So over 1 million support boycotting A&E after “Duck Dynasty” star’s suspension.
I’m not one of them.
Is the only response religious groups have to programs, people, or products they find offensive to organize a boycott?
Sure, boycotts can be used to great effect. They may even be the “Christian” thing to do. Earlier this year, the Christian Post ran an interesting article on The Ethics of Christian Boycotting: If, When, and How, citing a successful, and rather noble, boycott.
Successful Christian boycotts are not new. In fact, Christian leaders argue, it was the boycott of the Montgomery Bus Company in Alabama led by the Rev. Martin Luther King that many claim to be the start of the modern Civil Rights Movement. When African-Americans, who were the poverwhelming majority of the bus company’s customers, refused any longer to ride or stand in the back of the bus, the company quickly went to authorities to get bus segregation laws revoked because of the drastic loss of revenue.
A good boycott? In retrospect, fer sure!
But Christians seem to have turned boycotting into the default response to secular culture. Apparently, it’s not enough to stop watching, buying, following, or consuming something or someone we find problematic. We have to fire up the bandwagon, freshen up the Bible verse placards, pass out petitions, test the bullhorn, and re-engage the culture war rhetoric.
Our knee-jerk impulse is what’s produced sites like BoycottLiberalism.com, which offers boycotts by the bundle. Looking for a book to ban or a product to avoid? Then look no further. For your convenience, there’s even “Boycotts of the Week.” This week’s boycotts? The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Why? You got me. Probably because Jennifer Lawrence watches A&E or something.
For the record, I probably agree with more of what the Duck Dynasty guy said than I disagree with.
My problem with jumping on the boycott bandwagon is that it doesn’t really solve anything. Not deep or lasting anyway. Sure, producers and sponsors will be reminded that Christians are out there, that their values are often quite different than the mainstream and that, when poked, they can become a significantly boisterous bunch. Studio execs will be reminded when assembling their next reality TV show to not cross them there Christians. Perhaps they will initiate more “evangelical-friendly” programing. Maybe they’ll get smart and contract with Christian stars or employees ahead of time to keep their mouths shut about their views on homosexuality. Or Christians can just run off and start their own networks. That’ll show them!
Hey, I’m all for us having a voice in culture. Thing is, if the extent of our influence in creative culture — television, film, music, literature, etc. — is organizing boycotts when our sensibilities are challenged or our opinions are scorned, we really don’t have much of a voice. Until the Church cultivates artistic ingenuity, finds ways to spiritually influence the centers of cultural power (rather than just politically or economically), and simply develop a thicker skin, we are destined to “boycotts of the week.”
Boycotts never solve anything, anywhere, anytime.
I am one of those odd people who can watch the Duck boys and PBS on the same night. The Robertsons are what they are. They operate as an extended family and they will stand together. Honestly, neither DD nor God needs anyone’s help in the matter.
I already boycott, I guess. I don’t have satellite or cable.
To be honest, the Christian mob scares me as much sometimes as the liberal mob. They are both mobs that strive to cripple someone financially because of disagreements, which we are allowed to have in a free society, supposedly. With the internet, the mob effect is all the more potent and lingering. People scare me.
I never comment on stuff like this because I choose to stay out of these kinds of kerfuffles. There is never a clear line in these instances. Maybe a company does one thing you find wrong, but they likely do other things you agree with, which means you’re cutting off your nose to spite your face.
But the thing I have the most issue with is this:
When Christians boycott, they claim to do it out of righteousness. But, boy oh boy, if liberals do it…. I got so tired of Christian friends screaming about the gay community wanting to boycott Chic-fil-a and Ender’s game over the owner’s/writer’s statements when it was those *very same Christians* who constantly refuse to shop at or sign petitions against (fill in the blank) because they (fill in the blank). Hypocrite much?
I agree, Mike. Christians should take a leaf out of the homosexuals marketing book and lobby Hollywood to make Christian characters prominent in TV programing. Of course they can’t be plum-dumbs or Goofy-ies, they must be cultured, and likeable, and earnest characters.
You have to admit they have truly used pop culture to their advantage and they have changed the mind of America when it comes to the “normalcy” of the homosexual lifestyle.
Then maybe the Politically Correct Police would jump on the criticizing the unwashed public bandwagon for making cracks about Biblical truths.
How would you spiritually influence them?
>>”finds ways to spiritually influence the centers of cultural power”
I’m with DMD, how does one do this? I’ll go one cynical comment further: “spiritually influence the centers of cultural power” is gobbledygook jargon that doesn’t mean anything, Mike. It’s fluffy verbiage that lacks any real world application. Give us some examples and prove me wrong.
Lyn and David, my post How ‘Christian Art’ is Losing the Culture goes into more detail about how I believe Christians can “spiritually influence the centers of cultural power.” The basic idea is that the Secular Left has shaped culture by influencing “institutions of power” like universities, art, film, science, television, music, etc. From my perspective, rather than remain in these secular institutions and develop a wise, excellent, biting witness, Christians have retreated and formed their own sub-culture: Christian film, literature, music, college, etc. My feeling is that if Christians remain in these cultural power centers and begin to influence the movers and shakers — screen writers, directors, studio execs, actors, producers, editors, profs, etc. — just as a little leaven leavens the whole loaf, we would see the culture become less secularized. It’s not a quick fix, which many Christians seem to want, but it is more long-term and deep.
Good thoughts. Agreed.
“Apparently, it’s not enough to stop watching, buying, following, or consuming something or someone we find problematic.”
And therein lies the main issue. I once heard someone say that every dollar spent is like a vote. So if we are really serious about our worldview, shouldn’t we always be concerned about what we are supporting? It’s not easy, we can’t know where every dollar goes, but why do people wait for some big public incident?
If people want to make a statement with a boycott or protest, good, but make sure it is backed up with intellectual argumentation. Don’t let a poorly thrown together effort backfire or be built on shaky foundations. Maybe this one isn’t one of those, but here is what I wrote recently on another boycott:
“It brings me amusement that some groups will protest or boycott stores not saying Merry Christmas or for using generics like Happy Holidays. These things used to bother me too until I thought about these protests a bit: Basically they’re saying that we will gladly participate in the retailers’ secularization of Christmas if they would only use the right codewords.”
Which applies to this boycott as well: “We’ll keeping paying our monthly cable bills, which supports all sorts of things we don’t like, as long as you get your act together on this one.”
Then again, maybe the angst against Duck Dynasty will wake people from their slumber.
Why would a brother in Christ suggest to fellow Christians NOT to use what few rights we still have? I do not typically boycott anything, but this time, I am. This is a matter of our first amendment rights to free speech which are slowly being stripped away. I don’t care who you are, what your case may be … if you’re an American … you have a right to speak. More and more it’s seeming as though everyone else has the right to speak, but Christians are losing that right. A&E didn’t care about many of the other offensive things said on that show. I have to preview it before I allow my daughter to watch it. Why now? Because Phil spoke on the Biblical view of homosexuality in his blunt, Phil Robinson style. This time, he was shut down. I am not okay with that. I know the family will be alright. They’re a tight-knit group. But I truly hope they cut ties with an organization that would shut them up so quickly and find another network whom I will wholeheartedly support. We need to use what rights we still have in this country. If you’re gay and want to fight for marriage … go ahead. If you’re a Christian and you don’t like how A&E squelched Phil’s right to speak and want to boycott A&E … go ahead. I just may unsubscribe to this blog post … as is my right. We’ve got rights, use ’em. And don’t ever suggest to anyone that they don’t.
With all due respect, his right to free speech hasn’t been taken away. It would have been taken away had the federal or state or local government arrested him for what he said, but they didn’t. Like it or not, the network has the right to suspend him if they don’t like or agree with his comments.
As an addendum to my previous comment. As Christians, we want networks to have this right as it allows our organizations to select whom they wish to speak for them. Imagine if your your church was forced to allow a cult leader to speak because not allowing it would be “taking away his first amendment rights”.
Good points, Josh. Well said.
We should all remember the big kerfuffle with whatshisface from SFWA who used their Twitter feed to make racial and sexist comments–as most of us rallied around in favor of him being removed from his positions with SFWA and no one was terribly concerned that that might be violating his free speech rights
I realize both my comments (this and the one above) seem a little harsh on Christians. I just want to point out that we can be guilty of double-standards. In truth, I feel Phil has the right to his opinion. But as an employee of A&E, he has an obligation to present himself a certain way. If a grocery store can prohibit its employees from wearing their uniforms in competitor stores (or from shopping there altogether), or a business can prohibit its employees from being seen smoking while in uniform, then a business can have in its contract that an employee keep his mouth shut on certain issues.
That said, I do not understand how anyone who has any clue who Phil R is can conceivably not have guessed his stance on homosexuality. I mean, duh.
And this is point. A&E was well aware of Phil’s beliefs. Do you think their lawyeres and PR people don’t have access to YouTube for goodness sakes. The Robertson’s held the line during contract negotiations last year about their family prayer at the end of each episode. Truthfully, the whole thing has grown tiring to me rather quickly. As in most social media “discussions”, little true discussion is taking place. Lines are drawn, sides are chosen, and red flags are waved. Everyone runs to lift up their own pet peeve and declare everyone who doesn’t agree with them to be a bad Christian.
I don’t think it’s that simple. They can do so only in regard to your professional capacity. If you are off the clock, there are legitimate free speech issues if a person is punished for expressing certain views. The problem is that as a reality TV star, Phil is always on the clock. Like no business can prevent you from shopping at a competitor, but they can prevent you from working for one under certain conditions.
The worry is that this will spread from public figures to private ones, and that simply holding or stating an unpopular idea can be seen as harming the business enough to fire someone even if it’s made “off the clock.” It’s one thing to be fired for saying something sucks in the middle of press conference or an interview where you are a representative of your company, but personal tweets or facebook pages are other things.
“Like no business can prevent you from shopping at a competitor…”
Actually, I wasn’t just pulling that out of thin air. I know people with jobs at grocery stores (both high and low level) that would lose their jobs if caught shopping competitor stores.
And I also realized I jumped ship by even going into the conflict between A&E and Phil Robertson. For the record, I am not defending A&E because I think their decision was right. I simply don’t think they did anything illegal.
My original point was that the boycott thing works both ways, and I get tired of one side squawking about the other side boycotting this or that (how dare they!), and then turning around to boycott something else.
I agree, Kat. I don’t think they did anything illegal. But isn’t one of the things people love about the Duck Dynasty stars their “unorthodox” ways? Their bluntness? They’ve said many offensive things on the show. A&E already has a disclaimer that the views depicted on the show don’t reflect A&E’s views. I don’t like how they responded to those who are being the loudest and I’m not one to boycott anything … ever … This time I was tempted to and found Mike’s all-encompassing view of Christian’s and their tendencies to boycott rather insulting. I’m Christian, but that’s not me. In fact, I tend to keep my head in the sand about most things. Something I shouldn’t continue to do if I hope to affect any positive change in our society. And I don’t think other Christians should feel shamed into stifling their voices either.
Yep, Jenn, you’re right–the DD guys are known for that. Which is why the execs at A&E are IDIOTS for not having seen this coming. And I think anyone and everyone can and should say that all they want.
My point about the boycotting is that it does two things we often don’t think about:
One, it tends to affect other things as well. I remember being told to boycott Home Depot because they gave money to gay rights groups. Well, they give money to all kinds of charities/causes I would totally support, so boycotting them for one thing means other things I care about suffer. It affects the jobs of the people who work there–people who have nothing at all to do with those donation choices.
Two, it’s been my experience that the same Christians who jump on the boycott bandwagon every time it passes by are the ones who completely wig out when the “other side” boycotts anything. Some Christian friends of mine love to boycott, but when gay activists started talking about boycotting Chic-fil-a, wow. It was all, “how dare they” and “he has every right to run his business any way he wants” and “he’s not doing anything illegal”–yet they never stopped to think that the businesses they were always boycotting were doing nothing illegal either, that they were just running their own businesses as they saw fit.
That said, another thing that makes A&E a bunch of idiots is not seeing the backlash for their decision coming.
So maybe I’m just feeling really cynical about reality TV right now, but going off Kat’s point — (“they should have seen that coming.”) maybe they did.
DD has been around long enough, they or the network, or both, may have started to worry that people were losing interest — so what better way to cement their place in entertainment than stir up a media storm around them?
That way the network can get a feel for how popular they are, and after the public rises in rage to keep them on, that public will feel a lot more attached to them, and watch them all the more religiously. And the network is the real winner here.
It sure came in at a convenient time — right before Christmas — just in time to make sure everyone made sure to buy a DD t-shirt. Because — they HAD to show their support — it’d be un-Christian not to.
Yeah, as I said, just my cynical two cents.