“When you are the salt of the earth, you’re going to make people ‘salty,’ okay?”
Sage advice from Taylor Trice, a young woman who applied to work at a Starbucks coffee shop because she was interested in their tuition assistance program for Arizona State University’s online program.
“Prior to working at Starbucks, I knew nothing about it except that it was considered a bougie coffee shop,” Trice said in an interview, according to Fox News. “So I didn’t know that it was a very liberal company.”
In a TikTok video, Trice told the story of how she was fired from Starbucks because of her “Christian-conservative values.”
@edbl22 Replying to @Juniper Cove #christiantiktok #selfcare #growth #lgbt #starbucks ♬ original sound – edbl22
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According to Fox News, the Starbucks in question was located in Apex, North Carolina.
Trice said as an employee of Starbucks for two years, she was used to June, which is celebrated as “pride month” by many woke companies, being the month of “tasting the rainbow” at Starbucks, when the company puts up “pride” decorations.
According to Trice, in prior years, no one had complained about her staying out of the celebrations.
“I’m not judging nobody, I’m just not about to go along with everything you want to do if it doesn’t go along with God’s Word,” Trice said.
But Trice said this particular year, “they went a little bit beyond the rainbow, and things were starting to taste sour and not sweet.”
Trice said Starbucks put up a glass wall near the cash register with definitions of different sexual attractions, which Trice was concerned was not something children who come into the cafe should be seeing.
“I didn’t shame them for it, but I was just telling them, like, you guys got to be careful, you know, we got families walking in here and kids are going to read that,” Trice said.
“I specifically said, even if the board had said ‘heterosexual’ — I just felt like that didn’t need to be added to the decorations.”
Trice told Fox News that even some of her colleagues agreed that the board wasn’t appropriate. The board also announced various types of pronouns including, “ze/zim, xe/xem – and even it/its.”
“[These] are less common but still valid. And you can always mix’n’match!” the chalkboard instructed, according to Trice, Fox News reported.
A second issue arose when Starbucks began to insist that employees address everyone by their preferred pronouns.
“I was willing to call the person by their name, I was willing to avoid using pronouns, but it is against my faith to lie, even if it’s the smallest lie. So that means if I see that you are a man and I call you a woman, that is lying, and that is … identifying you as something that God did not create you to be, and that is identifying you as something Satan wants to identify you as,” Trice said.
‘AGAINST MY FAITH’: The former Starbucks employee claims she was terminated after expressing concern over Pride Month displays that included fringe pronouns — now she’s telling her story. https://t.co/JUvzDCE2Ei pic.twitter.com/g47uiOOdpy
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 29, 2024
“Satan’s ultimate goal is to confuse you and deceive you about your identity,” she said.
Trice went on to share how she believes God gave her a “heads up” in a dream the day before her manager let her know that there had been complaints about her.
“There was a complaint that someone had made that, ‘Oh, I just feel like she is not comfortable with my identity,’ which I do not understand because I would talk to everyone there all the time. I was never making insults towards them or anything,” Trice told Fox News.
“After that day, I got fired,” Trice said.
Trice’s post went viral, and many commenters shared similar experiences at Starbucks or expressed support for the young woman.
“I was asked to leave a Starbucks for sitting quietly doing my Bible study. Never been back,” one commenter wrote.
“Well done. You didn’t bow down to the enemy. Thank you for standing firmly in your beliefs. I’ve been in your position before,” another comment read.
Prickly Pear Coffee Company from Nashville even offered Trice a job, commenting, “You can come work for us. Never waver in what’s important to you!”
Trice told Fox News she was grateful for all the support she had received after she told her story online.
“You know, obviously there was some backlash…but it was just really refreshing to see that, you know, I’m not alone in how I view this situation and how I view what the Bible says.” she said.
She added that she is now working as a house cleaner and is proud of speaking up.
According to Fox News, when asked to comment, Starbucks declined. However, a Starbucks spokesperson let them know that “Starbucks has no tolerance for discrimination or harassment of any kind in our stores, and we’re committed to fostering an environment where everyone is welcome, respected and valued.”
Apparently, that environment does not include Christians.
Unfortunately, Trice’s story is not an isolated one.
Increasingly, Christians are having to choose between adhering to their faith or making a living as the environment for people of faith continues to become more hostile.
For example, on Thursday, Korbin Albert, a midfielder for the U.S. women’s national team, had to publicly apologize for liking and reposting a Christian sermon that said being gay and feeling transgender was wrong, according to the New York Post.
While many will capitulate, for those who choose to stand, the journey is not easy.
But take courage.
In Matt. 19:29 Jesus told his followers, “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.”
Although “jobs” aren’t mentioned on the list, we can be pretty sure they count too.
