A Biblical Boycott?

Josh Klein
Jun 2, 2023
12 min read

Updated: Nov 13

The holiest month of our culture’s liturgical calendar is upon us. June, when pride is linked to sexual identity and the eschewing of the historical norms of sex and gender. A month when nearly all corporations will virtue signal their fealty to the secular religion of Sexual Gnosticism under the guise of the misguided notion of self-actualization. Every year, in June, we are hit in the face with a barrage of rainbow flags, pride-progress flags, parades, and logo changes. Paying homage to the unofficial state religion to avoid social destruction. What started as a month of awareness for the supposed marginalization of sexual minorities has transformed quickly into a month of forced participation and worship of gender ideology. You will be made to care, in the right way, or you will be reeducated and your children catechized into the movement. Lest you think I am being hyperbolic, let us quickly explore how we got here.

A Brief History of State Religion in the USA

Many will say that the United States does not have a state religion, and this is technically true, however, Christianity has been the default cultural ethic since its inception.

“Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” – John Adams

Many Christian conservatives, like Phil Vischer and David French, argue the merits of religious pluralism that was supposedly espoused by the founders of this nation, but they are wrong or, at least, misinformed. Religious pluralism is untenable as a cultural ethos. There is a reason human sacrifice, and the Mayan religion would not be legal or acceptably practice in the United States. There are, or at least were, clear limits to this pluralism. Many of the founders based their philosophy on that of John Locke who famously said this:

“Lastly, those are not at all to be tolerated who deny the being of a God. Promises, covenants, and oaths, which are the bonds of human society, can have no hold upon an atheist.”

The historical version of pluralism would have most clearly been within the context of the Christian religion. In other words, the original intent of pluralistic structure to culture was within the framework of Judeo-Christian monotheism as a whole, not universally applicable to all religions over all time. It is also worth noting that though the establishment of a federal religion was off the table, the constitution made no prohibitions of local governments to establish their own state religions, and many did. The pluralism the founders believed in was limited to Christianity but was expanded in the 19

^th

century to ensure a secular state (for more on this see: The Separation of Church and State Deception). This is not an argument for reengaging the historical debate concerning antidisestablishmentarianism, but it does inform how we got to this point. The founders of this nation understood that some sort of theology would direct the morality of the country. Secularism did borrow from Christian ideals for some time, but simultaneously sought to move beyond the very thing that formed its foundation. This created an ideological vacuum on which to ground the secularist's morality. And, since nature abhors a vacuum, a new de facto secular state religion was instituted from the top down. One of tolerance, self-discovery and self-actualization. A forced tolerance of celebration. The meaning of the word tolerance shifted from

tolerate

affirm

and now, to forced celebration or

worship

of the self. Any system that would impose a sort of traditional morality upon a person would be deemed itself immoral. The inconsistency is the point. The confusion disguised as certainty is its catechesis. Carl Trueman refers to this phenomenon as Expressive Individualism. The question of how a Christian ought to operate in a culture that is decidedly post-Christian is broad but important. This theology of radical self-autonomy is not new. It’s a tale as old as the Garden. (See: Pride is Destruction; Antichrists Among Us) However, living within this moral landscape is not something new to the Church historically, but it

something new to the

Western

Church. While American culture generally reflected Christian ideals the slow rot of secularism was easy to ignore. At least we all agreed on some guiding principles even if we did not know or agree with where they came from. Understanding truth, sex, and love as defined through a Christian worldview was fundamental to the cutlure. There were, of course, outliers, there always has been. But the outliers, while tolerated, were not celebrated as normative or morally equal to the historical morality undergirding American values. Namely – the Judeo-Christian ethic.

The Corporate Shift from Profit to Worship

There is a subtle difference in our corporate landscape from then to now. No longer are companies or institutions tacitly accepting sinful behavior as a way to garner more profit. They are actively pushing transgressive behavior as equal, or superior, to traditional morality despite the apparent risks. To remake society, one must gain control of its institutions and manufacture them anew or tear them down altogether. We are witnessing this in real time as the largest companies in the world collude to enforce, from the top down, this new religious standard. When this shift occurs it becomes necessary, as a Christian, to reimagine what cultural engagement might look like. We have shifted from participating in an

economical

system to participating in a system of

worship

. What would have sounded like a dystopian conspiracy theory only a decade ago is coming to fruition before our very eyes. If you have not heard of

stake-holder capitalism

(rather than share-holder) and the

social credit system

(known as ESG – Environmental, Social and Governance) employed by some of the largest companies in the world, (Vanguard, Black Rock, Merck etc.) you might be surprised to learn that these companies no longer care only about a financial return for their shareholders but they place the highest value on the cultural goals of their stakeholders. For instance, BlackRock and Vanguard own a significant stake in both Disney and Target. Both investment firms participate in the ESG investment strategy meant to direct culture rather than measure profit. This coordinated effort to remake society be forcing the consumer to be beholden to a few ideologues at the top of the fiscal hierarchy flies in the face of the historically neutral position that free market economics espouses. In the past, the companies answered to the culture, but now the companies drive the culture. If it seemed odd to you that all of these major corporations suddenly went "woke" overnight, perhaps that is because the decision was proactive, rather than reactive, to enforce a desired cultural shift to "progress." There is a reason these companies target the youth in our society. Losing profits short term is worth the risk if the minds and hearts of the youth can be captured for future generations, and it's working. Nearly a 21% of Gen Z identify as LGBTQ+. The strategy is not accidental, a culture completely engrossed within its own sense of personal sexual identity is easy to manipulate. The idea behind the movement is to put money and power behind the ideals that come from radical expressive individualism to shift the religious convictions of society. It is an overt attempt to enforce top-down worship of self-indulgence onto society regardless of initial cost. Perhaps no story better elucidates the issue at hand than that of two athletes within Major League Baseball. The LA Dodgers recently invited a group of drag queens called the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to a Pride night event at the ballpark this June. The Sisters are known for crude and blasphemous displays, particularly anti-Catholic and anti-Christian performances. Considering the large Catholic following of the Dodgers one might consider the decision to host an anti-Catholic drag troop odd. However, due to the tenants of stakeholder capitalism even the Dodgers must acquiesce. Some players, like pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Blake Treinen, decried the decision by Dodger’s brass: https://twitter.com/seanfeucht/status/1663678574015004675?s=20 But it matters not – the Dodgers must pay fealty to the state religion. It remains to be seen what the Dodgers will do to the players for taking a stand, but if fellow MLB team, the Toronto Blue Jays, are any indication re-education might be in the works. Anthony Bass, a pitcher for the Blue Jays, came under fire for supporting the boycotts of Bud Light and Target in recent weeks. His opinion quickly changed when Toronto’s front office got involved and Bass released a video apologizing for his opinion and promising to use the Blue Jays resources to “educate himself”.

A Biblical Boycott?

So what, as Christians, ought we do amidst this volatile cultural milieu? I have not, in the past, been a believer in boycotts due to a company's more liberal political bent, however, as we have (hopefully) established this is not as simple as that. For instance, the reason Bass came out against Target had to do with the retail giant’s plans to celebrate Pride Month by partnering with a literal Satanist clothing line to promote trans-ideology. This partnership included “tucking bathing suits” for transgender youth. One particular clothing product states, "Satan Respects Pronouns." What is the purpose of such social engineering? The truth is that they

really

think this is what is best for society. Radical self-autonomy. This is not the same as a company being a bit too liberal for my liking. This is more akin to temple worship of the new state religion, and thus, a biblical response to avoiding participation in that worship is reasonable and perhaps necessary. Pushing, and even celebrating Satanism, even the atheistic version of Satanism (see: Antichrists Among Us) is a bridge too far. This is not just eating meat sacrificed up to idols, it is participating in the sacrifice altogether. Pride month is the religious holy month of the secular state's progressive religion. Yes, I believe this means Christians can biblically boycott certain companies as a matter of conscience and desire to be salt and light in the world. This is not to say that shopping at Target during Pride Month is a sin, but we ought to carefully analyze our actions lest we participate in the worship of self that is integral to this celebration. My reason for this is not based on politics, if a conservative business espoused similar ideology I would encourage the same analysis of conscience. However, if we are going to argue for a boycott, or at least an avoidance of participation, we must be clear on the goal and the biblical reason behind such a position. First, what is the biblical reason for refusing to participate in this evil? In Ephesians 5 we find the apostle Paul addressing similar issues for the Ephesian church. This is what he says:

“Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, ‘Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” –

Ephesians 5:11-16

What are these deeds of darkness that we ought not participate in? Specifically, scripture prohibits the participation in sexual immorality and idolatry (Eph. 5:3; 1 Cor. 6:18; 2 Tim 2:22). Jesus’ letter to the church at Thyatira in Revelation might help to expound on the issue:

“But I have

this

against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads my bond-servants astray so that they commit

acts

of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds.” –

Revelation 2:20-22

To participate in the soothing of the conscience towards sin and sexual immorality is a chief issue for the church. Pushing the new religion of self-actualization and what I call Sexual Gnosticism, is part of a culture of worship that we ought not participate in lest we bring about confusion. Yes, Target’s main purpose is to provide goods and services, but their overt participation in this new religion overrides that main purpose in such a way that participation with them could be a tacit endorsement of this religious framework. Let me put it more bluntly. What if, instead of a Pride section at the front of the store Target placed a display about pornography. Now, the pornography would be clearly marked out as adults only, but the headline of the section would be “sex work is real work” with t-shirts and other products that support porn and porn brands. Perhaps no explicit pornography is in the section, but it is a clear and unbridled push not just to normalize but to celebrate pornography. In fact, some articles of clothing are softened to such a degree that they look as if they are marketed towards children. What would the proper response be? My assertion is that Target's Pride display is tantamount to the affirmation of pornography, perhaps worse. The tuck swimsuits encourage young boys to think they can appear as young girls and they are clearly marketed towards them and clearly indicate participation in this sexually gnostic notion of identity. These are the fruitless deeds of darkness that ought to be exposed and not participated in. The reasonable Christina then, will ask, "well where is the line?" "Do I need to cancel my Disney+ subscription?" "Stop watching videos on YouTube?" "Stop buying cars?" "Where does it end?" These are reasonable questions, and, honestly, part of the plan to overwhelm the market from the top down is to make any stance on such an issue seem untenable. However, I believe that there are some biblical principles we can use to guide us.

Principles of Biblical Boycotts

The first is realizing that the take over of our institutions has yet to be completed. There is significant opportunity for the revival of classical morality within our culture. It is not completely gone. The second is that responses of this visceral nature must be with a goal towards the future. If the goal is to relitigate the arguments on establishment of religion then we will be sadly disappointed, but if the goal is to guard our hearts from participating in the worship of gender ideology and to push back on the cultural religion to draw people to repentance, then it can be effective. For instance, believing that a boycott of Target will force them into abandoning their woke ideology is unrealistic, but believing that a boycott of Target guards our own hearts from participating in Satanic (in a technical sense) worship

and

can push the ideology into the background enough that overt participation in said ideological worship is more a matter of conscience than of purpose

realistic. While there is a fuzzy boundary between participating in and funding the sacrifice to the idol of self and simply consuming the product, the boundary does exist. We stand at a unique time in history and economics. We can insist on the status quo set within secularism decades ago based on the Judeo-Christian ethic. Whether these companies realize it or not they need people with our values to make a profit. Perhaps recognizing this can shift the cultural engineering back to an open market rather than the ESG based system that has subversively slipped in. In fact, legislation against ESG standard marketing was vetoed by Joe Biden as recently as March of 2023 and Ron DeSantis signed such a bill into effect in Florida in May of 2023. We are not past the point of no return, and if the charge for the Christian is to be both salt (preservation) and light (exposing) (Matt. 5:13-14) in our society then participation in the system for the glory of God and the gospel is a worthy battle and calling. Target has lost nearly $14B (that’s Billion… with a B) in worth since the Pride display controversy began. This forced many of the stores to move their Pride sections to the back. This means that real differences can be made and insistence on the resistance to the new state religion can be effective if done for the right reasons. Lastly, the right reasons matter. The reason this new secular state religion exists is because those that push it genuinely believe that with it comes fulfillment and purpose, but we know differently. The gospel is based on love

and

truth. We cannot have one without the other (see: Of Truth and Empathy). Righteous indignation is different than self-righteous outrage and to be effective we must understand the difference. Self-righteous outrage simply wants things our way. It is the mirror of the ESG from a different ideological perspective. Self-righteous outrage says, "

I want society to bend to my will because I know what's best

." Righteous indignation says, "

Society must bend the knee to the Lord because HE knows what's best

." Righteous indignation leads to a call to repentance, love, and grace based on the truth of the gospel. It can be a difficult line to walk, but it is imperative we get it right. Our response isn't because we hate, but because we love. We know that fulfillment rests not in the darkness of this world but in the light of Christ. Desiring to move people towards the light is loving and good.