Faith Group Challenges AT&T, Marriott, Comcast, Allstate and Wells Fargo to Stop Excluding Christians

Faith Driven Consumer (FDC)—representing 41 million Americans who spend $2 trillion annually, has earned wide recognition for its groundbreaking faithequalityindex.com (FEI), which scores more than 500 major brands for compatibility with the FDC community, and also for its Faith-Friendly Film Review entertainment rating system. FDC serves as a key resource for audiences and entertainment industry leaders alike, measuring the faith-compatibility of entertainment offerings and predicting how they will resonate.

Last week, the group launched a national grass-roots “movie to movement” campaign—called #GodsNotDead2Us—with a message of respect and inclusion for Christians that parallels the theme of God’s Not Dead 2. 

“Today, the campaign enters a new phase as the group shifts its attention specifically to five companies who have been recognized as leaders in diversity and inclusion, yet continue to exclude Faith Driven Consumers.

“God’s Not Dead 2 is a cause-oriented, destination film. It was successful this weekend because millions of consumers of all stripes registered their support for universal inclusion. They recognize the only way to achieve true diversity is to ensure that all of the colors in America’s rainbow are welcomed, celebrated and embraced equally—including Faith Driven Consumers,” said Chris Stone, founder of Faith Driven Consumer.

“After leaving the theater, millions are seeking action—turning this movie into a movement. The natural place to start is by changing the behavior of the companies Faith Driven Consumers work for and shop with every single day. 

“Today, we are asking our community, and all who value equality, to hold AT&T, Marriott, Comcast, Allstate and Wells Fargo accountable for their conspicuous exclusion of Faith Driven Consumers.

“These companies all have high marks from the most respected diversity indexes, demonstrating a sustained, serious and deeply intentional commitment—including other prioritized communities. 

“However, when those high marks are compared to each company’s Faith Equality Index score—built using similar standards and methodologies as the other indexes—their low scores reveal a massive gap.

“While each company states clearly that they do not discriminate—even on the basis of religion—in practice, that is exactly what they are doing. That’s not inclusion, it’s not diversity—it’s hypocrisy—and it’s time to change. 

“Today, we ask each company to demonstrate true diversity—close the gap—embrace Faith Driven Consumers equally with other groups.”

A new survey by LifeWay Research finds that two-thirds of Americans (63 percent) say Christians face increasing intolerance, up from half (50 percent) in 2013. 

Newly released Faith Driven Consumer analysis of leading Diversity and Inclusion scores and rankings from six sources shows that these five Fortune 500 brands are champions of diversity across the spectrum with one glaring exception—Faith Driven Consumers. 

AT&T, Comcast, Allstate, Marriott, and Wells Fargo all score high on the HRC CEI (LGBT), HACR CII (Hispanic), Black Enterprise 40 Best, and rank among Diversity Inc.’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity. 

However, none of the five score higher than 27 out of 100 on Faith Driven Consumer’s Faith Equality Index.