From the Left

/

Politics

Corporate Activism Finds its Footing On Religious Freedom Laws

By Clarence Page, Tribune Content Agency on

You can tell that a movement is scoring some important points when its opponents want to change the subject.

That thought comes to mind when I hear critics charge Apple CEO Tim Cook with hypocrisy in his recent protests of "religious freedom" legislation in Indiana and Arkansas that has been criticized by Cook, among others, as anti-gay.

As one reader emailed after I mentioned Cook in a column about the controversy: "You failed to mention that the Apple Corporation does business with several countries (all larger than Indiana) that brutalize homosexuals and women. I guess that was just an oversight on your part. I'm not surprised."

Snark, snark. The reader's argument falls into a category of non-argument. Call it the "Oh, yeah? Well, what about ... (fill in the blank)?" defense.

In this case, instead of dealing directly with the abuses raised by Cook, most dramatically in a March 29 Washington Post op-ed , shift the topic to the abuses Apple appears to condone overseas.

Cook, head of one of the world's largest corporations, can speak for himself, but I can think of several responses he might use.

 

For one, as an old saying that my father used to lay on me endlessly goes, charity begins at home and then spreads abroad. Apple's efforts to do the right thing here in America should not have to wait for their efforts overseas. They can do both at once, as should we all.

Second, it makes a difference for major corporations and not just political activists and nonprofits to issue bold statements in favor of equal opportunity and respect for everyone, regardless of race, gender, religion or sexual orientation. People who wonder, "What can I do?" can start with what they have.

Cook certainly was not alone in criticizing the legislation modeled after the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. But, coming from the first openly gay CEO in the Fortune 500 list, his recent Washington Post op-ed went viral with extraordinary strength and drew attention to similar protest statements and boycott threats by other major companies.

Wal-Mart, Salesforce, Angie's List and Eli Lilly, among other companies, and associations that included the NCAA and NASCAR protested any legislation that, as Arkansas-based Wal-Mart put it, "threatens to undermine the spirit of inclusion present throughout the state."

...continued

swipe to next page

(c) 2015 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

 

 

Comics

Peter Kuper Al Goodwyn David Horsey Gary McCoy Bob Englehart Bill Day