J.C. Penney CEO Reassurances Don’t Ring True

By: American Decency Staff

 

In recent months we brought to your attention a myriad of examples that demonstrated that J.C. Penney is no longer the family-oriented store so many of us grew up with.  From regularly sponsoring some of the worst programming on network television to thumbing its nose at traditional families and aligning with homosexuality, JC Penney has emerged as a corporation that is pushing an agenda that undermines the values of millions of Americans.  Most recently, JC Penney has pointedly embraced the LGBT agenda by using their Mother’s Day ad to showcase a lesbian couple raising children and doing the same with their Father’s Day ad – featuring two homosexual men with children.

 

Click here to send a message to JC Penney.

 

In response, Penney has lost countless numbers of formerly loyal customers.  Just the other day I took a phone call from one of our supporters who let us know she had cut up her Penney’s credit card, sending it to the Penney Corporation with a letter expressing her concerns.  This is just one of thousands who have taken similar action.

 

Just days after Mother’s Day, Forbes reported on May 16, 2012: “J.C. Penney Plunge Marks Greatest Single-Day Loss In 40 Years.” Other recent headlines have read:  “J. C. Penney Posts Big Loss as 3 Retailers Gain;”  “Sears returns to profit, J.C. Penney bombs in record stock slide;”  “JC Penney Profits Freefalling;”  “J.C. Penney Earnings 1Q 2012: Retailer Has Huge Loss After Strategy Shift.”

 

 

Now Ron Johnson, the CEO of JC Penney, is trying to assure customers that the corporation is worthy of pro-family support – giving lip service only to the values JCPenney was founded upon.

 

A recent letter emailed to “valued customers” by Ron Johnson states:“You’ve probably heard about recent changes at jcpenney.   … While you will see many changes, you can rest assured that we’ll never lose sight of our founder’s values.  When James Cash Penney built his first retail stores over a century ago, he called them, “The Golden Rule,” because treating customers with respect was his highest priority. … ”

 

Even in that statement J.C. Penney's CEO Ron Johnson gets it wrong.  James Cash Penney’s highest priority was Christ.  He often said, “I would rather be known as a Christian than a merchant.”

 

The audacity of J.C Penney's CEO to claim that the chain hasn’t lost sight of their founder’s values all the while they’ve purposefully aligned with the homosexual agenda!

 

James Cash Penney’s parents grounded him in the Christian faith (his father was a Baptist pastor) and those faith-filled principles guided him throughout his life and career.  Penney built an empire on those principles, leaving a vast chain of 1,660 stores at his death at the age of 95 in 1971.  He was known to frequently share his favorite Bible verse:  “I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Prove me, O Lord, and try me. Test my heart and my mind. For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I will walk in faithfulness to you” (Psalms 26:1-2).

While James Cash Penney strived to “walk in faithfulness,” the corporation that bears his name has not only betrayed that faith and tainted the values he strived to promote, but has purposefully and actively sided with an opposing ideology that seeks to corrupt those values.

Express your concern to JC Penney, urging them to truly return to support the traditional family values Penneys was built upon.

Action points:

 

1. Click here to send a message to JC Penney.

2. Inform your friends and family about this concern, urging them to stand with us.

 

3. If you have a JC Penney credit card, consider cancelling the account.  A cut up credit card and letter explaining why you are cancelling your account will speak volumes!

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