Is boycotting a good thing?

In the midst of a busy week of studying and working a train of thought has popped into my mind that hasn’t yet stopped.   That train of thought is…what value does a boycott have?

 

For some background, I recently took part in a boycott of McDonalds per the request of Don Wildemon and the American Family Association (visit their homepage at www.afa.net) and much to my surprise, the boycott seemed to work.    The requests (conditions) made by AFA were met and once again AFA members and/or supporters are ingesting the superior junk food of McDonalds.  

 

(For most of the details behind AFA’s boycott: McDonalds joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), Richard Ellis, a leading McDonalds Executive sat on the board for NGLCC, McDonalds donated $20,000 to the cause, and when AFA applied pressure Mr. Ellis stated that those opposed to the homosexual agenda were “hate driven.”  These details do not include past actions of McDonalds on behalf of gay activism, which includes sponsoring “Gay Pride” parades in San Francisco) 

 

I must admit to being quite surprised by the success of the boycott.  In the past, I have always been somewhat skeptical of their effects and value, but it seemed that principle was at stake here so I took part in the McDonalds boycott willingly, albeit, somewhat skeptically.  Needless to say, I felt like a million when McDonald’s backed down and took a neutral position on the issue. 

 

A couple days ago I received another “Action Alert” from AFA containing this information and statement.

 

PepsiCo gives $500,000 to promote the gay agenda in workplace

 

November 14, 2008

Dear Friend,

Pepsi has given Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) a half-million dollars to help push the homosexual agenda in the workplace. PFLAG is a political advocacy group that promotes radical homosexual political causes like same-sex marriage, hate-crime laws, and gay adoption.

Pepsi has a long tradition of financial support for homosexual groups. According to Jacqueline Millan, director of PepsiCo Corporate Contributions, "We are delighted to continue our partnership with PFLAG...(in) promoting the necessary message of inclusion to untapped groups...and that is a crucial step toward building a healthy working environment."

Despite the fact that 30 states have passed constitutional amendments defining marriage as being between a man and a woman, Pepsi continues to support the efforts by same-sex groups pushing for homosexual marriage.

AFA wrote Pepsi on October 14 and again on October 29 asking the company to remain neutral in the culture war. Pepsi didn't care enough to respond to the AFA letters. Pepsi's lack of response indicates the company plans to continue support for the homosexual agenda.

 

What do y’all think?  Do the actions of Pepsi-Cola justify a boycott?

 

My gut reaction is to say absolutely yes for the following reasons.   

 

1. Without having done any detailed research to determine exactly what activities PFLAG sponsors and participates in, it appears that they are your standard issue gay rights extremist (emphasis on extremist).

 

2. $500,000 is A BUNCH of money!  Do you know what a cash strapped pro-life advocacy group could do with that much money?   The answer is a whole lot.

 

3. Of particular concern, their advocacy of "hate crimes" is just another way of implementing “anti-discrimination” laws that would severely penalize (i.e. discriminate against) companies, organizations, perhaps even churches that “discriminate” against gays for religious reasons.  Regardless of what your position is on the marriage issue, it is one thing to legalize it and another to say that you can’t refuse to hire gay employees for religious reasons.

 

4. If it (a boycott) worked once, why won’t it work again?  A concentration of attention on one single corporate entity such as McDonald’s or corporate conglomerate like Pepsi-Cola is bound (and in the case of McDonald’s did) to effect them in the pocket book, and that’s where they smart the most.  As a matter of information, AFA has also led a mostly successful boycott against Wal-Mart.

 

5. We can’t stay neutral in the culture war while our opposition works ‘round the clock.  

 

The reality of things is that one organization like AFA, or even several, cannot boycott the corporate monetary foundation out from under gay activists all at once.   A quick scan of PFLAG's sponsors uncludes  such corporate giants as IBM, Wells Fargo, Best Buy, Ford (my favorite truck!!!), Comcast, JP Morgan Chase, and Orbitz.  These are just some of their sponsors; the Pepsi-Cola corporate conglomerate itself includes brands such as Frito Lay, Quaker Oats, Gatorade, and Tropicana.  But, just because you can’t fight all the battles at once doesn’t mean you can’t do what you can when you can as you can.   As stated in point 5, inaction is never a match for action as they relate to culture wars, and as mentioned in point 4, concentrated effort is much more likely to succeed then less well organized efforts, and if you can start fighting and winning one at a time you will move steadily towards your goal (you just might not get their as fast as you would prefer).    

 

Part of the logic behind boycotting is to make people understand that actions have consequences.   If the only actions that have consequences are those actions in support of gay “activism” (which I would like to say is not always wrong) and the actions that don’t have consequences are those in opposition to the pro-family agenda, then what actions do you think are going to be taken?  

 

Anyway, I could go on and on but I think this is a good start.   Boycotting is actually a very interesting issue when you start thinking big picture and very similar to military actions from a strategy standpoint (I love military history).   How do you effectively boycott?   How does timing come into play, or does it?  How do you best martial the resources available?  Who or what do you go take action against first? What deserves first priority?  Most importantly, what do I hope to accomplish?  What is the vision motivating my actions…or do I have one?  

 

The list of questions could go on…     

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts if you would like to leave them in the comments.  For those reading this post who may not know me well; please don’t assume I believe anything that I didn’t say. :-)  I am quite prepared to defend my beliefs, but I am not necessarily prepared to defend what I don’t believe.

 

God bless and veritas supra omnis!     

P.S. If you see two posts dealing with the same subject (still learning the ropes here :-) only pay attention to the one that was posted first.