If you truly are a committed Christian,
let me suggest this New Year’s resolution: In the year 2015, cease to financial
support corporations, publications and investment establishments that blatantly
blaspheme the Biblical worldview (i.e., traditional marriage, pro-life, right
to self-defense, free enterprise, etc.).
This will not be easy; but what serious resolution is? It will take time to identify your core
values and see how these companies stack-up with your sacred causes; but you’ve
got the whole year ahead of you!
Last year, I began to stop providing
profit to companies I once enjoyed (like Starbucks … who are liberal on every
measure of conservative values). As much
as I like coffee, I won’t give them a cent!
It doesn’t mean I gave up coffee; I just sought and found alternative
options that are less leaning liberal. I’ve
continued my discernment with a host of other industries. If more Christians were to follow suit, it
might well awake these profit-making companies to cease to besmirch people of Christian
character.
Let me just sight one example that
you might consider ceasing to support – Amazon.
If you were to visit Amazon’s
philanthropy page (AmazonSmile) claims that customers can choose to donate
one-half of one percent of their purchase to charitable organizations of
virtually any political stripe … as long as their views are approved by the
Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). AmazonSmile’s
general manager Ian McAllister told the Seattle
Times that “Amazon prides itself on being customer-centric,” and has “structured
[AmazonSmile] to put customers in control, and we feel good about that
decision.” However, those customers
cannot give to any organization designated by the SPLC as a ‘hate group.’
“No one should rely on the SPLC’s inaccurate
and biased data,” says Family Research Council (FRC) Executive Vice President
Jerry Boykin. FRC was targeted by a
domestic terrorist on the basis of the SPLC’s data. “Concerns about SPLC’s lack of credibility
only continue to grow,” Boykin said. “The
FBI has removed links to the SPLC from its ‘hate crimes resources” page, and
the Department of Defense along with the U.S. Army have distanced themselves
from SPLC’s materials.” [I've written
several past blogs as it pertained to SPLC’s attack of Christians in the
military.] “Most disturbing of all is
the fact that the SPLC has been linked to domestic terrorism in federal court,”
Boykin added. SPLC’s critics have long
pointed to the difference between the SPLC’s definition of a hate group and the
FBI’s definition of a hate crime.
“What will Amazon do next, ban books
that it doesn’t agree with?” asked Dan Gainor, vice president of business and
culture at the Media Research Center. “It’s
shocking to see Jeff Bezos, who owns Amazon and The Washington Post, take a position that silences speech.”
Tell me: Will you join me in
standing up to these corporate entities that mock your convictions as
unacceptable? and who don’t give a second thought to funding the likes of Al
Sharpton (Chrysler, Continental Airlines, Macy’s, Honda, FedEx, Sam’s Club, GM,
Walmart, Chase, etc.)?
Whatever your New Year’s resolution,
do business with those who share your values and make sure you are not spending
your hard-earned dollars on causes you wouldn’t support on your own.
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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