The Target Boycott

I am up in what I call the "wee hours" -- I suppose that would be after midnight to morning, maybe 5 or 6 am.  Right now it is 4:15am, but I first got up about 1am.  When I can't sleep, I try to get up and get something done so the time isn't totally wasted.  I was about the go back to bed when I read my JULY 2016 letter from the AFA (American Family Association) about the Target Boycott they are promoting.

I have been thinking about these issues for many years, but the bathroom challenge is the worst event so far.  How to preserve the rights of ordinary people seems to be forgotten in the media extortions of the gay community.  Worse, it can be difficult to recognize the most dedicated transgendered or gender-changing people involved in this political battlefield.  It seems acceptable to violate the rights of most of America for the relatively few involved in this "need" for restroom access.  It is an extension of the marriage issue... where men become women and women become men (physically, but not genetically)... so a "man and a woman" can still fulfill the law while violating the principal of it.  We are truly in a pivotal moment in the history of the world.

I tend to see things from a biblical view because my focus is the End Times, where prophecy tells us that things will get difficult.  Many of the parts of our daily life that are healthy for Mankind will get lost, changing our societies.  Many of the battles for our souls will be won by the Enemy.  The rise of the gay community in social and political realms is really evidence that prophecy is true... and that the time for Christians on Earth is nearly over.

What does a boycott against Target achieve?  My letter from the AFA tells me ::

The company's stock has fallen 20% since AFA called for the boycott.  That computes to a loss of roughly $10 billion from the overall shareholder value of the company.  In comparison to other major retailers, Target's stock has dropped 3 to 4 times more than the stock of its competitors.

On both Facebook and Twitter, Target has remained silent on the boycott.  The importance of social media in business and marketing makes Target's silence significant.

Target isn't the only store trying to find its way through this commerce dilemma.  It happened to be the one that got "caught."  I suppose their bull's-eye logo and corporate size helped a little in the choice of who to make the victim of this social and moral and political issue. 

A boycott, by any side of any issue, brings unity to the opposition.  Christians are trying to have their voice heard, and a boycott helps to do that.  The money belt is always the most painful target for any group.  It is why boycotts are waged.

In reading my letter from the AFA, I am reminded again that issues bring in donations.  The gay community does the same thing :: seizing opportunities in the general news media to solicit funds for their cause.  So does Planned Parenthood and National Right to Life.  So does any group. To stay alive an organization has to generate donations/funds somehow.  Issues are the tool that helps them stay alive.  This funding connection always makes me wonder how much of a media event is truth and how much is hype to bring in the dollars. 

My AFA letter has some other very important details in it ::

[Christians are] angry that our own government is using its power to impose a lifestyle and belief system that relegates Christianity to the margins of our society when it should be front and center.

This radical idea that men who 'self-identify' as women should be able to use the restroom, locker room, or fitting room of their choice is ludicrous and defies common sense.  And yet if you dare to speak out you're called a bigot and at risk of being fired from your job. (My note: or sent to "sensitivity training" - but only if you have the Christian viewpoint.)

Moreover, by having a policy that allows this, Target has opened the door for the predators among us to look for the most vulnerable as victims.

The other side of this conversation would make an argument opposite of this, stating their rights are more supreme than the rest of the country.  Both claim to have the truth... and they probably do both have parts of the TRUTH... but the real truth is hidden in the middle of all of this rhetoric.

There are many different kinds of predators looking to take advantage of this "movement" to violate restroom gender in commercial businesses.  The list includes pedophiles and voyeurs, possibly rapists and those involved in child sex trafficking.  There are also earnest men who dress as women and women who dress as men - both of which may need to use a restroom when they go shopping and may not know which one to use.  Ordinary people who want to go shopping and not be afraid to go to the restroom also have rights in this issue.  How do we solve this dilemma?  Who's rights prevail?

This process of lobbying for change is the same for every cause.  Handicapped individuals had problems in our restroom world because few thought about their needs.  As a previously homeless person, I can testify to the problems of homeless populations who need to access a restroom.  What we are dealing with now is more than just access to a restroom, it involves the issue of gender, the need for separation of the genders in personal care activities, the right to privacy, the need for safety when you are vulnerable.  Handicapped persons and homeless persons still used the gender-appropriate group restroom.

Stores are required, I believe, to have a certain number of restroom stalls for the size of their building.  Like the number of parking spots required by the regulating government power, toilets cost money and take up space.  The only possible solution I see to the restroom gender problem is to create individual private restrooms.  And maybe they can (finally) be spread out around the different departments of a large store!

If we must make the change to individual, handicap-accessible restrooms, maybe some kind of tax relief is an option... and the sooner, the better !!

That is my view of the problem.  Christians cannot stop what prophecy has already told us is coming.  What we need to do is to find a way through these coming problems.  I am not advocating total submission... I think the enemy of our souls needs to be battled against, and those who oppose us on moral grounds need to accept our rights as equal to their own.  Solution respect both sides... I think individual handicap-accessible restrooms are our only option at this point.

I hope the remodeling starts today!