Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Re-think Corporations

So obviously the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Hobby Lobby case, as well as previous rulings such as Citizens United are not universally popular.  Personally I find a lot in them that I do not agree with; however, since I have yet to be named to the Supreme Court and see little immediate avenue for change, rather than just lament I figured to try and make some lemons out of lemonade ... or maybe the other way around.

Corporations are people too, at least right now there is no getting around this fact.  Recent rulings have made it quite clear.  We can fight it and joke about it, but what if we actually did something positive about it?  What would it look like if we started treating companies MORE like people instead of less.  If companies can have religious beliefs, maybe we should be working to help them have good ones.  Should a good Christian company tithe from its income (not profits)?  What would a good humanist company look like?  Would we prefer these sorts of companies to strictly profit-based ones.  I mean, they are not holding beliefs you don't agree with, except maybe the belief that they should have your money and not you.  We often find fault with companies for NOT caring about their workers, so maybe we continue to work on an understanding of what it means to care.  Outside of birth control, Hobby Lobby seems to be making some good steps in that direction (above minimum wage pay, Sundays off, etc), but there is always room for growth.  What if we found ways to teach an understanding of business that was not just about the money but instead was a reflection of our values.  Too often, good people hide behind the veil of corporations to justify their bad actions.  Maybe we need to start creating a climate that is different.  Companies, like all other people, need to start acting like good citizens.  And if the company is Christian, they had better be in church on Sunday, I don't care how nice it is on the lake!