What happens when a local business needs to shutdown after taking a moral stand on an political issue like serving food at a LGBT wedding ceremony? It starts GoFundMe campaigns.
GoFundMe is a crowdsourced funding website were people can make donations to businesses, artists or causes. But in increasingly large numbers, supporters of political causes are donating to like-minded business owners who are going out of business for unpopular stances they take for moral reasons.
The most recent example of this trend Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana.
Crystal OConnor, co-owner of Memories Pizza, said they would refuse to cater an LGBT wedding if they were to ask do so. This statement led to boycotts and threats to the owners and their children, according to the Blaze. Eventually, the O'Connor family had to shut down Memories Pizza and go into hiding for a week.
The Blazes Dana Loesch and Lawrence B. Jones III, a contributor to Loesch's show, set up a GoFundMe account to support the O'Connors.
Jones said that the original goal $25,000 was raised in the first hour, reported The Washington Post. Within 12 hours, that number doubled and when Jones closed the account after four days, the GoFundMe account had secured $842,592 for the OConnor family.
The restaurant reopened Thursday and the O'Connors said they would use the money for improvements and donate the rest to charity, according to The Washington Times.
Several other companies, which do not generally need to get involved in politics or social advocacy, have needed to depend on GoFundMe accounts to protect themselves from the financial consequences of speaking out.
A Florida bakerys (Cut the Cake) refusal to bake an anti-gay wedding cake has thrust it into the spotlight as a national debate wages on a business owners right to refuse service, reported Patch.com. Its also sparked an online fundraising campaign that has raked in more than $14,000 since its April 2 launch.
Yahoo reported the reason these GoFundMe campaigns have been so successful is because people are afraid to speak out in other ways.
Such donations highlight one way that supporters of the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act are anonymously expressing their views in a discussion that has been dominated by opponents of the law, reported Yahoo. The recent passage of the RFRA in Indiana (and Arkansas) has drawn a stark line nationwide between advocates of religious freedoms and those of anti-discrimination leading some critics to say that those whose opinions are based on religious faith are now themselves facing intolerance.
However, its not just business owners publicly siding with religious freedom who are being silently supported.
Brendan O'Connor, owner of Big Guys Sausage Stand, at 7021 Roosevelt Road, created a GoFundMe page Friday titled Non Bigoted Restaurant Wants Cash, reported the Chicago Tribune. The article didn't say whether the O'Connors in Illinois and Indiana were related.
According to the Tribune, Big Sausage Stands GoFundMe campaign was originally meant as a joke, but as the money came in the owners decided to use the money as a way to fund a larger campaign for an LGBT charitable organization.
GoFundMe is a crowdsourced funding website were people can make donations to businesses, artists or causes. But in increasingly large numbers, supporters of political causes are donating to like-minded business owners who are going out of business for unpopular stances they take for moral reasons.
The most recent example of this trend Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana.
Crystal OConnor, co-owner of Memories Pizza, said they would refuse to cater an LGBT wedding if they were to ask do so. This statement led to boycotts and threats to the owners and their children, according to the Blaze. Eventually, the O'Connor family had to shut down Memories Pizza and go into hiding for a week.
The Blazes Dana Loesch and Lawrence B. Jones III, a contributor to Loesch's show, set up a GoFundMe account to support the O'Connors.
Jones said that the original goal $25,000 was raised in the first hour, reported The Washington Post. Within 12 hours, that number doubled and when Jones closed the account after four days, the GoFundMe account had secured $842,592 for the OConnor family.
The restaurant reopened Thursday and the O'Connors said they would use the money for improvements and donate the rest to charity, according to The Washington Times.
Several other companies, which do not generally need to get involved in politics or social advocacy, have needed to depend on GoFundMe accounts to protect themselves from the financial consequences of speaking out.
A Florida bakerys (Cut the Cake) refusal to bake an anti-gay wedding cake has thrust it into the spotlight as a national debate wages on a business owners right to refuse service, reported Patch.com. Its also sparked an online fundraising campaign that has raked in more than $14,000 since its April 2 launch.
Yahoo reported the reason these GoFundMe campaigns have been so successful is because people are afraid to speak out in other ways.
Such donations highlight one way that supporters of the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act are anonymously expressing their views in a discussion that has been dominated by opponents of the law, reported Yahoo. The recent passage of the RFRA in Indiana (and Arkansas) has drawn a stark line nationwide between advocates of religious freedoms and those of anti-discrimination leading some critics to say that those whose opinions are based on religious faith are now themselves facing intolerance.
However, its not just business owners publicly siding with religious freedom who are being silently supported.
Brendan O'Connor, owner of Big Guys Sausage Stand, at 7021 Roosevelt Road, created a GoFundMe page Friday titled Non Bigoted Restaurant Wants Cash, reported the Chicago Tribune. The article didn't say whether the O'Connors in Illinois and Indiana were related.
According to the Tribune, Big Sausage Stands GoFundMe campaign was originally meant as a joke, but as the money came in the owners decided to use the money as a way to fund a larger campaign for an LGBT charitable organization.