American Christians Are Waging War Against This Canadian Ice Cream Shop

Forget the War on Christmas, this war is more interesting.

Elana

• Published in Funny
• January 1, 2018

Man, American Christians must be obsessed with war. I know what you're thinking: "duh." Everything is a war. Wars on marriage, wars on Christmas, and now they're the ones waging war... on an ice cream shop?

I first learned about this on Twitter and was sure it's just as fantastic as the Starbucks holiday cup fiasco and I am anything but disappointed. While usually, the Jesus-devout are crying that a war is being waged against them, this time they are the one rallying a cry as they charge into battle in the name of religious justice. It sounds fake but it's not. Someone has ruffled the feathers of the pious and they're all business now.

Canadian ice cream company, Sweet Jesus Ice Cream is planning to expand into the United States and not everyone is thrilled. Specifically, some 12,000 Christians, all of whom have signed a petition on citzengo.org claiming the parlor "serves up blasphemy."

Sweet Jesus Ice Cream, "Toronto born and globally grown; Sweet Jesus is the little ice cream shop that wouldn't quit. " ...And they don't aim to quit now either.

The petition against the savory ice cream joint states the following:

Choosing the name of our Lord for a brand of soft-serve ice cream is totally offensive and revolting. However, this is anything but a mere mistake…The message is clear: ‘Sweet Jesus’ is all about trashing Christianity and mocking the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ian O’Sullivan, the man responsible for starting the petition, has a lot to say about why he feels this is a blatant case of "religious discrimination." Referring to ‘Red Rapture’ and ‘Sweet Baby Jesus,' he says that certain flavors of the parlor's ice cream are “anti-Christ” and “anti-Christian,” as are the upside-down crosses and metal-font ‘s” in the brand logo!

In a response to the petition and it's gaining popularity, Sweet Jesus made sure to add a disclaimer on their website:

Our name was created from the popular phrase that people use as an expression of enjoyment, surprise or disbelief. Our aim is not to offer commentary on anyone’s religion or belief systems, Our own organization is made up of amazing people that represent a wide range of cultural and religious beliefs.

Furthermore, co-founder Andrew Richmond stated in an interview with CBC Canada there are no plans to change the ice cream brand's name:

We are conscious of the fact that, to some, our name can be off-putting. That fact is something we struggle with, because we sincerely do not wish to give offense or show disrespect in any way toward anyone’s personal beliefs. After a lot of thought, we have decided that we will not make a change.

However... the creators of the petition disagree that the name is a mere coincidence, stating in their petition:

Even worse, a second petition is making rounds and they're targeting everyone,not just Christians to join their cause:

Over the last decade we have seen a lot of progressive change but there is still a lot of push back. Where is the line drawn? What constricts religious freedom and what makes room for it?  In Florida, the Satanic Temple handed out activity books to public school children on grounds of religious freedom simply because the system was allowing bibles to be handed out. More relevant, food and the bible have been going hand in hand for a while now. We know In-N-Out, a very popular burger chain, inscribes references to biblical verses on cups and burger wrappers. We also know that Chick-Fil-A closes all locations every Sunday so that it's employees can go to church, though that's not the only way they've dug up some controversy.

Naturally, in our modern time Twitter is yet again in an uproar over the latest Jesus catastrophe. This time, it seems the bulk of users are in support of Sweet Jesus Ice Cream.

Elana