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Hear No Evil. See No Evil. Support No Evil.
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Let us clearly understand that, in a certain sense, it is no more possible to invent a new ethic than to place a new sun in the sky... — C. S. Lewis |
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Imagine this: There is a knock at your door. You answer it and find before you a small boy with a box full of candy. He looks up to you with a sad, streetworn look in his eyes and explains that he is selling the candy so that he can go to camp this summer. You naturally feel sorry for the child and want to help him out. The candy is not that expensive and a little more in the house wouldn’t hurt. As you browse through the box, you casually ask him, "By the way, what group sponsors you?" The boy looks to you, then answers, "The Hitler Youth Program of America."
You now have a small moral dilemma, but you come to a quick conclusion: Although you want what is best for the child, you realize that, by buying his candy and sending him to camp, you also support the sadistic philosophy and immoral agenda of the Hitler Youth Program of America. That is abominable; therefore, you cannot buy his candy.
You’ve just exercised your right as a free American not to support an evil cause. And, although your heart goes out to the boy, you would probably go to bed that night knowing that what you did was right.
In a modern definition of the term, you have just "boycotted" this group. And that is just what any thinking, responsible Christian should have done.
The purpose of this tract is to answer some concerns you may have concerning boycotting—to look at it in a rational light, avoiding the emotional baggage that often accompanies such discussion. After reading it, please pray and be open to what the Lord would have you to do…
Let’s use a more realistic and practical situation. Suppose you love to shop at your favorite department store, which we will call Tarvyn’s. They have good, inexpensive products there and there is always one around. Suppose you now find out that the Parent Company that owns and operates Tarvyn’s—we’ll call them Seyton Baalson Inc.—is supporting a "family planning" group which personally performs more than 100,000 abortions a year nationwide. The Parent Company says that the money they donate is specifically designated for everything but abortions.
What do you do now, now that you know the facts? Do you continue to shop at Tarvyn’s? How do you respond as a faithful man or woman of God? Let’s examine in detail some of the reasons you (or others you know) might put forward for continuing to shop at Tarvyn’s:
• I’m not really supporting this "family planning" group. The Parent Company is.
Let’s take a closer look at all this. Seyton Baalson Inc. obviously is not allowed to print their own money; much of their income must come from profits made at their stores. Their stores receive their profits from you and others who shop there. So, you give to Tarvyn’s, they provide for Seyton Baalson, who in turn passes off some of these profits as a donation to this "family planning" group. Therefore, although you may be a perfectly unwilling party, part of your hard-earned money is being used to help the "family planning" group. By shopping at Tarvyn’s you unwittingly help to finance abortions.
• But they said the money is directed elsewhere. It's not for abortions.
True. The money actually donated by the Parent Company is not intended to go towards abortions. But you can see what any business person would see here: this supposed redirection of donations now frees up other funds in the "family planning" group—not nickels and dimes, you understand, but tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars—to make their abortion mills run cheaper and more efficiently. It’s like someone supporting the Nazi Party in Germany before World War II saying, "I’ll give you my money as long as you promise not to use it for building any of those concentration camps."
So, in effect, although on paper the donated money may never see the inside of an Abortion Clinic, in reality there are X amount of extra abortions every year thanks to this gracious gift.
• What can the 15 dollars a week I spend there really do? It’s practically insignificant!
This statement may remind one of the poster on which is drawn dozens of little men and women each with a sad face, each one thinking, "What can one person do?" One person cannot do much, that is true, but think of it on the larger scale. Suppose just 250,000 Christians vowed to spend their 15 dollars a week elsewhere. That would be 250,000 x 15 dollars, or 3.75 million dollars a week. That works out to be well over 150 million dollars a year; 150 million dollars lost by the Company! Those numbers are enough to stand any business exec’s ears on end and perhaps change the direction of some of their donations.
And, ultimately, Our Lord isn’t concerned about how "practically insignificant" your contribution appears. His concerns are: Are you being a wise steward? Are you being responsible with what little He has given you?
• If I shopped only at places I knew to be Christian, there would be hardly anywhere to shop! Who knows where this boycotting would stop?
Nobody is asking anyone to shop only at Christian establishments; that would be ludicrous (And sometimes foolish. Not all Christian businesses are conducted with integrity. A fish on a business card does not always mean quality, unfortunately.) The question here is Should Christians support businesses which are clearly anti–Christian? Not non–Christian, anti–Christian. Do you see the subtle difference? There are a lot of newspapers, TV shows, magazines, restaurants, department stores, etc. which are spiritually innocuous; that is, they neither intentionally give glory to nor intentionally blaspheme God. Those businesses aren’t the issue here. The problem comes when certain companies blatantly act against God’s Law in an almost defiant and unabashed way with what was your money. Shouldn’t we as Christians make a stand against their attitude by not doing business with them?
• Boycotting is such a strong-armed tactic; it’s so... political.
If "boycotting" is too strong a word, then call it by a different name. Call it "smart shopping." You will shop or support or buy from companies which are not anti–God, anti–Family or anti–Life. That is your right as a consumer. This is neither political nor strong-armed. From a Christian’s point of view, it is sensible and wise.
• Boycotting also hurts the people who are employed by these companies; Tarvyn’s employees for example.
This is true to an extent, unfortunately. But those numbers are miniscule compared to the millions who are degraded, hurt, or killed each year via abortion, pornography, and violence. The intent of a boycott is that these corporations become more responsible with their money by not using it in an anti-Christian manner. Once they have backed down from their anti-Christian shenanigans, then shop there again, or eat there again, or buy their newspapers or magazines again.
One more thing here: Let’s say that you decide to shop somewhere other than Tarvyn’s because of a sale. Would you really first take into consideration the hardships that those Tarvyn’s employees might experience because of your choice? If not, then why is there now a sudden concern? You probably consider taking advantage of the sale "smart shopping." Isn’t boycotting "smart shopping," too?
SUMMARY
1. It is your right as an American to shop where you want to.
2. It is your duty as a Christian to spend your money responsibly and wisely.
3. Boycotting is intended to make businesses more responsible with the money they have received from the American public.
4. Boycotting is not intended against non-Christian companies. It is meant only against those which are blatantly anti–God, anti–Life, and/or anti–Family.
5. Boycotting is not intended to hurt employees anymore than normal, smart shopping is.
6. Boycotting is an opportunity for Christians who say they want to do the Lord’s will to extend their zeal into the financial part of their lives.
If enough Christians work together in this, perhaps there would be less violence and illicit sex on TV, less pornography at the corner market, fewer abortions in our country, and more responsible human beings in control of the nation’s economy.
If you are interested in boycotting it is important that you not merely change stores or fast food places. The people in charge must be aware that you have changed because of their offensive, anti–Christian policies. It is imperative that the parent corporations receive a letter or telephone call from you. In love, explain why it is you have exercised your right not to spend your money with them. It doesn’t take a great expenditure of time and energy and it may be your one call or letter that pushes them into a reconsideration. Every other special interest group in America cries "foul" when they are offended?
Why are we, the children of the Living God, the Silent Ones?
Sword & Spirit Ministries
P.O. Box 712 • Murrieta, CA 92564
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