Might I suggest stepping back, reading, and thinking a bit? Here's Albert Mohler's two cents on the topic:
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It
is always important for Christians to think very seriously about the moral and
worldview implications of how we operate in the economy as consumers, as
economic agents. The most recent flashpoint for that discussion comes as the
retailer Target has announced that it will be the first major corporation to
have a policy on bathrooms. And, in this case, it is a very wide open policy
stating publicly that the corporation expects to allow anyone to choose to use
any bathroom based upon their own self-perceived gender identity. On its own
website, Target announced that it is,
“…continuing to stand for
inclusivity.
“So earlier this week, we reiterated
with our team members where Target stands and how our beliefs are brought to
life in how we serve our guests.
“Inclusivity is a core belief at
Target. It’s something we celebrate. We stand for equality and equity, and
strive to make our guests and team members feel accepted, respected and
welcomed in our stores and workplaces every day.”
But
the statement from Target on its corporate website goes on to cite the very
kind of legislation that we previously discussed in terms of Donald Trump when
the company states,
“Target supports the federal
Equality Act, which provides protections to LGBT individuals, and opposes
action that enables discrimination.”
Now
when you look at those words carefully and consider the context and the syntax
of that sentence, it’s very clear that this is a corporate statement opposed to
any definition of religious liberty that would in any way be considered
discriminatory by anyone on the LGBT spectrum. Furthermore, it puts this
company in the position of making very clear moral judgments.
Now
that’s really important when you consider the Wall Street Journal and
another article with the headline,
“Big Business Speaks Up on Social
Issues.”
Mark
Peters and Rachel Emma Silverman have written this article together in which
they document the rather astounding revolution whereby American corporations,
and especially America’s largest corporations, now have decided that it is in
their corporate interest to crusade upon certain moral issues, certain social
questions. And the fact that this is such a revolution is what explains the
story on the front page of a section of the Wall Street Journal. As
Peters and Silverman report,
“Companies used to avoid hot-button
social issues, fearing that any strong stance could alienate customers and staff.
Now, executives say it is far more risky to stay silent on issues such as gay
rights.”
Now
as I began, this raises a host of issues about how Christians should operate
faithfully in an economic context. The first thing we need to recognize is that
we are economic agents. That’s a part at least of what it means to be made in
the image of God. And wherever you have human beings you will have transactions
being made. Adam Smith pointed out in the most fundamental work on economics in
human history that that’s necessary, because eventually, if you put two people
together in a community, one values or needs something the other has and is
willing to offer something else in exchange. That at its very essence is an
economy, and thus it is laden with moral importance from the very beginning.
Nothing we do in an economic world is not connected in some way to a basic
moral question. And yet we’re also, we remind ourselves secondly, living in a
fallen world in which there is no perfect economy and there is no perfect economic
stance from which to operate without some complicity in larger moral questions
in the economy.
That
gets to the third issue, and that is this: when Christians are thinking very
carefully about how to be faithful as Christians in an economy, we do so
knowing that we have choices we can make, but we do not have the choice of not
being economic participants. So many Christians are asking the question, should
we now boycott Target? Just judging from an historical perspective, oftentimes
boycotts do not work. They are far easier to declare than to carry out, and
even when they are carried out they sometimes do not have the effect that was
intended when the boycott was organized and declared.
Now
this doesn’t mean that an individual economic action is unimportant. It does
affirm the fact that as Christians are considering where we will do business
and where we will not, there are a multiplicity of issues that complicate the
question. But the bottom line is, would we spend money in a corporation, in a
shop, in a store or restaurant, in any kind of business where that business
might be publicly not only not allied with our convictions, but perhaps even
publicly stating opposition to them?
Now
once again, this isn’t as easy as it might appear. Because if you’re
considering Target making this announcement, it could be—and we’ll have to look
at this much closer—that Target is merely stating publicly, perhaps for its own
publicity, what other corporations are actually doing more covertly or quietly.
One of the issues that is raised by the Wall Street Journal article is
the seeming inevitability of most American corporations, especially publicly
traded corporations that are active in the stock market, from inevitably
turning in the same direction. It’s a question of when, not if.
Christians
will indeed decide if they want to do business with Target, knowing that Target
has now targeted our own convictions in terms of the company’s website. But we
will also have to be honest in understanding that there are other companies
that are going to fall in exactly the same line, and we’ll get there perhaps
sooner even rather than later. And furthermore, there are other companies that
may be participating in things that we would also oppose of which we are not
aware. That again doesn’t mean that the boycott is wrong. It does point to the
fact that boycotts often just don’t work, because as the economy moves, people
move on and the boycott becomes something of a forgotten history.
Christians have to understand that in a fallen world, every
aspect of an economy is fallen, and that means that there is no safe place to
stand, there is no safe business in which to shop. Even if we know the owner of
the shop and we know how he or she organizes the business, there’s a supply
chain behind and a web of relationships beyond. That doesn’t mean this isn’t
important. It does mean that it is complex, and you can’t reduce faithfulness
to something as easy as the question of boycott, yes or no?
Should Christians
boycott Target? That’s a question that I do not believe has an answer. Should
you boycott Target? That is a matter for your Christian conscience. Those are
two separate issues, and it is the second question that should have priority
for individual Christians.
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The above was taken from his daily "The Briefing" podcast dated April 26, 2016, linked here.
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