In 1996 the AFA join by the Southern Baptist Convention led a boycott of all things Disney according to the AFA ”the Disney boycott was about raising issues that were of concern to AFA”. If you remember the issue that sparked the boycott was Disney Worlds “Gay Day” and the obvious smaller issues promoting a “homosexual agenda”. According to the AFA President Tim Wildmon “Boycotts have always been a last resort for us at AFA”, but if you Google “AFA Boycott” I believe you will be surprised by how many boycotts pop onto your browser. Now the AFA is at it again. Ford Motor Company is being boycotted for its advertising in a gay and lesbian magazine, and don’t forget the Alabama 10 commandments thing.
I have decided today to boycott, boycotts. I have several reasons for my decision that I will list below, but I would love to hear any insight you might have concerning such an issue.
#1 — It’s not our instruction.
In Romans 12 and 13, and 1st Peter 2 and 3 we are instructed in how to deal with the world around us. We are told to submit every human institution because this brings God glory. We are told when we do what is right and we suffer for it to patiently endure it, for this finds favor with God. Don’t pay back evil for evil, and don’t forget “Vengeance is Mine I will repay,” says the Lord. Romans 14 tells us love is the fulfillment of the law. What are we saying to the world when we boycott?
#1 — It’s not our fight
If the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through prayer then why do we use worldly means to try and make our point? If we wrestle not with flesh and blood then why are we constantly proclaiming war on something fleshly? When Christ said my kingdom is not of this world, for if it where my servants would be fighting, was he just talking about the 12 disciples? Our fight is not with the homosexuals, the atheist, the ACLU, or (insert pet sin organization here). If we are fighting a spiritual battle then we need to use spiritual weaponry. A boycott is a worldly way of making a point, so why are we using worldly methods.
#1 –It’s not our calling.
Not matter how much money we cost Disney, Ford, Proctor and Gamble or Budweiser we are not going to bring them one inch closer to Christ. Our call is not to make the world moral. That is an impossible task, and one that Christ never intended us to do. Making America moral is pointless. It may make our Christian lives slightly easier, but it does nothing toward accomplishing the purpose God has given us. We are called, as Christians, not to make the world more moral, but to reconcile people to Christ. We are Christ’s ambassadors for such a purpose. In 1996 when the AFA and the Southern Baptist boycotted Disney because of Gay Day why didn’t we send a few million Southern Baptist to Disneyworld with bibles and tracks? Pass out free bottled water to the gays, and say, “Hey man/woman we really do care about your soul.” Nope instead we said “your bad and I’m good, so I am not going to have anything to do with you.” I am still trying to find how the “Love the sinner hate the sin” motto fit into that scenario. Why are we asking a secular company to act like Christians? They are acting like lost people, which is ok. They are supposed to act that way. Why are we surprised when Ford advertises in a Gay/Lesbian magazine? They are trying to sell cars and they don’t care what their beliefs are. In fact Ford is one of the largest advertisers to Christian radio. I would consider support for any effort the para church AFA wants to make in reconciling people to Christ, but I will not support a boycott. In fact I am boycotting boycotts.
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36 year old husband, father, pastor, singer, musician, reader, eater, rider, watcher,
When Christians start getting angry and fight the world for being worldly, they are essentially communicating a message that says morality is the most important thing. Eventually the gospel gets put aside in situations like this.
I am of the belief that Christians who try to force unbelievers to act like believers through the rule of law are promoting a false gospel – one based upon works.
1 Corinthians 5 is one of the best passages for this debate. Paul excoriates the Corinthian church for their acceptance of a church member who is committing adultery with his stepmother. Paul tells them in no uncertain terms that the man should be chucked out of the church. He then goes on to argue for them “not to associate with sexually immoral people” – but then qualifies it by saying:
…not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler–not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
So if a Christian is commiting an awful sin, Paul says you come down on him/her like a ton of bricks. But if you see an unbeliever committing an awful sin… hey, what can you do? You’re not responsible for that guy – except having the responsibility of telling him the gospel…
Some tricksters came to my son’s school and gave the kids a bible each. He showed me so I thought I might as well read and see what the fuss is about.
So, first thing this bible does is list Jesus lineage from David down to Joseph, his dad. Then it says his mum was given Jesus by the holy spirit or whatever and Joseph had nothing to do with it!
So within three pages this book, which millions of people profess dedication to, has well and truly screwed itself. You’d think that after 2000 years they’d have sorted out the glaring errors.
I have a dear Christian friend who worked directly with Michael Eisner, the once infamous head of Disney. When the boycott was announced, my friend had to cringe, because the whole thing placed a major stumbling block in front of his witness to Eisner and the others on his staff. Worse still was the testimony my friend had with Eisner’s children, who at the time actually had an interest in my friend’s Christianity. It took him a good while to earn back his credibility with them as a Christian believer. In their minds, if Christians are nothing but bigoted haters, how is Christianity any different from any other goofy religion?
Fred
I don’t think boycotts are always a bad thing. Money talks, and they can sometimes be an effective way to get things changed. It’s not about looking down my nose at a secular corporation, wagging my finger and shouting “Be as good as me!” Rather, I think what the AFA does comes from a sincere, loving concern for the harm that sin brings to our communities. Yes, we are to “turn the other cheek” when evil is done to us. But when we see evil being done to others (i.e. the culture at large), love demands that we step in and do something. “Let us do good to all people” (Galations 6:10). Isn’t doing right more important than worrying about what the world will think of us?
Your third point is the best. It would indeed be entirely possible to have a “moral,” yet utterly lost country if all these boycotts were successful.
On the other hand, boycotts and financing are not necessarily a bad thing. While I will not be participating in the Ford boycott(I already own two old Fords, and some parts are only available at the dealership; what can I do?), I can see a certain reasoning in AFA’s stance: activist homosexuals are aggressively trying through various means to legitimize their behavior and criminalize criticism, especially biblically-based criticism; money fuels their efforts and publications; Ford gives them money (advertising dollars and donations) and support; therefore to support Ford is effectively to support our own muzzling.
You have to take that sort of thing into account, too.
And Simon, the issue you raise has been dealt with by more commentators than I can count, I think, and you reveal only that your investigation has been surface-level. If someone were to conduct no more thorough an investigation into your own beliefs, would you not be disappointed in such an effort?
If their “boycott” info was all they put forth it would not be as bad but there is always that donation item right along with them. Provide boycott info but without the pleas for money. It sets up a double standard. If you’re interested in the cause, just state it without requesting money at the same time.
If we were able to get every politician, every company, and person in the U.S.A. to strive to abide by, and uphold God’s moral laws, and yet not repent and submit their lives to Him so what?
This country has nothing on 1st Century Rome in regards to debauchery, and yet I find so little about fighting that debauchery in any way other than one life at a time in subjection to Christ in Scripture.
I wonder why?
Do not decieve yourself into thinking that they did not have political lobbiests and such just like today.
Spend less time lobbying and boycotting and more time worshiping, teaching and evangelizing I say.
It is simply amazing how much time and effort people will spend boycotting. But when it comes to standing up for sound doctrine and spreading the gospel and just gaining a better understanding of their faith through studying Scripture, they simply don’t want to exert themselves.
Since I own two Ford vehicles, I guess I am already boycotting the boycott.
leec wrote:
“If we were able to get every politician, every company, and person in the U.S.A. to strive to abide by, and uphold God’s moral laws, and yet not repent and submit their lives to Him so what?”
The “so what” is that maybe we could lessen the pain and suffering that our sinful cutlure is causing in families and individuals. I’m all for evangelism; I go out with some friends to share the gospel twice a month. But evangelism is not our ONLY calling. We are also called to do good whenever we can (Galatians 6:10) out of Christian love. If we make evangelism our only calling, we are essentially saying, “If my neighbor’s marriage is falling apart because of pornography, I am not morally bound to help him until he becomes a Christian”. That’s not biblical.
Cedric, I we do have a moral obligation to do good. However, our mandate is to love our nieghbor. Ford, no matter much you stretch the translation, is not my neighbor. Boycotting and helping someone with a sin problem are not the same thing.
I have a friend whose family doesn’t patron Starbucks, because of his son’s request. He had an issue with some of the quotes on the cups concerning homosexuality and the fact that they seemingly had no Christians giving cup quotes. I have no issue with their decision to do that. I have some similar situations of my own. If he ever comes to me trying to organize a Starbucks boycott or asks me to protest outside of Starbucks I won’t support that.
Why? Because it does not help my Christian witness. It is not the example Christ set in scripture, and it does no good to anyone but the people organizing the boycott. It in no way fullfills our call to reconcile people to Christ. All it does is place a standard on a company that is impossible to meet.
“leec wrote:
“If we were able to get every politician, every company, and person in the U.S.A. to strive to abide by, and uphold God’s moral laws, and yet not repent and submit their lives to Him so what?”
The “so what” is that maybe we could lessen the pain and suffering that our sinful cutlure is causing in families and individuals. I’m all for evangelism; I go out with some friends to share the gospel twice a month. But evangelism is not our ONLY calling. We are also called to do good whenever we can (Galatians 6:10) out of Christian love. If we make evangelism our only calling, we are essentially saying, “If my neighbor’s marriage is falling apart because of pornography, I am not morally bound to help him until he becomes a Christian”. That’s not biblical.”
I nowhere meant to imply not to help them, but if you give someone whose marriage is falling apart due to pornography any answer beyond the Gospel are you really helping them? Their problem is enslavement to sin.
What if you could give them the world on a platter and heal all their illnesses but not tell them they are going to spend eternity seperated from God?
Certainly we are to do all we can to help others and not just say “Be warm and be filled” but the Gospel is what changes the world, not social activism on its own.
Boycotting does nothing really but show aggression against people. It is judgmental in a way that we are not called to be. We need to remove the leven from amognst ourselves.
I boycott Ford b/c Chevy, not Ford, is the official sponsor of Third Day’s latest tour.
I don’t think boycotts are always a bad thing. Money talks, and they can sometimes be an effective way to get things changed. It’s not about looking down my nose at a secular corporation, wagging my finger and shouting “Be as good as me!” Rather, I think what the AFA does comes from a sincere, loving concern for the harm that sin brings to our communities. Yes, we are to “turn the other cheek” when evil is done to us. But when we see evil being done to others (i.e. the culture at large), love demands that we step in and do something. “Let us do good to all people” (Galations 6:10). Isn’t doing right more important than worrying about what the world will think of us?
“But when we see evil being done to others, love demands that we step in and do something”
First, Cedric, I think you are missing the point here. What do you mean that love demands it? Did not Jesus rebuke Peter when he stepped in and did something as Jesus was being arrested? And Jesus was innocent! And what about Paul at the end of Romans 12 and beginning of 13?
17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.
18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
20 Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
This is not acceptance, but rather love.
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
I wonder where boycotts fit into this?
1 ¶ Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
Hello, Nero? Really?
2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.
4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.
5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake.
6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing.
7 ¶ Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
I cannot recall any passage in the Bible that says love means to defend those you love from the evil doers in a worldly sense. Consider Peter’s message.
13 And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?
14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
16 ¶ having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.
Good conduct, not defensive conduct. God doesn’t say “Be moral” but rather to “Be Holy”. God changes man, not laws, not boycotts, not demanding defensive action from love. God instructs us to fill the physical needs of our enemies so that they may see our good conduct and become the friends of God. God is love. Love you neighbor? Give him God. Morals are not love.
I say we boycott people who support and businesses that employ illegal aliens. That would be a helpful boycott.