Hey, I am new to town, just moved in six months ago to Knox Listowel and I am a bit embarrassed something I love that I really enjoy about living here.
For the first time ever in my entire life, I am 40 minutes from a Chick-Fil-A. Don’t panic! They haven’t bought and sold a local clergy to advertise for them. I just enjoy their food; this isn’t an endorsement of them.
I am well aware that politically, Chick-Fil-A isn’t a perfect company; they are proudly Christian, and they have taken a few stances that whether I agree with them or not, I certainly know at least one faithful person in my life that really doesn’t like it that I eat there. “How can you do that,” they often say. I guess my response always is, “I enjoy the taste,” but it really is more that that. I just don’t believe playing in a capitalist ballpark is ever ethical.
Jesus is confronted by teachers of the law in the Gospel of Matthew – it happens kind of a lot – the one I am talking about is in Chapter 22. They ask him if it is lawful to pay your taxes and Jesus says yes, but he answers in a very clever way. While holding up a coin with the emperor’s face on it, Jesus says, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” The point he is making is that the money is owned by the emperor, and so it makes sense to pay taxes, while all of us have God’s image on us, so we need to be giving our lives to God.
I just don’t think our personal consumption choices somehow make a difference in the larger capitalist world. That if we refuse to buy or eat or transact business with a company, that we are somehow more ethical? I know we want to do business with companies that we like, this is why there are Pride flags on banks during Pride Month. The business has actually gone out ahead of us and said, “Don’t worry, you can feel good leaving your money here.”
Sadly, this history of boycotts, and individual and even collective customer choices doesn’t paint a picture of much actually getting done to help those in need. We still are ultimately under the ‘emperor on the coin,’ and our cause seems less attractive because we have been bothered at mealtime. Someone telling me not to eat something I enjoy doesn’t help me care.
Let us have our chicken. If we want to help those in need or stand up for the oppressed, which I truthfully believe in doing, shaming personal choices isn’t a good strategy. Actually reforming the system that makes them so is a better option, making it about personal choices would be just as effective as not paying your taxes.
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James Clark serves as pastor at Knox Presbyterian Church in Listowel.
