What We Can Learn from Subway

Today I am struck by the clear message that we, as a nation, can learn from Subway.

Subway began a relationship with Jared Fogle many years ago. He became the company spokesperson after losing over 200 pounds on his “Subway diet”. In no time at all he was a national figure and the face of Subway. (He was even featured in Sharknado 2!)

What Subway, and the rest of the world did not realize, is that Jared had a secret sin. Namely, he was involved with child pornography and even paid to have sex with minors.

This is not okay.

Even among those who do not know Jesus, this kind of activity is widely recognized as sin.

All of this information came to light as the result of an undercover reporter collecting first-hand quotes from the mouth of the guilty party himself.

In no time at all, Subway officially dropped Jared as their spokesperson (and his cameo from Sharknado 3 was also dropped). Subway broke all ties with a man who, by his own admission, had committed heinous crimes against other human beings.

Thank you, Subway. That was the right thing to do.

Speaking of the right thing to do… this morning my son and I stood at one of the more than 300 locations across the nation where men, women, and children were protesting the organization known as Planned Parenthood. My son is three years old, so admittedly this was more my decision than his.

That decision came on the heels of undercover videos featuring men and women from the Planned Parenthood organization admitting to outrageously cruel practices of killing babies and selling their body parts. Both of those practices should be illegal in this country, currently only one of them is. As a nation, we continue to fund this organization who, by their own admission, using the same tactics that exposed Jared Fogle, has admitted to heinous crimes against other human beings.

This is not okay.

This is sin whether it is widely recognized or not. This is at least a Jared Fogle level sin. We should be outraged.

So my son and I stood on the street next to the local Planned Parenthood in Wooster, Ohio in the heat of the day as cars drove by. Some drivers seemed to show their support but others showed obvious distain. It is simply amazing (and disgusting and sad) to me that a nation that can see the Jared Fogle case so clearly is even the slightest bit confused about Planned Parenthood.

After a while of standing in the sun, my son asked me, “Dad why are we doing this?” I told him that we were standing there with signs because we were trying to stop people who are killing babies. He said, “They’re killing babies?”

Then, thinking of his 7 month old sister, He said “Eden is a baby. Are they going to try to kill Eden?”

I didn’t answer him.

How do I explain to my 3 year old that our nation only recognized Eden as a baby the moment she was born -or in the case that she happened to be killed in the womb by any means other than abortion?

But he thought about his own question and then he offered his own response, “Well, I’m going to stop them. They’re bad guys and I’m going to stop them.”

We only made it a little over an hour in the hot sun. Then my little superhero wanted to play on the swing set near the church where we parked. I figured that was a good idea. After all, we not only want to save human life, but we want to enjoy it as well.

Both are essential.

After playing on the swing set for a while, we got in the vehicle and headed for home. As I drove through the city of Wooster I couldn’t help but notice the purple banners hanging on the street posts proudly displaying the Planned Parenthood logo.

We have a lot to learn from Subway.

I would suggest that it is time that we as a nation drop Planned Parenthood in the same way that Subway (and Sharknado, for goodness sakes!) felt a conviction to drop Jared Fogel.

Even my 3 year old son can figure this one out. They are bad guys, and we need to stop them.