Was a St. Cloud Christian refused service for wearing a cross? Fact Check
Claims that a Christian from Minnesota was refused service by a Muslim cashier at a retail outlet because they wore a cross around his neck are spreading online.
FALSE
In one example of the message, the cross-wearing Christian is described as a 17 year old boy and the Muslim was wearing a headscarf.
A young 17-year-old boy was shopping in St. Cloud, MN, at a sports store, called Shields. The cashier was a Muslim lady who was wearing another headscarf. The 17-year-old was wearing a necklace with a cross on it. She told him he would have to put his cross under his shirt because it offended her. He told her he would not do that. Then he told her that he thought she should take her headscarf off. She then called for the manager. The manager came out and told the 17-year-old to just put his cross under his shirt and everything would be fine. The boy again refused to do so and at that point he left the items he had intended to purchase and walked out.
Several customers who had been in line behind him had heard the conversation and also left their carts full of items and walked out of the store!! KUDOS TO THE 17-YEAR-OLD!!!
We all know we are in some very changing times, and given the same circumstances, I pray we would all have the courage this young lad had. We spent a few minutes talking about the challenge we are facing for our first amendment right of religious freedom. (I have to wonder what’s next? Are ‘they’ going to try to ban the jewelry store owners from selling
any jewelry with a cross on it?? WILL YOU HESITATE TO PASS THIS ON?? OR BE READY TO DEFEND YOUR RELIGIOUS RIGHTS!!! GOD BLESS YOU, AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!
Rumours and hearsay online that claim to tell the tale of Muslims attempting to infringe upon the rights of non-Muslims in such a brash and unrestrained manner are a dime a dozen on the Internet. Those more familiar with Internet hoaxes may immediately detect similarities with the above story and previous nonsense that has been disseminated across the Internet, such as the person refused service for wearing a badge showing support for the armed forces, or the soldier refused service in a non-existent Tesco for being in uniform.
Both of those were fake, and so – almost certainly – is this story. Like many such online tales in this niche, there is simply no evidence supporting the claim that such an encounter ever took place.
When investigated fully with the appropriate approach of skepticism and caution, such tales often fall apart, and this story is no different. Firstly, the location of where this story occurs doesn’t even exist. There is no “Shields” sports store in St. Clouds, MN, or if there is, it is doing quite a good job of hiding itself from both the Internet and residents.
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Secondly, the most inevitable hallmark of a long-standing urban legend or hoax are the near identical variants also spreading online that have small yet important alterations made to fit a different audience. For example the below version targeted at Walmart that now identifies the Christian as a woman and the Muslim as a Somali clerk, but still tells the exact same version of events –
I just heard a (friend of my good friend) went to check out at a store in St. Cloud. Being the good Christian she is, she had a cross necklace on. When ready to check out, a Somali clerk told her she had to remove her cross necklace before she would check her out. And, being the good Christian she is, she refused and asked for a manager. (The) manager then came, informing her she (had) to remove the cross necklace in order to go through her check out line. She and the lady behind her left their groceries where they were and walked out.
What ever happened to a free country? What ever happened to Christianity?????????? We are unable to believe in Christ or our religion!!!! So why do others get to believe in theirs even if it is offensive to us Christians? I will no longer be shopping at this store in St. Cloud. We as Christians need to stick up for our rights also. This should not be one way!!!!!!!
In reference to the above Walmart variation, an SC Times investigation led to a Walmart spokesperson who had claimed the accusations had already been investigated and were deemed unfounded –
While we’ve asked our cashiers and management about this, we’ve been unable to verify that this happened at all. We’ve been working to identify the actual customer making these claims.
This Walmart version appears to pre-date the “Shields” counterpart, and as such it is likely that someone simply made the changes after the Walmart version had already spread online.
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Thirdly, the lack of verifiable information also makes such posts extremely suspect. Like many online urban legends and tall tales, it’s always told from the perspective of a “friend” or a “friend’s friend”, and such tales lack any tangible or specific evidence or information that would allow anyone to track down the actual people involved for clarification.
Many social media users may take such stories at face value and share them “in case they’re true” or even take the backwards approach of assuming such stories are true until proven false, but this is never recommended and irresponsible. That flippant approach could potentially allow anyone to make up any sort of damaging nonsense about any other person or group of persons with the aim of sowing division or spreading hate and anger.
There is enough evidence and reason here to safely dismiss this story as the hate filled garbage it really is, and it should be discounted as such.
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