Boycotts Based on Conscience

[blackforest]

I’m still just learning about Catholic moral theology, (e.g. direct, material cooperation with evil, etc.), so feel free to cite any of it here.If you are going to boycott a business or non-profit based on your social conscience as a Catholic, how many degrees of separation should exist between you and the evil with which the other party is associated?

If that doesn’t make sense, here are some specifics. Let’s take an obvious issue like abortion. Assuming you’re pro-life, you would rightly boycott Planned Parenthood or any organization that performs abortions or lobbies for abortion rights. That’s the most direct connection.

Slightly less direct but still a no-go for me: A business you love actively promotes abortion rights. I had to stop shopping at a favorite plant nursery and ceased taking the kids to an ice cream shop because both places had hosted events for Planned Parenthood. I’m also a knitter and stopped buying yarn from a local supplier because she was giving away a share of her proceeds of each purchase to Planned Parenthood. So out of my $30 skein, I’d be effectively donating $3.00 to PP, (3 too many! )

It gets grayer from there. I may get flamed of this, but I no longer fret about which business owners give their personal profits to the abortion rights cause, (e.g. Target). Do you? Should I? If you answer these questions, please try to cite some Catholic teaching. Thanks!

 

[SuperLuigi]

I would say follow your conscience.

I unsubscribed from an atheist channel on youtube because they proudly proclaimed to have supported abortion groups in the 3rd World.

For me boycotts center more around incompotent Catholic Churches and Catholic organizations than something like PP because I’d never use their services anyways. Even if you agreed with what they did, their record on ethics and health should give you pause.

 

[J.S.C]

Boycotts are effective methods of protest.

I haven’t been to Walmart for nearly three years because I’m not a fan of how they pay/treat their workers. For 50 dollars a year, I can support a business with excellent benefits and great employee morale (Costco).

In a market economy we vote with our money.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I don’t have specific teaching to cite because I feel that on this subject of boycotts, the Church simply expects us to use our consciences and our common sense.

I think the OP’s approach - boycotting Planned Parenthood itself and also any businesses that actively support or tout their support for PP - is a good one and it is also what I do.

I cannot keep track of where business “owners” give personal profits, any more than I can keep track of whether 5000 employees of Company A decide they want to donate to PP (or to the local Catholic charity) and obtain gift match funds from their company. Many business “owners” (who depending on the corporate structure, may not even have much to say about how their business is run) are not well-known people and/or do their donating in secret or anonymously, so I have no idea if they are giving money to PP or to the Catholic Church or just blowing all their money on booze and overpriced fashions.