I was out and about running errands today when I came
across a bumper sticker in the BJs parking lot.
It said “Corporations Are Not People.”
Next to it was a “Hillary for America” sticker, so I think I got a
pretty good understanding of where she was coming from, but I must say a bumper
sticker like that is part of what’s wrong with our political process. It makes your opponent faceless so you can vilify
them easier. The reality is
corporations ARE people. I’m guessing
she didn’t get the irony that she was in the parking lot of what is a major
corporation. The guy behind the deli
counter, the woman at the register, the kid organizing the shopping carts, and
the guy punching her receipt (What’s the deal with that policy anyway?) are all
a part of a corporation. I’m sure if I
had the opportunity to ask, this woman would have told me that corporations are
just greedy entities made up of fat cats and the one percent, but it’s just not
accurate. Those corporations also have
administrative assistants, janitors, I.T. guys, cafeteria workers, middle
managers, receptionists, etc. Also it
should be noted that most corporations are not the colossal fortune 500 types,
they are actually small businesses; the “main streets” as opposed to the “wall
streets.” In summary, it was just a dumb
bumper sticker that upon closer examination makes little to no sense.
I push my blog as a Christian one, so what’s the
Christian perspective on all of this? Here’s
what I am thinking; if corporations actually are people, then Jesus loves them
and cares for them. He even cares for
those rich one percenters that help make some of those corporations run, because
Jesus came to this earth not to condemn it but to save it. And He didn’t just die for the lowly, the
down and out, or whoever else the woman with that bumper sticker may have in
mind. He died for people who work for
corporations; many of whom are in my congregation. They work hard, come to church, and are
faithful givers. We in turn take that
money they’ve given and use a good chunk of it to support those in need in our
community and around the world so that even more people can hear about how Jesus
died for them too. Corporations are not
faceless. They are not evil. They are people. We should all be thankful for them and the
good they do.
