Christians are “evil” if they resist the redefinition of marriage to allow for same-sex marriage, the Head of Research and Development at Tesco.com has said.
The company has already faced criticism for dumping its support for the Cancer Research Race for Life and sponsoring London’s gay pride festival.
The “evil Christians” comment was made by Nick Lansley, Head of Research and Development for the Tesco website.
He wrote, “I’m also campaigning against evil Christians (that’s not all Christians, just bad ones) who think that gay people should not lead happy lives and get married to their same-sex partners.”
The comments appeared on Mr Lansley’s profile page on the photo-sharing website, Flickr.com, where he lists his employment as “Head of R&D at Tesco.com.”
But following complaints to Tesco, the remarks have now been removed.
Earlier this year, a Christian housing manager from Manchester was demoted and had his salary slashed by 40 per cent for posting a moderate comment on Facebook, saying churches shouldn’t be forced to host homosexual civil partnerships if they don’t want to.
Director of The Christian Institute, Colin Hart, said, “I won’t be shopping at Tesco this Christmas, and I am repeatedly hearing from other Christians who have already come to the same conclusion. Mr Lansley is entitled to his opinions, and Christians are entitled to choose not to shop at Tesco. Come on, Tesco, you are meant to be a family-friendly store. Start acting like it.”