British Expatriate Network

Just when you thought the religious arguements were dying down, this one pops up again, this time involving a bank.


The Co-operative Bank has asked an evangelical Christian group to close its account because of its anti-homosexual views.
The bank said the opinions of Christian Voice were incompatible with its support for diversity.

Christian Voice said the bank, based in Manchester, was discriminating against it on religious grounds.

It is now waiting for other religious groups with similar opinions to be asked to close accounts, it added.


http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4617849.stm

I won't say anything on what the Bible says on this topic. It's too touchy. But I don't think a bank has the right to close an account because the customer has a particular admission policy.

Next they'll have to close the all-men's clubs, all-Jewish clubs, all-black clubs, all-Catholic clubs, all-Kosovo-refugee clubs, etc etc etc etc

Thats pretty funny because usually the Christian conservative groups boycott a certain manufacturer. I never heard of a supplier boycotting a customer! D

I know...it's a weird one.

It's not wierd at all.
It harps back to the very fundamentals of what a Co-op is all about.

A cooperative is a business controlled by the people who use it. It is a democratic organization whose earnings and assets belong to its members. By patronizing and becoming an active member of a co-op, you invest yourself with the power to shape that business. You control the politics and economics of what is truly your organization.

This localized member control allows co-ops to be as varied as the people they serve. Thus, there are different types of co-ops including food co-ops, housing co-ops, arts and crafts co-ops, book co-ops, bakery co-ops, bike co-ops, farm co-ops, rural electric co-ops, financial co-ops (credit unions), and insurance co-ops. And each of these has a flavor of its own, reflective of the desires of its individual memberships. Despite the diversity in type and tradition of co-ops, most have several things in common, particularly the ideals and principles from which they emerge.

I think the answer to this one is wether the bank asks other members what there views are and if they are inconsistant with the ideals of the coop policy they are also asked to leave the organization .

cus one org discriminates s doesnt give another the right to .

It was a major reason why I banked with the Co-op bank in the UK was that they proffered to not bank / loan money / associate with org's that the right wing would class as "not politically correct" or "environmentally unfriendly."

The co-op are shite anyway, and that is my personal view on it, few of my friends that used them back home, never have anything good to say. Always used barclays and national westminster bank, before they changed their name.

Co-op actually offer one of the best offshore current accounts, with chequebook, VISA Debit card etc. with none of the usual strings attached with offshore current accounts such as a minimum of 5000 pounds etc etc.

We have banked with the co-op for many years and have been very pleased with their service and business ethics too.

JohnA, I remember a number of years ago receiving a letter from the co-op bank informing us of a company that was wanting to bank with them or they were considering lending money to (somewhere in the continent of Africa if I remember correctly) and were asking if anyone objected of wished to voice an opinion on the matter. I can't remember all the details, but yes, as a co-op customer (and previous employee many moons ago), I know my opinion counts.

My husband used to work for Barclays and wouldn't touch them, or any of the other big high street banks. After he left the bank, he started banking at TSB (they were pretty new at the time and looked promising as a good bank) and I was still working at the co-op. After I left work, I continued to keep my co-op account and we were pleased we did. TSB were rubbish and sorting any problems were hard work with them. We still have our co-op account now and they definitely have one of the best customer services of any bank I have ever had to deal with, here or the UK.

I gonna plug Lloys TSB now you mention it as my mum banked there and they've been brilliant and helped out greatly in getting her affairs in order.
They even wrote off a loan she had immediately due to the credit life, and are now looking at backdating it to see if the loan should have cleared as soon as she was diagnosed with cancer.

Still I have no qualms with Co-op bank either, especially as they were based in Stockport wink

Never banked with the co-op, but in general I am in favour of co-ops and I would say they're well within their rights to refuse to accept as members (not "customers", remember) anyone who discriminates in a manner contradictory to the co-op policy.

As a co-op preschool, we have a non-discriminatory notice that we have to publish annually. If someone wanted to join who openly discriminated against a group of people we declare that we do not discriminate against, we would not be able to allow them to join. It's quite simple, really.

OK, so does the Co-Op Bank have *NO* business customers that are based on some kind of discrimination? Even if it is something as innocent as a black women's knitting circle or something.

And (providing Co-Op still delivers milk) do they not deliver to any such organisations?

I highly doubt the answer to the above two questions is "yes". The bank probably has a lot of gay members.

I can only begin to imagine the outcry in blighty had this been a muslim organization.

Anarchy at the north london mosque, and in bradford :o