Sears Scandal: Posters Worthy of Boycott?

There is no question that the graphic posters which can be found being sold on Sears.com are offensive and should be removed. I don't believe any of us realized that we could go to a department store retail website and find that kind of adult material, images that are usually only found on websites that will leave your computer flickering with a disastrous virus. The company's PR response to the recent objections was to basically say that they seek to give customers what they want and don't feel that the posters fall outside the company guidelines.

This is extremely disappointing. However, it brings up a question that people tend to debate about: as Christians which companies and for which reasons should we choose to boycott?

Some people are willing to boycott the store until it has removed the products from the website. Others complain that such a conviction should then apply to any store that sells such material such as gas stations and many others. Others go so far as to say that search engines such as Google would also need to be banned because they can lead to those products as well with the right combination of search terms.

It's hard to decide when to apply restrictions based on personal convictions to merchants who engage in immoral activities. Most companies nowadays also have factories or buy from factories overseas who have their work completed through child labor. Others indirectly support abortion or discrimination in some way.

It would be nice as a body of Christ to be self-sufficient and not need to rely on stores of the world to sell food, clothing, etc. I would imagine that we would all need to be Amish to live that life though. I would agree that as Christians we need to make stands against companies so that they can be held accountable for their actions and have reason to correct them. I guess though that the only rule that can be applied is that when we are personally convicted by the Spirit to boycott that we are then to be obedient. In which case, it would seem that all of us will take part at some point in our lives considering there are so many causes to take action against.

Oswald Chambers: The Teaching of Disillusionment

"Jesus did not commit Himself to them...for He knew what was in man" - John 2:24-25

"Refusing to be disillusioned is the cause of much of the suffering of human life. And this is how that suffering happens - if we love someone, but do not love God, we demand total perfection and righteousness from that person, and when we do not get it we become cruel and vindictive; yet we are demanding of a human being something which he or she cannot possibly give. There is only one Being who can completely satisfy to the absolute depth of the hurting human heart, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord is so obviously uncompromising with regard to every human relationship because He knows that every relationship that is not based on faithfulness to Himself will end in disaster. Our Lord trusted no one, and never placed His faith in people, yet He was never suspicious or bitter. Our Lord's confidence in God, and in what God's grace could do for anyone, was so perfect that He never despaired, never giving up hope for any person. If our trust is placed in human beings, we will end up despairing of everyone." - Oswald Chambers - My Utmost For His Highest

I have found this to be exactly true in life. I have known many people to be extremely disappointed when someone they have trusted falls short of their expectations. It makes it difficult to trust anyone again. Others have lost faith in God as a result of the sin of a church leader.

Judicial Activism - Proposition 8

As having sat on a jury once before in a criminal case, I can see where it would be difficult to remain objective in all cases as a judge because at certain times there would arise a case in which the subject matter is personal. This shouldn't ever be a problem though because a judge or juror that comes into this situation is allowed to recuse his or herself.

The issue seems to be that many judges nowadays are using their authority to promote their subjective views and biases. For example, California Federal Judge Walker decided to overturn the vote of the people to declare marriage as the union between one man and one woman. Even though the judge is a practicing homosexual, and therefore, would personally benefit from this decision, he chose not to recuse himself.

Besides the obvious problems with the decision, it also undermines the power given to the people through the process of voting. What is the point of spending two hours in line to vote on propositions and amendments if the collective decision of the people will be ignored?