Supporting the Chinese

An article in The Week turned my crank this morning. In the June 17 article, Jonathan Merritt blasts Hobby Lobby for claiming to be a Christian business while operating in an unchristian manner. His main objection is that the store chain stocks many items that are made in China. Merritt believes that since the Chinese have such a deplorable human rights and religious liberty record, Hobby Lobby is wrong to buy from them because it indirectly supports non-Christian practices like abortion.

In an editorial response in the Rutland Herald, Hobby Lobby Vice-president and chief legal officer, Peter Doblebower defends the store purchasing practices saying, "Virtually all Hobby Lobby’s vendors are small entrepreneurial businesses without control over their government’s abortion policies." What he does not say is that the "small entrepreneurial businesses" are the salvation of many third world people. If not for global outreach (aka outsourcing), there would be no "small entrepreneurial businesses," and the people would probably be added to the statistics of starvation.

It is also worth noting that Merritt and the people at the Huffington Post and elsewhere who charge Hobby Lobby with hypocrisy undoubtedly toast their self-righteous attitudes with Russian vodka after kicking off their Italian loafers while sitting on their Swedish sofa having driven home in their Japanese car they fillled up at a Dutch/British/Venezuelan oil company's gas station. We thrive in a global market where it is almost impossible to define American-made. With Toyotas made in America and Mustangs made in Canada, who is driving the "foreign car?"

Much of what I have said is echoed by John Stonestreet in an excellent article in the Christian Post. But neither Stonestreet nor anyone else I've read mentions a very important perspective. Critics of Hobby Lobby mention the shockingly low minimum wage in China. What they don't consider is the relatively low cost of living in China. According to one source, a white collar worker in Shanghai averages the equivalent of $1,000 US monthly salary. This is considered a comfortable wage in the highest cost city in China. Minimum wage in Shanghai is $290. This 3-1 difference is almost exactly the ratio of minimum wage to average white collar income in America.

It is always dangerous to mix Christianity and business (or politics), but it seems to me that as believers we should consider how to interact on a human level with other humans of all nationalities. Hobby Lobby is not the US government and the small entrepreneur making the cheap products is not the Chinese government. Neither one necessarily approves of the policies of the government under which they labor. Both must do what they can to live according to their beliefs within the framework of that government.

I am comfortable thinking that I support the small Chinese entrepreneur by shopping at Hobby Lobby. If you disagree, shop elsewhere. The situation with Hobby Lobby's outsourcing to China may not be perfect, but I challenge you to find a merchant more concerned with doing things Christianly than Hobby Lobby. In a complex world, half a loaf is better than none. In this case, the half loaf may just feed a family that would starve without it.