Concerned Tennessee Baptists - Searching for Sin

Larry Regan and his wife used the seach feature on web sites for Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target, and Meijer using the following words: "lesbian, gay, homosexual, transexual, and bisexual". The intent of the research project was to get some indication of where these stores stand on these cultural issues, particularly since WalMart announced (but has yet to fully implement) a change in corporate giving to homosexual causes. I have re-created Larry's findings in chart form below (the numbers in each column represent the number of items that link to a word in the left-hand column):

	WalMart	Kmart	Target	Meijer
lesbian	614	0	0	0
gay	1315	0	3	0
homosexual	26	0	30	0
transgender	42	0	0	0
bisexual	38	0	9	0

Your response to the figures in this chart may have been like mine. I was surprised, shocked, dismayed, and genuinely concerned. So, I ventured into WalMart's search feature to see just what kinds of products these homosexual search terms referenced. As it turns out, the vast majority of the products are books.

Since WalMart isn't where I generally shop for books, I decided to apply the same search terms to the places where I have been known to shop for books. Here are my findings:

	Lifeway	Borders	Cokesbury	Amazon
lesbian	1	2000	101	44,872
gay	115	2000	311	146,201
homosexual	64	291	81	51,959
transgender	0	146	20	3,532
bisexual	0	241	30	17,758

If these search terms are to be the basis for a boycot, then I might suggest that Amazon appears to be a far greater offender than WalMart (noting that LifeWay doesn't look any better than Kmart, Target, or Meijer at this level...perhaps indicating a flaw in the thesis for the research). Which leads me to the following thoughts:

Generally, I am not one to boycot an institution because of a stance on cultural issues that differs from mine. I say that in one breath and will tell you in the next that I will not darken the door of an 'Adult Bookstore' or 'Gentleman's Club'... I make what I consider a common sense distinction (i.e. I doubt seriously that anyone enters an adult bookstore expecting to find bread, milk, and eggs).

I am not of the opinion that a boycot of an institution will bring that institution to saving grace. By focusing on the institution, we somehow miss the mark to reach the people within that institution (including corporate leadership) with the Gospel. I am pretty sure that the great commission mentions 'people' and not 'institutions' (although the imagery of immersing a Wal-Mart does have a certain appeal to my imagination).

I am not saying that we should throw in the towel for institutions that we see headed in the wrong direction. If any group understands how to make those kinds of institutional changes, I would expect that group to include strategists from the conservative resurgence. One share of stock in WalMart get you a vote and a seat at a stockholder's meeting...you can take it from there. Other groups have succeeded with a similar strategy.

Bottom line: I am not making plans to boycot WalMart although I am far less likely to purchase books from the store... call it a WalMart Book-cot if you like, but things that don't sell at WalMart are replaced by items that will. Now, I am struggling with how I should respond knowing a little more about Amazon. Thank goodness Amazon doesn't sell groceries!