Indirectly/unintentionally supporting businesses that promote anti-Christian/Catholic teachings?

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k5thbeatle

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As a responsible practicing Catholic what is my responsibility for avoiding utilizing businesses and products made by companies that support anti-Christian ideals? To be truthful I was kind of oblivious to a lot of this and was shocked to learn of what certain companies stand for and promote.

Couple of quick examples:

I was wanting to get my cholesterol checked. A simple fast way to do so is to have it done by a local large chain pharmacy so I looked them up on their web-site because I wanted to call and ask a few questions. I was on hold just mindlessly glancing at their web-site which had rolling ads every 20 seconds or so when I was shocked to see an add scroll up that promoted a product which promotes male masturbation!

For some time we have been frustrated by the quality of food…mostly fruits and vegetables, available at our local stores. It was hit and miss but mostly miss and many times the produce was horrid and not even close to fresh. A few years back a big name grocery store moved into our neighborhood and their items, while slightly more expensive, were fantastic! Always fresh and plenty of variety. Recently I was shocked to learn that this particular store supports many anti-Christian foundations like planned parenthood and also homosexual agendas.

I am so confused (and upset) to learn of these companies (and others) support of these types of things. My question is am I wrong to continue to shop and use these products knowing that they indirectly (or directly?) support agendas I am opposed to?

Sometimes I feel that if I were to discontinue using such companies I wouldn’t be able to buy anything anywhere?🤷😦
 
k5thbeatle said:
I was shocked to see an add scroll up that promoted a product which promotes male masturbation!
Click to expand...
Sorry, but I just have to ask. What product were they advertising that “promotes male masturbation?”
 
You cannot possibly dinsentangle yourself from all companies that might support things you oppose.

So, no, the Church has no teaching requiring you to do so. This is what is called remote cooperation with sin. You give your money for legitimate purposes. You cannot control what happens after. Now, doing business directly with planned parenthood would be direct cooperation.

That said, if you feel called to boycott a particular store or product, you are free to do so. You should let them know why and what it would take for a return of your business.
 
Honestly, I think it’s up to you. There is no hard and fast teaching on this. Here’s what I do:

Avoid shopping at places that exist solely to promote immorality (e.g. “adult” stores, occult shops). Avoid as much as possible shopping at businesses that aggressively promote causes that are immoral (perhaps they are proud sponsors of the local gay pride parade or Planned Parenthood and have banners in their stores saying so). If I know of businesses that actively promote moral causes or are run by faithful Catholics, I patronize them when I have a need for them (I think this is actually much more effective than boycotting).

There is an organization that you can send a donation to and receive a list of companies that have donated to Planned Parenthood. I used to receive their list but I quickly got overwhelmed. Many, many of the largest corporations donate to all kinds of causes, political candidates, etc - sometimes opposing ones (no matter who wins, they’ll have a listening ear.) It gets to be too much. And since our family is incredibly frugal anyway, by necessity, I don’t patronize a lot of those businesses. I prefer to do local when I can, when I know the people in charge and I have a better idea of who they are and what they actually stand for, and the money actually stays in my local economy.

Keep in mind too that online ads may not be representative of the page you’re on, depending on the algorithms used to generate the ads (and almost every chain pharmacy/mass retailer sells condoms. 🤷)
 
Use personal judgment, but don’t get carried away. Let’s be honest, if one tried to boycott every company that supported even one iota of anything anti-Catholic values and morals, one would starve to death rather quickly.
 
One’s that indirectly or unintentionally do this are one thing. There are other companies out there that are overtly hostile. Those are the one’s I specifically avoid. The others are frankly ignorant and I usually don’t have the time to let them know.

For example, almost every major pharmacy prescribes artificial birth control drugs and products. There are others such as Starbuck’s that have stated publicly, if you don’t like their stance on marriage, sell your company stock and go buy your coffee elsewhere. J.C Penney’s is actively promoting the lesbian life style. I won’t buy at either.
 
As a prolife activist, I boycott as much as possible and I contact prolife and catholic companies to let them know of the relationships between planned parenthood and the companies they use. Sometimes, it is very effective. Up to now 294 companies have been removed from the boycott. As a Life Decisions International member, you can get a list of all the companies. www.fighpp.org. As a previous post stated, it can be overwhelming, but I try to focus on a few at a time. I have been able to find alternatives and so it is not completely impossible. Some examples: Instead of Starbucks, Dunkin. Instead of Whole foods, my local nutrition store. Instead of Home Depot, I now use Staples. Instead of Home Depot, Loews. Instead of Paypal, use regular credit card processing or use webs that don’t use paypal. Instead of Ebay, shop at the actual stores or Walmart. Instead of staying at the the Marriott and other boycott hotels, we use Holiday Inn Express, Country Inn and suites or La Quinta. Just a few ideas.
 
its not easy, is it? I can’t totally boycott eBay (there are items on eBay that can NOT be found in any local stores…mainly ink refills for a specific pen I have, I bought the refills from an eBay seller a year ago. The same thing with a bag for my Wii (not Wii U) that I needed so I could take my Wii + accessories with me somewhere. I have used paypal when paying for a few handmade knitting looms - otherwise I would have to use my credit card and I don’t do that very often, IF paypal is otherwise accepted. I wish there was a true alternative that didn’t charge fees for receiving or sending $.

Whole Foods - there are a handful of items they carry that another organic natural foods store doesn’t - and they are a place to recycle Brita water pitcher filters. However, I don’t shop there that often - we’re having one open in December and while I MIGHT stop there once or twice, I won’t go there regularly, as I have another store I go to a lot more.
 
I’d like to quit doing business with the most anti-Christian enterprise on the planet, but unfortunately, there is no alternative but to use its product and services.
 
I think I’m just now beginning to see how difficult this is going to be. Never realized just how many companies support the culture of death.
 
I suppose there’s one thing we can do–we can pray for the conversion of the hearts of those corporate executives who make the decisions to support immoral causes.
 
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