Short version: Drew, their employee with the most public facing role and known to be a chill guy and left-leaning, left the company with some celebration but zero explanation. This got folks looking, and they saw that the Goulets are heavily involved with planting (think “franchising” or may more accurately “metastasizing”) a new church that was growing out from a larger one that has all the usual disgusting anti-LGBT+ rhetoric, and the new church has a mission statement that includes bible literalism and explicitly places men above women in home life and church roles. Also, Reddit being Reddit, the mods handled it all very clumsily and in a way that makes it look they’ve traded their integrity for a couple of pens.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bonus-episode-pride-month/id1723599105?i=1000657476753
I figured I’d link directly to the podcast episode in question in case anyone wants to listen first-hand. The “Eric” in this episode seems appears to be introduced in a later episode as starting the church attended by the Goulet’s. I saw the transcriptions originally but the tone of the hosts really put me off.
I’m thoroughly disappointed at the situation and it’s completely soured my perception of the brand. Luckily, there are plenty of retailers to choose from in this hobby.
It seems plausible that Drew left because of the church stuff, but it is not confirmed so conclusions must not be drawn on this part of drama. I am curious to hear from the man himself what made him go. Maybe he will make his own pen content in the future, I would check it out if he did. On the church connection, seems dumb to me that they would include such an unnecessary and damaging detail. America is a pretty wild place I guess. I don’t think European and Japanese companies would commit to a “what is going on in our personal lives” section of a business podcast.
It seems plausible that Drew left because of the church stuff, but it is not confirmed so conclusions must not be drawn on this part of drama.
That much is certainly fair. I can’t imagine that he didn’t have some inkling of their beliefs, as it’s almost impossible not to in a small workplace like that. It seems like more than anything, his leaving was just the call to action that led to things being uncovered independently.
I suppose one could read the tea leaves all along and guess that a southern, white family that is eager to proclaim their Christianity is likely involved in some conservative stuff, but there’s still a basic social contract in the US that you can “opt out” of the culture wars publicly if you do so consistently. If they don’t push it on the details, and they are supportive of things like an annual pride month sale, then maybe there’s nuance to their belief system that they are entitled to work out in private. I think when you make a show of getting involved in expanding that realm, to be literally evangelical by spreading a faith that a lot of us think is pretty toxic, that you burn through a lot of goodwill pretty quickly. Add it on to how milquetoast they were about the Noodlers stuff, and it’s enough to make me want to shop elsewhere, regardless of whether the Drew stuff is directly related.
On a personal level, I have met many evangelicals who I think are legitimately kind as they understand that word, but they no NOT fuck with any unorthodoxy.
Welp. That’s that, then. Bye pen place!
What a bummer, I really liked their website and themed ink sample packs too! I’m sure they aren’t the only ones who do it, but now I have to find another retailer I trust.
Same – they have a lot of good YouTube videos that I learned a lot from too.
