I am tired of the hatred and, mostly, the emails.

I received the following email from a number of people the other day:

In a show of support to help homosexuals legalize same-sex marriage, Wal-Mart has agreed to automatically donate 5% of online sales directly to the Washington DC Community Center for Gay, Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender People. The cash donation will come from online purchases made at Wal-Mart through the homosexual group's Web site. This move follows Wal-Mart's joining the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and agreeing to give generous financial help to that organization also. Every purchase made online for books, music, videos, clothing and accessories, children's clothing and toys, and electronics at the site will automatically send 5% of the sales to the CCBLBT People. The agreement is an indication that Wal-Mart is totally committed to supporting the homosexual movement. Wal-Mart also gave a generous cash donation to the Northwest Arkansas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center, helping to provide a place where homosexuals can come together to "socialize." Many observers feel it would have been a wise business decision for Wal-Mart to remain neutral in the cultural battle over homosexual marriage. But this was an ideological decision by Wal-Mart - not a business decision.
Sign the pledge not to shop at Wal-Mart or Sam's Club on the Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving. Time is short. Act today!

This is the reply I wanted to post, but then thought I would post it here. Not because I am a coward, but because I didn't want a bunch of people emailing me and telling me more things:

Since the profits are only coming from purchases made when a person initiates the online transaction from the transgender website, I don't think that this is any different than a local pizza parlor holding a fundraiser for a high school team wherein the school may sell its products at a game and keep only the profits made at that game--it is a localized fundraiser affecting a specified group of people who must work together on their end to get the money. The only difference is that these people have a lifestyle that some do not approve of.

While it is well-known that I believe WalMart to be a major evil in the world, I believe that a hasty boycott because people do not like the consumers targeted by a fundraiser is not very effective or ethical. Targeting a business because they want to sell products to everyone is a slippery slope--just as Ford wants to sell cars to EVERYONE, WalMart wants to sell products to EVERYONE. This is capitalism at its finest. If we try to limit who can buy and who can sell, and to whom, we are allowing our nations businesses to actively discriminate. I believe that one of the first punitive measures in pre-WW2 Germany was to only allow Jews to buy from Jews, and for everyone else to boycott any businessman who decided to sell his products to EVERYONE.

While the politics of homosexual and trans-gender groups may not be something I am in support of, the simple fact that they need to buy bread and milk and shoddily-made clothes manufactured by homeless orphans is not something that I am willing to stand in the way of. These people, regardless of their "orientation" have to eat and feed their families. If they were smart enough to engineer a fundraiser giving back some of their purchases, bully for them. Why aren't we all trying to work the same deal for our groups? I would purchase things on an adoption website if it meant that some of the proceeds would go to FSA. I currently purchase as much as possible from UPromise, including from Walmart where I get the same promised 5%, which goes directly to Jooj's college fund. So, how about instead of boycotting everyone just shops at UPromise and allots their purchases to my account. You will be giving my kid, who is neither currently gay or transgendered, a chance to pay for college--I promise we will gladly take your money, even if it is out of spite!

I would also like to make the following statement:
I think that the beauty of capitalism is that we are allowed to make money, hand over fist, by selling to anyone we want. In addition, a few vilified companies directly support me, via Christmas presents and deals and, eventually, an inheritance--I am talking to you, Papo! If they make lots of money by selling to gay people or straight people or people with lobster-hands or to the Bat Boy, bully for me. I have boycotted many times, but not out of hatred for segments of the population who, mostly, are good people. (I am not speaking of serial killers. I would boycott against serial killers.) Whatever your politics, preferences, and religion, we are all just trying to get along. And I am trying to get along without emails, the majority of which are vindictive and punitive, trying to make me hate everyone else.

PS--if you really want to boycott WalMart, how about you do it because they don't pay their people a living wage or overtime or don't sell IZZE?