4 ms·

Is there a huge overlap between the types of people who worry about this and Whole Foods customers?

kstrauser 5y ago
I'm generalizing here, but what I've described is a very common belief among evangelicals. The first source I found on Google[0] puts that at a very large percentage of the population in the US midwest and south. [0] https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/us-states-by-evangelical-protestant-population.html https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/us-states-by-evangelical...
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  I would not expect that crowd to overlap with Whole Foods customers.
  - riversflow 5y ago
    Why? I see this sentiment echoed many times. Its confusing to me at least because it’s not like Whole Foods has direct competition for high end food stuffs in most markets I’ve seen. I know a handful of these types people and they are more likely than average to only buy the best foods, with Whole Foods being their major retailer of choice.
    - lotsofpulp 5y ago
      I guess I’m assuming from the religious conservatives I know that they wouldn’t be into the organic/hippy/overpriced food market.
      - kstrauser 5y ago
        There are a not-small number of people who follow Joel Osteen and other "prosperity gospel" preachers who think God would want them to have the very best, and if that means organic/hippy/overpriced, then so be it.
      - riversflow 5y ago
        Huh, they might not think of it as hippy/overpriced and more like organic/better. Consider that on this board Dr. Bronner's get routine praise, despite its overtly religious appearances. Regardless, I'd challenge this assumption.
- hn8788 5y ago
  Do you have a source for it being a very common belief? My wife grew up in the south, I lived there for years, and neither of us have ever heard anyone mention this. It sounds like something you'd read on a "10 crazy things Christians actually believe" article, even though it's not "very common" as you claim it is.
  - kstrauser 5y ago
    Google "southern baptist mark of the beast". Personal source: I was raised in the Midwest and attended Southern Baptist (i.e. mainstream evangelical) churches during my upbringing. I was taught that these things are literally true many, many times over the years. I'm not trying to make fun of Christians, Midwesterners, or Southerners, or anything remotely like that. But I am saying that I have personally been told that the Biblical book of Revelations is a set of literally true predictions about the near future. Walk into any Southern Baptist or Assemblies of God church, find the preacher, and ask them if Revelations is a story of true things that are going to happen, and they're very likely to say that yes, it is. Tell them you heard some guy on the Internet say that the Mark of the Beast is a real thing. They're likely to nod and confirm that yeah, that's what the Bible says. I'm not saying that everyone in those and other evangelical denominations believe this. I absolutely 100% contend that a whole awful lot of people sincerely do.
bparsons 5y ago
I mean, they do sell homeopathic medicine there. It is not that much of a leap.

I'm generalizing here, but what I've described is a very common belief among evangelicals. The first source I found on Google[0] puts that at a very large percentage of the population in the US midwest and south. [0] https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/us-states-by-evangelical-protestant-population.html https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/us-states-by-evangelical...

lotsofpulp 5y ago
I would not expect that crowd to overlap with Whole Foods customers.
- riversflow 5y ago
  Why? I see this sentiment echoed many times. Its confusing to me at least because it’s not like Whole Foods has direct competition for high end food stuffs in most markets I’ve seen. I know a handful of these types people and they are more likely than average to only buy the best foods, with Whole Foods being their major retailer of choice.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    I guess I’m assuming from the religious conservatives I know that they wouldn’t be into the organic/hippy/overpriced food market.
    - kstrauser 5y ago
      There are a not-small number of people who follow Joel Osteen and other "prosperity gospel" preachers who think God would want them to have the very best, and if that means organic/hippy/overpriced, then so be it.
    - riversflow 5y ago
      Huh, they might not think of it as hippy/overpriced and more like organic/better. Consider that on this board Dr. Bronner's get routine praise, despite its overtly religious appearances. Regardless, I'd challenge this assumption.
hn8788 5y ago
Do you have a source for it being a very common belief? My wife grew up in the south, I lived there for years, and neither of us have ever heard anyone mention this. It sounds like something you'd read on a "10 crazy things Christians actually believe" article, even though it's not "very common" as you claim it is.
- kstrauser 5y ago
  Google "southern baptist mark of the beast". Personal source: I was raised in the Midwest and attended Southern Baptist (i.e. mainstream evangelical) churches during my upbringing. I was taught that these things are literally true many, many times over the years. I'm not trying to make fun of Christians, Midwesterners, or Southerners, or anything remotely like that. But I am saying that I have personally been told that the Biblical book of Revelations is a set of literally true predictions about the near future. Walk into any Southern Baptist or Assemblies of God church, find the preacher, and ask them if Revelations is a story of true things that are going to happen, and they're very likely to say that yes, it is. Tell them you heard some guy on the Internet say that the Mark of the Beast is a real thing. They're likely to nod and confirm that yeah, that's what the Bible says. I'm not saying that everyone in those and other evangelical denominations believe this. I absolutely 100% contend that a whole awful lot of people sincerely do.

bparsons 5y ago

I mean, they do sell homeopathic medicine there. It is not that much of a leap.