5 ‘woke’ companies that have Christian origins
Walmart
In 2015, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon released a statement opposing Arkansas’ Religious Freedom Restoration Act legislation, claiming without evidence that the bill was antigay.
The Human Rights Campaign, purportedly the largest LGBT advocacy group in the United States, gave Walmart a 100% rating on issues like “workforce protections” and “responsible citizenship.”
In 2022, Walmart launched an LGBTQ+ Officer Caucus, which focused "on building community and advancing diversity, equity and inclusion within the workplace.”
“We are building a Walmart for everyone, and we know that diverse voices at the leadership level drive innovation, guide our path forward and serve as a source of inspiration,” Walmart stated.
Founder Sam Walton and his wife were devout Presbyterians, with Mr. Walton being a Sunday School teacher.
According to a 2009 Harvard Review report, Walton’s company succeeded largely because it “gradually tapped into the strong fundamentalist Christian culture across the Sun Belt.”
“Walton worked into the company’s corporate structure the notion of ‘service leadership’ that ties worker roles into the concept that ‘Christ was a servant leader,’ and emphasizes the importance in the Christian tradition of serving others,” noted the Review, periodically quoting from a lecture by scholar Bethany Moreton.
“In the 1980s, during regular business meetings with Walmart managers and their spouses, Walmart’s director of family living spoke on the changed relationships between husbands and wives, which were, Moreton noted, ‘fundamental to the company’s business model.’”