This post may offend some people, so read on at your own risk.
Woolworths, a South African retailer pulled a variety of, so called, ‘Christian Magazines’ from their shelves, citing poor sales performance as their reason for doing so. The response of some Christians should be categorised as nothing short of a tantrum. Amid threats of boycotts by the ‘Christian’ community, and only God knows what else Woolworths hastily re-stocked their shelves just in time to avert the battle of Armageddon, but not quickly enough to avert a major PR crisis. (Read media reports here and here).
Some thoughts:
Christian Consumer magazines (or Christian consumer anything else for that matter). Why do these magazines exist? Why do Christians buy them? What is the role/place of Christian consumer media?
Discrimination against Christians in South Africa. If you assume that this was intentional discrimination against Christians then go read John 15:18 and visit www.persecution.org
Christian activism. Should Christians be pleased that the results of their ‘activism’ returns magazines made by Christians, for Christians (in LSM 7-10) back to a single retailer’s shelves? Might it not be more in line with the mission of Jesus that Christian rhetoric and activism advocate the assistance of the poor, the healing of the broken hearted, etc?
3 comments:
One of the many things about Christians (if you can call them that)that irk me. When they feel they are being treated unjustly they are all up in arms, but when it when it comes to their own misdemeanors they stay silent. (I include myself in this as well some times) All this over a they selling of magazines? If we as Christians could put as much effort into creating a better South Africa through actually doing what Jesus said we should than we do complaining about petty things such as magazine sales then I believe South Africa would look a whole different. Maybe the adultery issue in the church could be something worth while solving for these people. Just a thought
Very good post, Michael.
Brian R
Maybe I missed something, but I fail to see what all the ruckus is about. Woolworths are doing what they do best, making money. The things that don't sell, have to go.
Agreed that they should probably fire their PR person, who should have s...een the onslaught coming, once they made the issue about "religious magazines" instead of "magazines that are not selling." Woolworths doesn't exist to represent every belief and to make everyone happy, it's there to sell stuff that everyone wants to buy. Sure they talk about making a difference to the environment etc. but I'm pretty sure that stuff wasn't on the map when the company was started. It's about MOOLA, dough, cash...
You don't want me to comment on the 'tantrum' (your words, not mine) that "Christians" threw, concerning the whole deal.. :-) If it were my decision to make, i wouldn't have reversed my decision to throw out the stuff that wasn't selling. I would have just clarified the motivation, and helped everyone relax. Maybe given away some free stuff.. :-)
Again, agreed, that all that energy could have been much better spent on fulfiiling the mission of reaching a lost, broken and dying world with the Love of a God, who is so all-together different that our self-centred label of "Christian" pales in comparison. God help us!
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