A new survey by Lifeway Research found that two-thirds of Americans (63 percent) said Christians face increasing intolerance, up from half (50 percent) in 2013. One advocacy group, Faith Driven Consumer (FDC), is trying to affect a different future pattern by launching a new "#GodsNotDead2Us grassroots movie to movement campaign" that targets and challenges five, top diversity and inclusion leaders -- AT&T, Comcast, Allstate, Marriott and Wells Fargo -- to treat Christian employees and customers with the same equality as they treat other consumer segments.
Faith Driven Consumer (FDC), an organization based in Raleigh, N.C., claims to represent 41 million Americans who spend $2 trillion annually. FDC manages a FaithEqualityIndex.com (FEI), which scores more than 500 major brands for compatibility with the FDC community. FDC also operates a Faith-Friendly Film Review entertainment rating system.
FDC serves as a resource for measuring the faith-compatibility of entertainment offerings and predicting how they will resonate.
Now, FDC is leveraging the notoriety and theme of the newly debuted movie "God's Not Dead 2" through a national, grassroots "movie to movement" campaign called #GodsNotDead2Us, which sports a message of respect and inclusion for Christians.
Chris Stone, FDC founder, announced Tuesday (April 5) that the campaign was entering a new phase and shifting attention specifically to the five aforementioned companies that 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 Stone.
Stone said millions are seeking action after leaving the movie theater. "The natural place to start is by changing the behavior of the companies that Faith Driven Consumers work for and shop with every single day."
He said FDC is asking all who value equality to hold AT&T, Marriott, Comcast, Allstate and Wells Fargo accountable for their "conspicuous exclusion of Faith Driven Consumers."
A 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.
"These companies all have high marks from the most respected diversity indexes, demonstrating a sustained, serious, and deeply intentional commitment, including other prioritized communities," said Stone.
"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."
Stone said that while each of the five companies state they do not discriminate, even on the basis of religion, "in practice that is exactly what they are doing."
He called what's happening "hypocrisy."
Stone said the five companies were being asked to demonstrate true diversity and to embrace Faith Driven Consumers equally with other groups.
