i’m not much of a protester. i do stand up for what i believe in and even try to make my views known to the powers that be on those matters – i write letters, send emails, and more on pretty much anything that cheapens human life (i.e death penalty, abortion, certain types of research, etc.) yet, i’m not the type of person who goes out looking for the next organization to boycott or next protest to be a part of.
with that said, i think i’ve run across an organization that i will begin to boycott until they begin to value humanity more. the business is taco bell. the reason i’m starting to boycott them is the coallaition of immokalee workers. the coalition of immokalee workers (ciw) is the organization that represents the tomato pickers for taco bell. the ciw is looking for a 1 penny raise from taco bell – they are still making the 1980 rate for picking tomatoes. that’s absurd! it wouldn’t cost taco bell much, if anything, to give this small raise.
in scripture the book of amos is all about justice. justice does not just mean the administration of law. no in the book of justice we find out that GOD defines justice as treating fairly those who have less power than you. justice means to protect the weak. therefore, i have to respond to taco bell. i’m not very powerful. i don’t have a mighty voice that corporations will listen to and be swayed by. all i have is a family, a ministry, a my own pigheadedness. but i will use what i have. i won’t eat at taco bell and my family has agreed to do the same thing. the only other thing i have is leadership within our youth ministry and using that i will not bring my teens to eat at a taco bell again until the ciw gets a raise. i have emailed taco bell and told them this.
even if it isn’t enough to make them change their minds right now, i will still not give my money or encourage my teens to give their money to an unjust company.
protect the weak!