How Things Become Politicized
There is a growing lament among centrists and moderates that everything has become political (1).
In Luke 11:17 Jesus says, “Every Kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.” And boy is America divided. From sports, to beans. Ice cream to pillows, politics (and the strife that it brings) seems to have invaded every aspect of our lives.(2)
But how did we get here?
The latest kerfuffle of the MLB All Star game is an excellent example.
Following the drama of the 2020 election, the Republican-controlled legislature in Georgia passed a bill that changed election laws. The stated intent of the bill was to secure the integrity of their elections. Democrat politicians claimed this was a racist attempt to disenfranchise minorities.
All of this is pretty typical for American politics. The MLB entered the picture when the Players Association threatened to move the All-Star game out of Georgia. After that it was game over.
President Biden announced his support for such a boycott on national TV (4). A couple days later, the MLB officially announced it would be moving the game somewhere else (5). This move was justified as, “the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport.”
Given that this was a political move, the Republicans had to respond and respond they did.
Chief among them, Donald Trump called for a boycott of the MLB and the governor of Texas declined to throw the first pitch at the Rangers’ first home game of the season (6).
And just like that “America’s Game” has been politicized.
All it takes is making a political statement. The competing political parties, media companies, and the internet will do the rest.
And here’s why all of this is a problem. It adds zero value (this is also referred to as virtue signaling).
Did Trump’s photo shoot make Goya beans taste better? Did Ben and Jerry’s “defund the police” campaign reduce the number of calories in a cup of ice cream? Did David Hogg’s liberal and union-based pillow company help people get a better night’s sleep? Lastly, does knowing what the MLB thinks about national and state voting laws improve the skills and entertainment of the game of baseball?
No, No, No, and NO!
That’s why all of this politization is bad. It doesn’t provide people with a better product and even worse it creates unnecessary division.
This is what Paul was talking about when he wrote, “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.”
-1 Cor 1:10
So where does that leave us when it comes to companies like Goya and Ben and Jerry’s? My hope is that corporations will realize the fleeting publicity of a political statement is not worth the resulting division. If we can move past empty virtue signaling, maybe we can take steps toward unifying around reasonable bi-partisan policies.
Sources:
2.
Colin Kaepernick https://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/12/football/where-is-the-european-colin-kaepernick/index.html
Goya Beans https://disrn.com/news/trump-shares-photo-of-himself-with-goya-foods-products-in-the-oval-office
Ben and Jerries' https://disrn.com/news/ben--jerrys-calls-for-defunding-the-police-explains-juneteenth
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