Like, seriously? Someone sees an ad, or dislikes one concept we have discussed, and automatically begins to label people? Isn't that what 'they' don't like about the left? We are genuinely confused. We, as a company, represent many beliefs, opinions and flavors. We have some folks who are religious. Some not. We have people that have voted both sides of the aisle, and to this day still are willing to see nuance and view other humans as, well, human, instead of demonizing everyone who disagrees with us. So we are many things. We are on an evolutionary path, as people, and as company, to grow and learn more about our complex world, which *GASP* means we may even change our minds every once and awhile (Mind blowing, we know). We care about people. We care about community. We care about the working class (sorry Bezos). We care about conversation and allowing out perceptions to be changed, no matter what we may believe or see about another. Coffee is just the medium at which we do this.

"Our perceptions work in large part by expectation. It takes less cognitive effort to make sense of the world using preconceived images updated with a small amount of new sensory information then do constantly form entirely new perceptions from scratch. It is our preconceptions that create the blind spots in which magicians do their work.Whats astonishing is the gulf between what we expect to find and what we find when we actually look." Entangled Life, Merlin Sheldrake

Because we believe humor is a useful tool. Also, we're all about a little self-deprecation around here. Do we hate Christians? No, of course not. We've known many amazing folks from many different denominations, communions and religions, from as far as Japan all the way back to the West Coast. The Church (whatever that really means) has done a lot of good, but also a lot of harm (Shout out Graham Nash and Cathedral, what a beautiful song) -- and we like the idea of being a little crass to open the door to difficult conversations. We'd rather be transparent, honest, and authentic, even if we're a little over the top sometimes. We honor ancient Christianity, while we also honor other ancient religious traditions. (TBH, it's the newer evangelical churches and mega hot shot pastors we really can dig on)

Also, for what it's worth, the original character of the Mad Priest was a Goan Catholic Monk named Abbe Faria (A real person, not just in TCMC) -- he helped invent modern hypnotism!

People. Humans. Community. Working Class. The poor. The voiceless. To name just a few... And to truly live this out, though we are imperfect at it frequently, and unlike the far left OR right tend to do, requires true human interaction, compassion (feeling), empathy (action) -- regardless of ones views of position in life. We stand for restoring true community and shared spaces. We stand for the constitution and the beauty that America was and still is (we'll see). And ultimately, we stand for damn good coffee (as well as actually paying a living wage to producers).

Check back as we'll probably just keep adding to this thing...

And? Must we believe in 100% of something or someone we buy from or interact with? As a company and people dedicated to education, growth and evolution (of the mind duh, c'mon Bryan...) -- we ourselves can change an opinion or stance as we are always evaluating things. That's where YOU come in! We've adjusted partnerships or removed content after thorough discussion with patrons in the past. We see ourselves, and our patrons as a community of people. Dynamic. Living. We're not here to "tell" you what to believe, we're here to learn things and question things, and just do it openly and allow you to join us in doing that. 

And guess what, it's still okay to buy from us if you still disagree with somthing... sorta like how you can still be friends with someone if you disagree with them on something... right?

Regardless, we're always open for discussion. Feel free to shoot us an email!

curious@madpriestcoffee.com