This topic always draws a lot of feedback. The thing is from the moment someone starts to talk, or write, you usually have a good idea what side of the fence they are on. I fear-and I’m speaking about myself too-that too often we are choosing what side of the fence we want to be on, and then just finding evidence to back it up. Maybe it’s cause you had a bunch of liberal friends, or you hung out with the grunge crowd, some external pressure just decided for you that you hated Walmart, and since then you’ve found all kinds of reasons why this is true. For others it’s their republican upbringing, their support of “Christian” values, or their love of low prices that swayed their decision and now they’ve found all kinds of reasons to support that choice. Honestly, I probably fall into one of those categories, but give me a minute to share with you why I personally avoid Walmart.

At some point in my movement towards maturity, I recognized the significance of personal responsibility. I realized that with any situation, regardless of the reasons behind it or circumstances concerning it, my involvement (or passive silence) would show my support for it. If something is against the rules, and I say nothing about it, I show my support for it. If my government, of which I am a part, makes a decision and I say nothing about it, I support it. I need to take responsibility for those things. If I am ever confronted on those things (and I have this strange feeling I might be), I will not be able to pass blame like Adam did, I will be held accountable for my decisions.

I’ve definitely made poor decisions in the past. I remember being in high school and seeing a sign posted above a drinking fountain in the hallway. Walmart and Sweatshops was the topic, and I passed it by without a second thought. Interesting that I can remember that now, but it had no bearing on me then. For a number of years I had been aware of this, and I did nothing.

At some point later, maybe after I had been exposed to some facts, seen some video, and been confronted a few more times, I realized that important lesson on personal responsibility. Suddenly, the weight of the responsibility was heavy on me. I never went through a research project of weighing the Pros and Cons of Walmart. To be honest most of this debate about whether Walmart is good or bad seems to miss the point for me. I’m not saying it doesn’t have significance, but it gets us into a balance game, and I’m not interested in that.

This is the one fact that disturbs me. Close your eyes. Think about the shirt you are wearing. Trace it back through the store you bought it from, back past being packaged, past being shipped, and to the place it was stitched and sewn together. I’m terrified when I do that and I see a small child, dirty and weary from 18 hours a day of labor, looking into my eyes and awaiting an explanation. What will I say to that little girl? What does taking responsibility mean for me there?

I cannot in good conscience buy from a store where I am aware that that is where the items came from. Does Walmart employ sweatshops? I’m not sure, but I’ve heard evidence of it, and the mere possibility scares me. Do other Stores employ sweatshops? Probably many other stores do, and as I become aware of them, my purchasing decisions and opportunities will become more and more difficult; But that in NO way allows me to disregard my responsibility. Do ALL stores employ sweatshops? I do not believe so. I know of a number of fair trade clothing stores whose goal and focus is to be sweatshop free.

I’m not advocating a boycott; I don’t know enough about economics, etc to make a strong decision on that. I do think that when a company like Walmart is in the news for bad practices, it should affect our spending habits. When Martha Stewart goes to jail our continued purchases send the message that we don’t care about her breaking the law. When we read that Coca-Cola has been polluting the water in India, our continued purchasing sends the message that we do not care. I long for someone with much more brilliance then I to come along and give me a plan for making choices and organizing in a way that will affect change for the good. Are you that person?

I leave you with this. As a friend, I want to admonish you. I am aware of some facts that might or might not be true about Walmart. Please stop shopping there until you have examined the facts. [facts to be found on your own, so as to avoid any bias on this site]

Not being in school any longer I have to go to a little more effort to learn new things.  One of my joys is hearing what my friends are learning or researching in their schooling.  My friend Ben has been taking an Old Testament studies class and has heard some interesting presentations.  One of them was about Maimonides’ Eight Levels of Charity from the Mishneh.

It’s an extremely interesting way to look at giving and for us to consider our motives.  

1. The greatest level is helping someone enough that they no longer need help.  I wonder if sponsoring a child might possibly fall into this category.  Other then that these stories are more rare then I would imagine.  I would hope to find more opportunity to do this in my life.
2. Anonymous giving through a trustworthy administrator is given the second highest status.  I find this surprising since it seems to divorce our giving from our personal relationships, which I’m not sure is a good thing.  At the same time this does encourage giving to the many organizations that help our neighbors overseas.
3. Anonymously giving to someone you know.
4. Giving anonymously, though the receiver knows his benefactor. I’m unsure how they decided the order of levels 3 and 4, but I’m glad they differentiated them no less. 
5. Giving directly into the hand of someone in need WITHOUT being asked. I like the specifics of this one being giving directly into the persons hand.  There doesn’t seem to be much disclaimer on this, and there shouldn’t be.  I do recall stories of people trying to help someone without being asked where the person took offense, or didn’t really need anything, but they are rare.  The majority of the time we are scrooges until someone makes a request of us (I know because I am horrible at this).
6. Giving after being asked. This, if I’m not mistaken, is the way the vast majority of us give
7. Giving INADEQUATELY, but gladly. And I think we ALL do this one a lot of the time.
8. Giving unwillingly. Yeah, not so noble.

What do you think of these categories?

So back in the day I had a youth group leader named Jamie…he introduced me to a amazing preacher guy named John Piper…Piper turned me on to a theologian stud named Jonathan Edwards. Edwards was hardcore and had a running list of some 70 resolutions.  I mentioned some of the resolutions in the article I wrote for Relevant, but here is the extended list with a little explanation if necessary.

Resolved… to in every way live my life in such a way that these are seen in my life.

…To buy nothing for the sole purpose of convenience (eating out, garage door opener, etc.) or to in any way further (in a worldly sense) my own image (clothes, shoes, hair, car).

…To in no way let my “rules” infringe on another’s well being, or cause them to judge, or create a stumbling block for them. (not eating out, cause I don’t want to)

…Never to willingly put myself in a place of great temptation, to be careful to weigh the reasons to be in that place.

…To not let Satan use the last resolve to keep me from bringing God’s truth to anyone, of filling God’s purpose anywhere.

…To make full use of every minute of time as it were my last, and to analyze this time use often.

…To daily each morning come to God and bask in his grace for another day before me, to enjoy Him and his work on this earth.

…Not to allow fear of man to keep me from any task.

Stay tuned for part II.

2005 was an exciting year in my writing career. I started off with the ambitions of being a regular writer for my school newspaper, The Wheaton Record, and I finished the year having written multiple articles for a national publication (website). Let me give you a rundown.

In January 2005 I wrote a piece for The Wheaton Record concerning the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. In February, after much thoughtful dialogue with friends at Wheaton and online, I wrote a piece entitled, What Would it Take, looking at Walmart and our consumerism and the impact of where we spend our dollars. Finally, in late April I wrote a letter to my fellow seniors encouraging them to begin tithing regularly after graduation.

After reading What would it Take, someone suggested that I submit it to Relevant Magazine and see if they might publish it. It was a delight and a surprise when, less then a month later, Won Kim, the managing editor sent me this email:

Hey Ariah,

Posted your article in the life section of the site a day ago. Very challenging and insightful … It’s awesome when a submission doesn’t have to be preachy but intellectually challenging … It lets our readers follow it all the way thru and collect their thoughts.

Hope to hear more from you.

Best,
won

I was estatic and a couple days later I was added to the list of regular freelance writers for the Revolution section. The article generated more discussion and dialogue then any other article I had seen posted on Relevant. It was that feedback that pushed me to set up THIS blog in an effort to capture interested readers.
I quickly had two articles lined up to be posted at the launch of the new Relevantmagazine.com site, which ended up being two months of eager anticipation and delays. I've since had multiple articles published at the Relevantmagazine.com site discussing everything from world hunger and 9/11, stewarship in college, fair trade consumerism, genocide in Darfur, and the Earthquake in Pakistan.

In Order: What Would it Take, Poor College Students, Remembering 9/10, Crisis in Darfur, Earthquake in Pakistan, Fair Trade at the Supermarket, New Year's Resolutions. (click on the image for an image of the page, click on the linked titles to go to the Relevant Magazine website posting of the article, and leave a comment if you do).

The year concluded with another exciting development, my article (edited by Jesse Carey) about New Year's Resolutions was the featured article on the email newsletter, 850 words of Relevant.

Looking Forward
What will this next year bring for my writing and publishing? I'm excited to announce that I'm hoping to have my first print article (and paid) published early this year. In addition, I'm looking to start submitting articles to other publications. I'd love to have something in Geez Magazine before 2007.