whined a lot about a letter from several major businesses urging passage of a measure which would add "sexual orientation" to a state law that already bans discrimination in housing, employment and insurance based on race, gender, age, disability, religion, marital status and other factors.

Hucherson is affirming his hatred and boorishness by calling for a "boycott" against these companies. James, who has organized ass-kicking rallies all around the world, says he pressured Hutcherson into pissing his pants last year by threatening to make fun of the Bible. The preacher, who was criticised by everyone across the United States, insisted he took a "moral" stance to focus on pissing off the citizens of the United States and the Earth.

[GenuineAdvantage]

Do you really think that Microsoft, or any ther corporation, would "support" anything like that because they want to do good? Cigarette companies spend more money advertising their charity than on the actual charity they gave. It's all a load of crap. Corporations are not living breathing persons with ideals, just money makers. I'm not saying that's necessarily wrong (apart from them having control of government), but that's all they are.