“Organizing petitions and boycotts is temporary and usually futile.”
“I am finished with Target. I do not care how many other people go to the store, what boycotts are happening… walking down an aisle where a gay-trans agenda is being pushed upon children is abhorrent to me. A company that promotes such an attack on children will never ever get my business again.” - P&D
- 365 views
Everyone with me?
I promise, no Bud-Lite.
Referencing the article, I’ve been pretty anti-boycott for a good while, but I’m starting to rethink that a bit. Here’s why:
- Boycotts are a free-market dynamic. It’s the consumer protesting something by the seller. As Kevin has defined it for his article, it’s an organized effort to recruit others to join you in it, but it’s not a government-led effort. That would be something else.
- We live in an era where businesses increasingly don’t stay in their lane. That is, instead of benefiting society by providing an excellent product or service, they think they have to benefit society by advocacy for some cause or other. This is not what businesses are for. They should stop. (Quit asking me to donate to causes at the fast food drive through. Sure, be a “good corporate citizen.” Do that by providing honest product that is an honest value. Edit to add: and by treating your employees right and not polluting, etc. Be ethical in reference to your product/service, not in reference to society as a whole. It’s called focus.)
- Consistent pressure could drive businesses to return to staying in their lane. If enough boycotts happen in response to corporate preachiness, the cultural trend could reverse.
So I’ve sort of talked myself into it. Except that I never shop at Target or drink Bud Lite anyway. A boycott of, say, Walmart would really cost me something. … and I’ll probably be against boycotts again. 😄
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
It's worth noting that people with functioning taste buds have been boycotting Bug Light since 1982. Glad to see fellow fundamental Baptists joining the boycott!
And this article from the nation's leading news source says everything anyone needs to know about Target. I've been trying to get my family to boycott Target for years because for whatever reason, it seems that they always spend about 3x more than they intended when they go there.
I also stopped going to Walmart back in 2008, when the company tried to sue a former worker who'd been severely injured to recover medical costs. The money they tried to take was the money to care for her for the remainder of her life, and so I sent a nice note saying more or less "if you ever want business from me or my family again, you're going to back off on this."
And they did. All my note? Of course not, but incrementally, it works. I'll occasionally go there for certain things I know that corporate hasn't cheapened, but all in all, I find their stores incredibly dismal.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
Aaron Blumer wrote: So I’ve sort of talked myself into it. Except that I never shop at Target or drink Bud Lite anyway. A boycott of, say, Walmart would really cost me something. … and I’ll probably be against boycotts again. 😄
That’s the problem I had when I wanted to boycott the NFL when they started the whole Kapernick nonsense. Since I never watched any NFL games anyway, a boycott from me wouldn’t be that much of an impact! (And I don’t drink Bud Lite or shop at Target or Walmart either, so…)
Dave Barnhart
I agree with the free market principle. Basically it’s only a boycott when we convince others to join us. Otherwise it’s just non-participation. I also was never into boycotts but I understand more now.
Target 1 mile away or .... Walmart 12 miles away?
I'm going to keep my carbon footprint low and save time and gas
I'm generally not in favor of or supportive of boycotts. The only store I've stopped shopping at is a local Best Buy because of how they handled a problem with a new laptop I purchased for my daughter. That was four years ago, and I drive across town to a microcenter for my electronics needs instead of shopping at that store, which is only 15 minutes away.
If Christians are going to stop shopping or working at stores / companies that support causes / positions that do not align to biblical values, you're pretty much limited to small businesses or privately held corporations. Almost every major corporation now supports LGBTQI+ and DE&I initiatives. The publicly-traded company I work for went through a massive leadership change two years ago, and under the new corporate board the company is now full-steam ahead in its support and advocacy for these causes. We developed products that cater specifically to these groups, and there has been mandatory training in support of these causes.
So, unless you work for Chic-fil-a or Hobby Lobby, good luck with finding a major corporation that aligns with your biblical values.
T Howard wrote: So, unless you work for Chic-fil-a or Hobby Lobby, good luck with finding a major corporation that aligns with your biblical values.
Of course. We can’t expect non-Christians to act like Christians. We live in the world, and will have to until we depart it. I’m more aligned with Aaron’s thinking above — we just prefer companies to “stay in their lane.” We expect Target to sell things we would never want as Christians, and we expect Anheuser Busch to sell their product to anyone (including gay bars, etc.).
However, when a big political agenda is pushed in front of my face that I don’t want to see or deal with, I reserve the right to stop doing business with such a company or organization. They have their freedoms to speak or act as they please (within the law), and I have the same freedoms to decry what they are doing or not do business with them.
I don’t expect what I do to have an effect that any large organization would notice. I do, however, still get to enjoy seeing AB and Target take big hits when their business becomes overtly political, and believe me, I am enjoying it immensely.
Dave Barnhart
T Howard wrote: So, unless you work for Chic-fil-a or Hobby Lobby, good luck with finding a major corporation that aligns with your biblical values.
Well said, and I agree with Dave that this ought to be reserved for particularly egregious violations of Biblical principles. There are times when I say "whatever", and there are times when I say "ewww....", and I tend to show up as empty space when the store makes me think "ewww.....".
Or, as I noted above, when the spending pattern at a particular store gets so bad, I can't justify it from a pocketbook point of view. Or, put another way, why I don't bother with Costco or Sam's Club, either.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
Some perspective on the topic at TGC…
Do I Have to Stop Shopping at Target?
You might feel free to shop at Target, but if your friend in Bible study doesn’t, it’s not your job to change her mind, and vice versa. It’s your job to love her and not to do anything to cause her to stumble—which could mean not inciting a debate about the merits of Target shopping.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
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