Deck the Halls with pointless boycotts . . .

We were visiting some friends of ours in Chicago when I became a part of a familiar conversation. The family was discussing the Christmas shopping they had yet to do and while reviewing the stops to be made there was an unusual consideration: No stores from the Dobson list.

"The what?", I asked.

"The Dobson list."

"Oh."

Apparently, on Nov. 26th Dr. Dobson, of Focus on the Family, put out an annual list of popular retail stores and rates them on their forwardness of the word "Christmas" in their holiday propaganda. (http://listen.family.org/daily/A000000807.cfm) There are 4 categories to fall into. 2 categories (The Bad and the Ugly) are reserved for stores that marginally or completely eliminate the word Christmas from the store and website. The "Mixed Reviews" category has stores that have recently improved their appropriate verbiage but are still on probation. And finally, the "Good" category houses stores in which to spend your holiday dollars.

I remember back in the day when I was up in arms over this "attack on Christmas-America-puppies-and-all-we-hold-sacred". If you listen to the radio show (which I hope you do), you will get a sense that you are watching a claymation adventure where the fate of Christmas depends on the getting of the "Christmas" word back into the commercialization of the holiday. Otherwise, there will be no Christmas and all the children will cry. Dobson starts with a good example where Lowes had called Christmas Trees 'Family Trees'; which I think we all can agree is ridiculous. But as I continued to listen, each instance seemed to deter farther from the initial message. Santas being trained to say "He He He" instead of "Ho Ho Ho" is somehow a threat to the religious sacredness of our time honored holiday. Who knew?

I left this encounter with Dr. Dobson and my Chicago friends feeling like maybe we were missing something. Perhaps a greater mission for us all. A greater cause that celebrates Christ and what He stood for. So I decided to do some research into Dobsons list and make a few lists of my own:

First is the "We support Human Slavery and Trafficking Store" list.

Bath and Body Works*

Disney

Eddie Bauer

JC Penny*

Kohls

L.L. Bean*

Marshalls

Home Goods*

Sears*

Lands End

Toys R Us


*All stores on Dobson's "Good" list

These stores have been accused and convicted by US courts, more than once, for dire, inhumane conditions and practices associated with their stores and manufacturing. (See footnotes for sources).

My next list is the "Discriminating Workers Rights Violators" list:

Amazon.com*

Big Lots*

Dillards*

Home Depot*

Lowes

Macys*

Bloomingdales


* All stores on Dobson's "Good" list

These stores have a history of lawsuits in which they worked to prevent unions from forming, cancelling of pensions, poor working conditions, low wages, or discriminatory practices for their own employees.

It was pretty amazing to see the rap sheet that came with some of the most "Christmas" - y retailers. On the other hand, I also found plenty of retailers doing very good things. GAP inc. (not on the "Good" list), for instance had encountered some improper, sweatshop practices in their foreign facilities in 2002 and addressed it right away (San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 12, 2002) . Since then, they have been a forward force received awards for their humanitarian efforts and practices. For instance (in brief):

- In May 2004, Gap published its first social responsibility report that outlined a variety of labor violations, as well steps it is taking to remedy the problems. Executives reported that Gap was taking “concrete, constructive steps” to remedy the most common violations, including health and safety problems, as well as instances of forced and coerced labor. The report also detailed other aspects of Gap’s social responsibility practices, including community giving and volunteerism Source: Ethical Corporation, May 14, 2004
- Starting in February 2005 hundreds of Gap employees displaced for three months by extensive Colorado store remodelings are being farmed out by the company - with pay - to volunteer at local nonprofits. Source: The Denver Post, Dec. 22, 2004
- According the the Los Angeles Times, "Gap is now viewed as a leader in the small but growing corporate movement to improve conditions for some of the world's most exploited workers." Source: Los Angeles Times, Jan 17, 2005
- In April 2004 UNITE and Gap announced that they will support an effort by displaced garment workers in El Salvador to open that country's first independent and fully unionized apparel export factory. Source: CSRwire
- The Gap has agreed to stop using leather from India, where cows are said to face cruel treatment despite their sacred status. Source: Reuters, May 31, 2000
- Gap is doubling their employees’ contributions for tsunami relief through GlobalGiving, a global internet portal acting as an 'E-Bay' for social and economic growth of developing countries that has dedicated web space for relief and reconstruction within the tsunami disaster zone. Source: CSRWire
- In September 2004, after the devastation left by Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan, the Gap Foundation pledged $50,000 to the American Red Cross to aid its disaster relief efforts. Source: CSRWire
- The Gap achieved a score of 86 on the Human Rights Campaign 2004 Corporate Equality Index. Source: Human Rights Campaign
- Gap was one of the winners of the 16th Annual Business Ethics Awards, announced on December 13, 2004 by Business Ethics magazine. Specifically, Gap received the Social Reporting Award for “unprecedented honesty in reporting on factory conditions” in their 2004 Social Responsibility Report. Source: CSRWire
- In April 2004 Gap was accepted into membership in the Ethical Trading Initiative, an UK alliance promoting the implementation of international labour standards. ETI aims to ensure conditions for workers producing goods for the U.K. market meet or exceed international labor standards. Source: Ethical Corporation

GAP inc. is the corporate owner of Old Navy and Banana Republic which also made the "Bad" list. American Eagle Outfitters, L.L. Bean ("Good" list), Barnes & Noble ("Bad" list), Staples ("Ugly" list), Borders, and Target ("Mixed Reviews") also have received applause for their humanitarian advances and achievements. {Please note also, that Dobsons list remarks on those who have kicked charities like Salvation Army off their premises during the Christmas season, and this act needs to be considered when looking at a retailers approach to charity and humanitarian giving.} I feel that no corporation is free of its white collar crimes against humanity in the name of the Almighty Dollar. However, with a little research, you can begin to see the extremes that set (or lower) the bar.

Christians should be saying "Merry Christmas" and celebrating the birth of Christ unashamedly during this season. However, in directing your (commercialized) holiday dollars, I feel that Christ would have us consider our fellow man and support, as best we can, those who are lining up more with the bigger message of Christ: Love Me and love others the same way with my love. (Matthew 22:37-40).

On the third hand, if you do not share my view of this critique and still hold to Dobson's calling for the renewal of linguistic religious favor, then consider this:

The point of a boycott is to sway corporate practice with our fiscal edge. We, the consumer, have the threat of alternate shopping venues with which to take our cash. So when you say: "Forget you, Bloomingdales and your pagan phonetics! I'm going to Macys where they uphold my religious culture on their signs and banners!", that you are actually shopping at the same company. These people will not falter one iota with your choosy consumer advocacy. This holds true equally for Marshalls ("Ugly" list) and Home Goods ("Good" list). I implore you, oh Knights of Christmas Present, do some research before spending your money in what you deem a 'responsibly Christian' manner.

So here was the kicker for me; two names on the "Good" list, Wal-Mart and Sams Club, are notorious human rights offenders. Not that I don't love Sam Walton, but somewhere along the way, his vision got lost in pile of lawsuits. I, personally, stay away from these places in regard to several pieces of Wal-Mart history. Like when a federal appeals court upheld a 2004 ruling giving a lawsuit on the discriminatory practices against female employees class action status, sanctioning claims from up to 1.5 million current and former staff. And just last year the retailer was ordered to pay at least $78m in compensation to workers after a court found it had broken the law by not paying staff for working during breaks. Wal-Mart stock was black-listed from the portfolio of a national pension fund, citing persistent human rights violations and it has also been ordered to pay $172m (£99m) in compensation to workers who were refused lunch breaks. Most recently, Wal-Mart has been hit with a class action lawsuit that claims it ignores sweatshop conditions at many of its suppliers' factories around the world. Its been filed in Los Angeles on behalf of 15 workers in Bangladesh, Swaziland, Indonesia, China and Nicaragua.Each claims they were paid less than the minimum wage and not given overtime payments. Some say they were beaten.

On the bright side, Subway has overtaken McDonald’s as Wal-Mart’s primary fast-food concessionaire across the US. Subway is now in 1,419 Wal-Marts compared with McDonald’s 1,021 outlets. As Wal-Mart struggles to cap rising health-care costs, it has singled out employee diets as a concern. This is a step in the right direction, but does it weigh much if you aren't giving your employees lunch breaks? Hmmmmmm.

I look at this and wonder if all of it is worth the price of seeing a "Merry Christmas" on display as retailers continue to use it and every other aspect of this season to commercialize a sacred Christian holiday.

But, perhaps it is an issue worth fighting for.

I think I will get around to it after I finish holding corporations accountable for their support of human slavery to support lower prices and bottom lines.

I pray that God will show us how He brought peace on earth and good will to men. I pray that we won't look for it in a slogan that we approve. I pray that we have not reduced the inclusion of Christ in our Christmas to the presence or absence of a retailers approval. I pray that we try not to be so appalled that non-religious companies lack religion any more than we would expect a non-believer to exemplify Christ. I pray that we know that we exemplify Christ, not by trying to make others like us, but by showing them their need for Christ by demonstrating how wonderful and life-changing He is.

I hope you all greet each other with Merry Christmas, but also carry Christ in your season in everything you do.

Merry Christmas, dear friends. Spend wisely.


Sources: (These are merely locations for the information I used. For a Bibliography of each location, just ask me and I will send you a copy of it and my notes on each company used in research for this blog)

http://www.knowmore.org/

http://www.labornotes.org/

www.labournet.net/
http://www.business-ethics.com/

Corp-Ethics - http://www.corp-ethics.com/

Calvert Social Index - http://www.calvert.com/sri_calvertindex.html

Ethical Corporation - http://www.ethicalcorp.com/

BKS Annual Report - http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/58840

Responsible Shopper - http://coopamerica.org/programs/rs/

Corporate Social Responsibility - http://www.csrwire.com/
Human Rights Campaign - http://www.hrc.org/
Clean Clothes Campaign, 01/08/2004 - www.cleanclothes.org/legal/04-01-08.htm
The Daily Record (Baltimore, MD), Aug. 9, 2002
Costa Times, Jun. 9, 2004
Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM), 10/01/2007 - http://www.sacom.hk/html/uploads/Tianyu%20Toys%20DISNEY%20Oct2007%20SA...
Citizens for Tax Justice, 09/01/2004 - www.ctj.org/corpfed04an.pdf
United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), 08/17/2005 - http://www.studentsagainstsweatshops.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=27
Organic Consumers Association, 09/23/2004 - www.organicconsumers.org/clothes/eddiebauer092704.cfm
San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 12, 2002
The Denver Post, Dec. 22, 2004
Los Angeles Times, Jan 17, 2005
Reuters, May 31, 2000
National Labor Committee - www.nlcnet.org/
Associated Press, 09/26/2005
New York City Comptroller Office, 02/24/2005 - http://www.comptroller.nyc.gov/
Amnesty International, 10/18/2004 - www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/AllDocsByUNID/354639808198ab08c1256f32002...
Chicago Sun-Times, Mar. 6, 2002
The San Francisco Chronicle, Jan.4, 2004
PETA, June 19, 2003

Ooooo, shiny!

I am writing this blog from my husband's new laptop. Its a Sony Vaio with Vista, Duel Processor, and a built in Mic and Camera. I like typing on this thing because:
A) I get to lounge
2) I can keep an eye on my mentally retarded cat and
d) I like the nifty noise it makes when I hit the keys.

You can say that I have a good case of the "pretty and shiny"s. I mean, who really cares about all this stuff. This computer can do more than I can figure out in a lifetime. It can out spell me and who can remember the last time they played solitaire with actual cards? Don't get me wrong; I have a perfectly good working computer sitting on my desk top. It was brand new 4 years ago which means that it might as well run on hamster wheels now. So this laptop is kind of my computer crush.
I never buy new clothes or music or decor or any of those things, so this is the newest appliance I have had the joy to encounter. For real people. I pray every morning to the gods of breakfast that the toaster won't die on me (this because my toaster is a hand-me-down from my grandmother. no shit.). So now I am enjoying the euphoria of the sleek little typing sound that makes me feel like I am in the middle of typing something really cool and important. And speaking of which, (tangent), I never know what to label posts like this. They give you a little box with which to "label" your post and then they give the clear examples of: scooters, vacation, fall. (pause) Who the hell is getting on here and blogging about scooters!! Come on people. New hobby.

So anyway, my deeper indention with all this is to make aware my own vulnerability. (and to exalt my cleverness). In this world, it is very hard to treasure simplicity. Lets just say its not going to be a "character word of the week" in your local school. In fact, I think "patriotic consumerism" took its place. There are so many distractions to deal with here (even if you have nothing). What are we red-blooded Americans to do? We are taught to buy. Debt is exalted and made necessary. We are marketed to as incomplete. Rich Mullins wrote, "People always say that they need just one thing. What they really mean is that they need just one thing more." There will always be some new thing we can reason ourselves into. Its a tough discipline.

Even with this computer (sigh). Despite the fact that we were deprived of our last computer by local crackheads and this one was given to us for free, I still feel like it can pull me away ever so slowly and rationally from the joy of simplicity. What might I be missing while drinking in the siren song of the keyboard? Perhaps the beauty of my husbands laughter coming from the living room. Perhaps my meditation on the vast intriguing miracles that exist even in this very room. What have you missed even by reading this paragraph?
Now wait a minute, erin faith. Are you telling me to stop wasting my time by reading this blog you invited me to? Hell no. Otherwise, I would not have even written it. What I am trying to say is, are we aware? Are we aware about how many small and seemingly harmless activities we encounter everyday that rob us of beauty and meditation and each other. We are an electronically addicted Western world. Electronics are not evil, but our abuse of them is. I love this computer, but I will send this out into cyberspace so that maybe after sending me a comment, you will get up and treasure something you miss. Protect your fragile virtue of simplicity.
I, on the other hand, am going to close up the Sony and go make-out with my husband. Cheers.

The Bodies 1

I had never noticed, until recently that the whole first section of Romans 12 is about "the body". It is a very good slide between the two different references to "the body" in scripture. For instance, Romans 12:1 & 2 refers to the Literal Body. When it says to "present our body's as living sacrifices", it refers to our actual body in an allegorical way. In the following verses, Paul refers to "the body of Christ" and its many gifts. This is the Allegorical Body. An parabolic reference to actual individuals. So first, lets examine these two:
Literal Body:
The many references to "the body" and/ or "the flesh" can be debated as to their definition. When Paul asks us to make a sacrifice of our bodies (so to speak), he is referring to a spiritual action of sacrifice (not literal, bodily sacrifice), but . . . of what? What comprises this "body" we sacrifice? Is it just what makes up our senses? Our bodily functions and desires? Our emotions and intellect? Or all of these? AND, when "the flesh" is referenced (as in Phil 3:3-4) does this parallel the same definition as "the body"? Whew.
Well, here is my theory: I assume the flesh and body, when spoken of in Scripture, refer to anything on our person or in our make-up that we can not take with us after death. There is an eternal part of us that lives on forever and we experience it her on earth. We know that it is different from this body or flesh and has different desires and motivations (why else would we have to sacrifice it? Rom. 8:13). Thus, all things finite and ephemeral constitute this body. The tricky part is splitting hairs between emotions and spiritual fruits. For example, which is eternal, happiness or joy (or both)? These, however, are more definitive questions for another addendum. For the sake of general progress, I will move on.

Allegorical Body: In Scripture, this is a reference to "The Body of Christ". Rom. 12:5, 1 Cor. 10:17, 1 Cor. 12:12-27, and Eph 3:6 all speak of this kind of body. It is one of 2 prominent analogies for "the Church" or "Followers of Christ". The other, is the Bride. Over and over again in Scripture, these two analogies are used to explain the function, preciousness, and spiritual capacity of Christ followers (as individuals and as a unit).

Now that the two uses have been generally identified and defined, allow me to present an idea that came to me while reading this flow between the two "body" references in Romans 12. I was thinking about my physical body and my part in a spiritual body and how the spiritual reference gives meaning to the physical one. For example: marriage is both a literal union on earth and a spiritual analogy for Christ and the Church. The spiritual analogy gives the earthly, physical union even more meaning and sacredness than it already has anyway. I can look at my marriage and think, "This is important and worth protecting and working on, not just because I want a good and successful marriage, but because marriage is a representation of God's love and union with us, His Church."
In this same way, shouldn't the body be attached with similar implication? Let me preface also by saying that our bodes are made in Gods image and are "His Temple", thus are already sacred. Earthly marriage is also spoken of as sacred even before we get to the spiritual side of it. But in the same way that the analogy adds even more meaning to marriage, shouldn't the parallel analogy of the body bring even more sacredness to our perspectives of our physical self?
In my intro post, I spoke of the body being shown in a spiritual way. This is because it bends to the will of the Spirit and helps the Spirit enact it's will. It thus, is participating in a spiritual way, even though it is finite and a general enemy of our Spirits. Our perspectives and spiritual command of our bodies are the difference between our body being an instrument of our ego or of the greater will and purpose of God. This is why I feel that this is an applicable point. By placing a connection between our Literal Body and the Allegorical Body, we can meditate on this and bring even greater meaning to our existence. This is the essence of this observation.
If you are like me, you have heard all your life that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit and Made in the Image of God and all that jazz. But, I still fail to embrace these ideas applicably. As a person who has a history of self-abuse, it is even more imperative that I discipline my mind to evoke my own sacredness. It was a life changing moment when I was given a higher spiritual essence to my marriage through the Biblical analogy. I hope for the same conversion of my mind and perspective in this meditation. So I ask you (as I ask myself), what does the Analogy have to do with the Literal? Is there a greater idea that we can feed off of daily in the pursuit of righteousness? In our daily battle with our body and Spirit, does the analogy of the Body of Christ, give me another clue to my own amazing Spiritual power? If you have any extended thoughts or applications to this, please indulge me. There is still plenty to explore here. Cheers.

The Bodies (intro)

I am inclined to chronicle a series of thoughts I have concerning worship and the life of a follower of Christ.
My most recent is represented in a verse I have grown very fond of. Romans 12:1 has always been a startling verse to me. I was meditating over it last night in Portland Brew when a thought came to me. First, the nature of this verse discusses an urge from Paul in the view of God's mercy to present our bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God for this is our spiritual act of worship. Notice the reference to a "living sacrifice". We can break this down and find that the word "living" is one of 2 words used in the Bible to describe life. This one is Zao. It is reference to a spiritual life as opposed to a mere existing. It refers to the fullest kind of living. A holistic living. Also, the word sacrifice is a feminine noun rooted from the more popular verb "to sacrifice", which indicates a kind of being instead of doing. For example, being a living sacrifice is different from just being a "live" sacrifice. Abraham's lamb was a live sacrifice. But what Paul is referring to is an existence that is sacrifice. This is backed up in the following statement that this presentation of our bodies is a "spiritual act of worship". We live this. But how?
What fascinates me foremost is the dual reference to the body being spiritual. After Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came to dwell in man, we encountered the church age-long struggle we understand so well between our spirit and flesh. Biblical examples and references occur in John 6:63, Rom. 7:24, 8:10 & 13, 1 Cor. 9:27, 2 Cor. 5:8, 1 Th 4:4, and 1 Pe 4:1. We feel, schizophrenic in a way, because our Spirit guides us in the will of God and our flesh seems to tempt us to abase ourselves in non-spiritual actions. This being said, we see here in Romans 12:1, this idea that even the body can be Zao and "a spiritual act". The "how", I believe is found in the context.
Our body's are "to be presented as living sacrifices". So what are we sacrificing? (At this point, I will refer to the gospel according to erin faith.)
I always believed that what we sacrificed was our will or our power. But I have a new idea, I believe that what we sacrifice our really our prudence. The same way a lover would go willingly and uninhibited into the arms of it's partner to voluntarily experience the pleasure of being loved exuberantly; this is how I view worship. If our act is worship, and we must sacrifice to experience it, then we must be sacrificing the thing that keeps us from that worship. I believe that our body is not the enemy, just the rebel. I often felt a need to break my body's will, and dismantle it, in way. Instead, I now feel that what I need to do is call it to a higher standard. I believe that God desires our body to experience what the Spirit is experiencing. All of its existential wildness and ecstasy. This comes by sacrificing the inhibitions of the body. The body begs for safety and comfort, but the Spirit has no need for such claims. It lives a much greater and wilder existence.
Worship is connection. It is relationship. Thus, if our body's are the spiritual action of this worship, then it seems that the Scriptures are hinting at something more habitual and constant. Our body's once free of their inhibitions, live in a spiritual existence. We believe that the spiritual world is all around us and yet we walk numbly through it. I feel that God is calling us to tap into the Spiritual world, and on a more regular basis than just in typical spiritual acts. If both soul and body can share spiritual goals and desires, then this unlocks a whole new existence.
Often, our carnal selves keep us from experiencing the Spiritual world. While I sit and write this, my refrigerator is humming in the background. It is a constant hum, but I rarely notice it. Not until I create a focused effort to listen, do I hear it. I feel that this is similar with the spiritual world and the voice of God. Its always there, but we are often distracted and numbed. What if Paul, is saying to us, that the body does not have to be a hindrance to Spiritual things, but a channel? What if our body's do not have to be forbidden the experiences of the Spirit? We, as Christ followers, would have a monopoly on this idea. The predominate ideas see the body as a hindrance to be discarded (Buddhism, Asceticism, etc.) or the body's desires are the only desires that matter (Paganism, Secular Humanism, etc.). So what if the body could be Spiritual? I believe that Romans 12:1 is showing us a way. We live the sacrifice. We tap into the mind of God and we discover the Spiritual creatures we know we are, without having to self-loathe our needy epidermis. I believe that there are thousands of ways to make a body the instrument of the Spiritual, but I might just have to spend those thoughts another day.

on pilgrimage

what the hell

You know, I am not sure why I am even doing this. I don't even write in my journal hardly ever so what the hell is this? Anyway, maybe its just another worldly orifice for me to belch my thoughts. I used to put my journal on the coffee table. It was an attempt in college to be candid and real and absolute. It allowed me fewer hypocrisies as I would be accountable to the truth in my writings with the opportunities for people to see them. While it worked in its attempt to hone my ability to practice genuineness, I also found this out: No one read my journal. I even invited them to for the sake of feeling like I was really putting myself out there and not just pretending, but I guess people are people. Even on invitation they will stand you up for the sake of respecting a privacy that is ultimately disrespected by their lack of zeal. Oh well. Till we have faces.
That being said, who the hell is going to care about this blog? I have no answers.