I was raised Christian and some of my favorite people are Christian, but some of my favorite people are also Jewish and Muslim and atheists and lots of other things too. I think freedom of religion is rockin' especially when it keeps your higher power out of my public spaces.

But alas, it can't keep someone's higher power off my Forever 21 purchase. The store's signature yellow-and-black bags are subtlely imprinted with "John 3:16" near the bottom in smallish letters. Apparently the proselytizing is free with any purchase.

Maybe I'm overly sensitive about this but it rubs me the wrong way every time. When Alaska Airlines once put a prayer card on my meal tray, I made such a stink they gave me a voucher for a free flight (They still do it anyway).

Listen, I know private businesses can do whatever they like on their property (a plane, a bag, a burger), but it just irks me that they assume I am Christian, or that I'd like to be. And what if I weren't? It's insulting. Especially when the verse is John 3:16 which not so subtlely says whoever doesn't believe in Jesus is going straight to hell.

I've also always been fascinated with Covenant Transport, a Tennessee-based trucking company that has a message on the back of all of its trucks that say "It's not a choice, it's a child." Brilliant cause marketing, a totally captive audience (much like on an airplane), and yet, somehow a violation of my wished-for right not to get preached to outside a church. (By the way, according to this, Covenant doesn't treat its employees in such a Christian manner.)

Forever 21 has been on my list before, in 2001 for alleged sweatshop abuses in Los Angeles. The lawsuit against them was dropped when the company agreed to pay back wages, and work with Sweatshop Watch to implement worker protections (kudos). And in 2004, the company, under pressure from PETA, stopped selling clothing with real fur. Again, kudos. Now those are meaningful Christian gestures. Show, don't tell.