Issues@Hand
AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs
September 1997 – Feeling invincible inside the Magic Kingdom, Disney executives are snubbing Christians who object to the moral direction of the powerful entertainment/media company. Meanwhile, another large Christian group has joined the groundswell of support for the Disney boycott.
Concerned Women for America (CWA), a group of more than 500,000 people, said it would throw its weight behind the boycott, according to The Orlando Sentinel. “We have been traditionally Disney fans. We think they have left the family...(and) become a cultural polluter,” said CWA spokesman Jim Woodall.
In addition, a startling 49.5% of respondents to a USA Weekend magazine poll said they supported the boycott called by the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) at its annual meeting in June. Some 107,000 readers participated in the unscientific survey. The magazine, which appears in almost 500 newspapers across the country and has more than 41 million readers, reports that the response to the poll was the highest of any poll this year.
The Southern Baptist Convention vote seems to be galvanizing many Christians to take action. Dwayne Hastings, a spokesman for the SBC’s Christian Life Commission, said calls to the SBC are running 15-to-1 in favor of the boycott. Half of those supporting the boycott are not even Baptists.
“It’s a broad-based thing,” Hastings said. “I think it’s going to surprise a lot of people.”
Disney seems nonchalant, however, and recently even snubbed a group of pro-family leaders interested in resolving the issues that led to the boycott. Donald E. Wildmon, president of American Family Association (AFA), said a meeting had been arranged between the company and representatives of about a dozen organizations. But the Disney official who agreed to meet with them did not show. Instead, Disney sent a company representative who knew nothing about the boycott issues.
According to a story in the (Memphis) Commercial Appeal, one Disney spokesman accused the conservative groups of setting up the meeting as a publicity stunt.
In addition to Wildmon and Woodall, other representatives included Curtis Martin, Catholics United for the Faith; Clark Hollingsworth, Coral Ridge Ministries; Robert Knight, Family Research Council; Mark Maddox, Focus on the Family; Dr. Paul Gilchrist, Presbyterian Church of America; and Dr. Richard Land, Southern Baptist Convention.
Representatives from King for America, a civil rights group with a distinctly Christian philosophy, also attended. Alveda C. King, the chair and founder of King for America and niece of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, had arranged the meeting with Disney.
Boycott effort growing
Although both Family Research Council and Focus on the Family have official policies against boycotts, the radical pro-homosexual and anti-Christian practices of Disney have caused both organizations to consider making an exception.
The Western Conference of the Evangelical Congregational Church expressed concern about Disney’s direction. A letter from Conference Superintendent Rev. John C. Ward asked the company to “desist in its promotion of pro-homosexual propaganda.”
Also, at their Rocky Mountain District Convention in June, 170 churches of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod voted to “encourage Lutherans to give serious and prayerful reconsideration to their purchase and support of Disney products.”
And the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches voted at their 66th annual conference to reaffirm their opposition to Disney and “all who encourage the support of the homosexual lifestyle,” and urged individuals in their 1,426 churches to become informed of the practices at Disney and “to respond appropriately.”
Methodists ask Disney for explanation
The United Methodist Board of Pension and Health Benefits, meanwhile, is responding to pressure from Methodist ministers by asking Disney for a formal \response to the concerns raised by AFA, according to the Nashville (Tennessee) Banner. The pension board owns 202,000 shares of Disney stock, valued at $69 million.
Vidette Bullock Mixon, director of corporate relations and social concerns for the United Methodist Church (UMC), raised the possibility of divestiture, but said the board needed more information. “We have a process to go through. Traditionally, we don’t divest without monitoring companies closely,” she said.
Besides hearing from Disney, the pension board also said it wants the SBC to provide it with its rationale for voting to boycott Disney.
Bishop William W. Morris of Montgomery, Alabama, told the United Methodist News Service, “We need to know what the facts are about Disney’s policies.”
Rev. Wildmon, an ordained Methodist minister, said, “I don’t think most Methodist ministers would want their retirement money being invested in a company that produces filth, anti-Christian bigotry, and pro-homosexual propaganda. I think more UMC ministers should contact the board of pensions and express their concerns.”
This is not the first time the UMC Board of Pension and Health Benefits has linked investment policy to social concerns. The board does not invest in companies that make alcohol, military weapons or sell tobacco; it divested stocks in companies that did business with South Africa during the effort to end apartheid there; and it is currently talking with Delta Airlines and Nike about corporate policies that concern the board.
In “for the long haul”
As the boycott grows, Wildmon reiterated that AFA is intent on persevering in its commitment. “Boycotts often take time to take root and become effective,” Wildmon said. “We’re in this for the long haul.” 
