Catholic Family Campaign

CNN.com had an article that discussed the growing influence and how that influence impacts the United States. Americans are relying on Indians for everything from helping find lost luggage to interpreting out CT scans.

There are a couple of moral and ethical issues to consider with this story. The first has to do with jobs. Are these US companies outsourcing these jobs overseas to decrease costs? In the case of the CT Scans, are the increase in savings coming at a cost to quality? For these questions, we need someone a lot smarter than me to dig into the details and decipher the hype. I think that the optimal choice would be to always shop local when possible whether it be your local service station or local hospital.

I think that the bigger picture is how India treats it citizens. Is the new found influence and accomping wealth going to benefit everyone? Or just a select few? The article describes situations where the prosperity and progress have not benefited many citizens. Most of the villages have seen no impact. Additionally India has the highest number of HIV/Aid patients in the world.

If we are going to start moving jobs and wealth to India, we need to also push for economic equity and basic human rights for all. Not that I am recommending some socialist solution with everyone being equal but each individual has the right to basic human compassion and having a
minimum standard of living. As US corporations invest in India, they have a moral responsibity to contribute in such a ways as to influence the government and owners of capital to take care of it’s citizens.

Tags: Fair Trade, Human Dignity
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Planned Parenthood has announced that they are going to use their cash reserves to fund prolife candidates. This announcement follows reports that the abortion provider posted record income and profits.

The group reported $882 Million Income, $63 Million Profit in it’s 2004-2005 annual report. To date, Planned Parenthood has received over $4 billion dollars of taxpayers dollars. Over $272 million this year alone.

The group also set a new record in the ratio of abortions to adoption referrals it carried out in the past year, at 180 abortions per 1 referral for adoption. This is not a very good ratio for a group that promotes themselves as an adoption referral service.

Read more about this story here and here.

Tags: Pro-Life
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I wanted to share the following email that I received from a Ford dealership in response to an email that I sent stating that I was going to be joining the boycott of Ford products.

I had provided my contact info on the dealership webpage that I visited to see how much my current vehicle is worth.

I was contacted by the salesman via email and VM. I sent an email back thanking him for following up so quickly but that I would not be buying a Ford product. This is the email response that I received.

“Hi Mark

Al Giombetti sent this letter to me, and I wanted to share it with you.

I would ask you to share with these customers some straightforward messages from Ford. Our only agenda is to develop, manufacture and sell the most innovative products to anyone who wishes to buy them. We buy advertising to put Ford’s message in front of as many customers as possible – customers who have a lot of other options. That’s why our ads focus on our company, our brands and our products. They’re not crafted to endorse or promote anyone’s point of view but our own.

The websites that have been vocal critics of Ford fail to mention others in our industry that advertise in gay and lesbian publications like The Advocate and Out. They include GM’s Cadillac and Saturn brands, Toyota’s Lexus and Scion brands, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen/Audi, just to name a few. In fact, according to Rivendell Media, Toyota, GM, and BMW all ranked ahead of Ford in gay and lesbian ad spending during the first quarter.

Other national brands that advertise in gay and lesbian publications include: American Express, Diet Pepsi, Avis Rent-a-Car, Kohler, Budweiser, Time Warner, Wells Fargo and GlaxoSmithKline. And I think it is safe to say that we all do it for the same basic reason – to reach potential customers.

Marketing to specific communities is nothing new to Ford or to the industry. For example, we market to African-American, Hispanic and Asian consumers in publications specifically directed to these communities. We don’t do this to make a political or social statement; we do it because we respect them and hope they will become customers. For the same reason, we also advertise in media directed at social and religious conservatives, like Christianity Today, Today’s Christian Woman, The National Liberty Journal and Chrisma. Ford Motor Company is also one of the largest advertisers on Christian radio stations.

I am fully aware of the challenges we are facing together in one of the most competitive and difficult times in our history. And I am also aware of the pressure that is being brought to bear by those who don’t agree with some of the advertising or charitable decisions the company has made. Our best response is to listen to every customer, correct any misinformation, and ask them to support Ford. They should stand by our company because of our innovative products, because for generations we’ve been a positive force in American society, and because our successful Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealers have made their communities stronger.

This is a message we can share proudly in every corner of America.

Al Giombetti”

**Al Giombetti is Vice President, Ford Motor Company and is President of Ford and Lincoln Mercury

Tags: Family Values
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