Go Ahead Boycott, but at Your Own Peril

April 11, 2016 By Arch Kennedy

In all of my 46 years of life, I have never seen the act of boycotting used as much as today. If your politics does not align, boycott! Really? Is that where we are at in 2016? Are we THAT intolerant? I have been reading a lot of news on several issues in Georgia and North Carolina on religious liberty and bathrooms.

So, I live in Georgia and HB757 was a little more of an interest for me. What upset me the most was that big companies were threatening to boycott the state if the bill passed. Here is a list of the companies.

1.  The NFL
2. Disney
3. AMC Networks
4. Human Rights Campaign
5. Intel
6. Dow Chemical
7. Salesforce
8. Live Nation
9. Time Warner
10. Viacom
11. Starz
12. 21st Century Fox
13. Lionsgate
14. Sony
15. The Weinstein Company
16. Comedy Dynamics

My question is, did any of the executives really read the bill? Or, is the rule of thumb these days to have a knee-jerk reaction to everything we see. The bill was said to be discriminatory and here is why. There are churches that support organizations such as shelters that get government grants, and the bill would supposedly allow them to not hire whomever they want. Ok, I sort of get that part of the bill. But, that is not the only part of the bill. It also gave pastors a bit more security, which mirrored RFRA which Bill Clinton passed in the 90s. I also know the gay community, and there are some militant gays out there that will try to prove a political point and sue a preacher for not wanting to perform their wedding. Let’s be fair. Both groups need to be protected.

The reality of if it, though, is that, while that is considered a discriminatory aspect of the bill, it would impact gays in no way whatsoever. The reason I know this is because gays like to congregate in their own organizations and would never apply for a job at a shelter supported by the church that did not accept them. So it is really a moot point.

The next boycotting situation is North Carolina. This is a big one because the hypocrisy of the boycotters is through the roof. HB2 or the “bathroom bill” basically says you must have the male parts to go to the men’s restroom and the female parts to go into the women’s restroom.

PayPal was one such company that decided not to open offices in North Carolina. That is fine, but at least be consistent. PayPal’s international headquarters is in Singapore where homosexual acts are punishable by up to two years in jail. Another inconvenient truth is PayPal announced opening offices in Dubai in the UAE where homosexuality is punishable by death.

Bruce Springsteen is on the list of hypocrites boycotting North Carolina. He condemns a bathroom law in North Carolina and cancels his concert, but has no problem at all with performing in Zimbabwe, or in Cuba, or in other countries with horrific track records of abuse and summary EXECUTION of gays. Where is your outrage for that, Bruce?!

I think that the basic human right to life should be much more important to gays than a bathroom issue for transgender people who feel they should be able to choose their bathroom just by sex they “associate” themselves with. You want to have the operation, then fine. Let’s talk about it then. Until then, it is common sense folks!

So I say to these activists, go ahead and boycott as that is your right. BUT, I also have to right to refuse your services as well. I wonder how many other Americans will do the same.