Vote With Your Money - A Christian Idea?
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
"Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels." - II Timothy 2:23
I
struggle with how much I should delve into politics publicly. A lot of
that is practical. I get beaten down by some of my Facebook friends
who always have their nose in the latest hot button issue, and I don't
want to be That Guy. I'm also looking for a job, and it's probably not
in my best interest to seem like the outspoken politico - The Bullhorn
Guy, to borrow an image.
Mostly,
though, it's about how down and dirty I'm willing to get for what I
believe. I've always been very interested in politics. My political
opinions are ever evolving, and I love to discuss them with people who
are willing to think critically about the issues. Those sort of
conversations seem to be few and far between - most of the time when I
read political discussion, people are yelling past each other, indignant
that anybody could possibly take the other side. It's a microcosm of
the public part of elections that we've always known. The Republican
primary for the US Senate seat in Texas got particularly ugly
this year. I saw an ad yesterday that attacked the other guy for how
many attack ads he'd run. I wish I were making that up. I have friends
who have washed their hands of the political process, and it's easy to
see why, but I (perhaps naively) want to believe that there's something
to be redeemed from the free exchange of ideas on policy.
It's difficult to hold on to that faith when we start arguing about fast food restaurants.
I
realize that Chick-fil-a is just a symbol for a larger issue that's
currently at the forefront of our "culture wars," so I'll grant that
characterizing it as a fight over fried chicken is a bit reductive.
Still, it's pretty clear to me that we've collectively lost the plot.
Are we ready to start pledging allegiance to certain corporate entities
because of the belief systems of their chief executives? (There's a
Supreme Court decision in here that I'm tempted to speak out about, but
that will wait.) I'm reminded of an email that circulated in the days
before Facebook, where recipients (presumably Christians; I've always
wondered if agnostics circulated similar messages. "If you don't believe
there's a God, pass this on or you'll make him cry.") were urged to
boycott all Procter & Gamble products, as the CEO had publicly
stated that he donates a portion of the huge company's products to the
Church of Satan. Like 98% of these emails, it was patently false, and I
don't know a single person that actually abstained from using any
P&G merchandise. The message was clear, though: This person
(company) is capital-W Wrong, and we are voting with our money. The
reverse is happening now. The Other Side (This bothers me more than
anything - somehow this has turned into a Christian vs. non-Christian
battle, as if all Christians are in agreement on this issue) calls for a
boycott, so today is "Support Chick-fil-a Day." Vote
with your money.
This
misses the point, in my opinion. My faith tradition is very much into
going back to the roots of the early church, or so we say. As it happens, the early church had the deck stacked against them. Yes, they believed
in changing the world, but it was a grassroots movement, lived out on
the margin of society. It was a radical reimagining of living community
as an expression of God's love for his people. The idea that we have
to grab as much power as we can so we can force the unbeliever to live
like us is distinctly American, and I don't think there's much, if any,
Biblical support for it.
I
don't believe it's my Christian duty to coerce anybody into faithless
orthopraxy. I believe it's my Christian duty to share Christ's love
with the world. I believe it's my Christian duty to love black and
white and brown, sinner and saint, rich and poor, divorced and happily
married, alien and stranger and native, male and female, gay and
straight. Not once in any of the debates I've witnessed over the last
few days have I seen anybody from either side question how our response
to the Chick-fil-a issue shows love to homosexual people, and that's why
I don't believe it matters whether or not you're eating there. Boycott
it or don't. Vote with your money or don't. But please let's not
pretend that any of it has anything to do with our noble intentions or
our willingness to Contend for the Faith. All I can think about when it
comes to Chick-fil-a is that I have failed to love all of God's people.
I have used hurtful language, sometimes directly to gay people. I
have argued that certain people shouldn't have certain rights based on
their sexuality. I have failed to speak on this issue in a graceful
manner, and I have wrongly justified myself for doing so based on my
faith. I don't want to fail in these departments any longer, and this
Chick-fil-a business has little, if anything, to do with that. I have to believe that following Jesus is a little harder - and more meaningful - than making a politically charged lunchtime decision.
I
don't mean to tell any Christians that they can't support or boycott
Chick-fil-a. If that's how you imagine your faith or your political
beliefs being lived out in the world, then go for it. However, consider
doing this: whenever you think about whether or not you're going to
enjoy some delicious fried chicken in the near future, take a moment to
also think about what actions you're going to take to love a gay person
that day.
Labels: Politics, Theology | 1 Comments
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