I've been reading on other blogs about how Christians should behave, and how when they go out into the marketplace that they should speak up. But I'm wondering the more basic question of what sorts of businesses they should patronize. I've enjoyed reading comments on other blogs, but I wanted to not hijack the other blogs with my thoughts. So I'm writing here.
Do you go to restaurants with a bar area, smoking areas and raunchy rock music? Do you ask them to move or get rid of displays that offend you? Or do you just spend your money somewhere else?
How about your children's education? Do you let your child go to public school and then make an issue with things that go against your beliefs, thus saving other more busy Christians (single moms and other "issues" going on) some time and make a better environment for everyone? (No, I'm not talking recycling here.) Or do you opt out entirely and homeschool? Or... do you send them when they're young and pull them when things get bad in middle school? Or... do you keep them home to train their minds when they're young, and then send them for the math, orchestra, or whatever you feel unable to teach well when they're older?
What do you do? Do you stay IN every "worldly" institution and scene and hope to change it from the inside, or do you opt out entirely? How about those dirty politics? Do you vote anyway and hope that the Republican nominee (gag!) will at least be able to determine the replacements of future Supreme Court justices who retire during his presidency? I suppose you could jump off the deep end and vote Democratic because God loves giving, and if we "give" to our government, we are helping the poor. But I'm assuming that you're not crazy yet. I'm blogging under a pseudonym just in case, though...
Maybe you try to live pure before God. Let's say you want to be as clean and untainted as possible. Well, if you drive or even ride the bus, you're supporting the Wahabis in Saudi Arabia. Wear clothes? Well, you should! Sweatshop children. Let your kids play with toys? I'm sure your fellow humans in China thank you for your patronage as they scramble to live on their meagre wages. Good luck being clean and wholesome in all your "marketplace" dealings. And we haven't even gotten into what the head offices of the places you shop does with its investments.
So, maybe you just do your reasonable best like me. You try to stay away from the obvious tawdry things like the stripclubs and Boobers restaurants because you know that they're not going to move the ladies to the back room to cover up when you enter the place. Their whole point is to make money by being repulsive. Maybe you go to a "family" restaurant and then find that the menu promotes the latest PG 27 movie and the lyrics of the "background" rock music are offensive, but you know that your kids aren't going to "catch" the gimme-yer-luvvin'-type code names for this or that. You're not sure whether to stay or go. Sometimes you leave, but if you've PROMISED the kids they can eat at Orangetrees and Aerosmith comes on the loudspeaker, what to do?
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I am like you in that I just try my best. It would be impossible to not patronize any establishment that did something wrong because let's face it they all do in one way or another. We do go to restaurants that have a bar section but we ask to be seated as far from the bar as possible and do not go during heavy drinking times. As far as the music we teach our kids what music is right and many times when a bad song comes on they will say, "AWW that is bad music!" We do not patronize McDonald's at all because of their promotion and support of GLAD and Planned Parenthood. However we sat our oldest down and explained to him why we do not but why we should love and not judge homosexuals anyway. We just do not want our money going to promote that. He totally understood.
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