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Close Only Counts in Horseshoes;
Not in Telling the Truth
An Analysis of an Internet Rumor

© Copyright 2005 by Gretchen Passantino
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor (Exodus 20:16).
I am the Way, the Truth, & the Life (John 14:6).

Scarcely a day goes by that our organization doesn't get a query about one or more of many Internet rumors. Frequently we receive e-mail forwards from a myriad of sources urging us to take some action or refrain from some action because of important information we need to know. And yet, even though we have multiple articles posted on our site teaching people to be discerning about what they hear & read, rarely are any of these Internet rumors critically analyzed or checked for accuracy. Most rumors are fairly innocuous & don't play much part in the course of world history. But I am a Christian. Answers In Action is a Christian organization. Most of those who communicate with us about Internet rumors are Christians. And as Christians we are commanded in both testaments of our scriptures to be people of truth. While the truth or falsity of a python swallowing an alligator won't send anyone to hell or heaven, any time we couple the name of Christ with what is not true, we damage our own integrity, the church's reputation, the world's view of our Savior, & the trustworthiness of the gospel. Perhaps this analysis of an Internet rumor will encourage our fellow believers to be more discerning of error & committed to truth.

Here are some of the many rumors running rampant concerning Target Corporation & its stores & policies. Many are circulated anonymously from one private e-mail box to another. Some are promoted publicly by well-known & trusted Christian organizations that should know better:

Most of these charges can be easily checked by looking at the Target Corporation's web site: (http://sites.target.com/site/en/corporate/page.jsp?contentId=PRD03-000482)

or at any of the more popular "urban legend" web sites, such as Snopes: (http://www.snopes.com/).

or Truth or Fiction: (http://www.truthorfiction.com).

There are a number of Internet rumors evaluated at Answers In Action (http://www.answers.org/urbanlegends).

As 2005 enters its last calendar quarter, several Target rumors are being circulated in one piece exemplified by a posting on the conservative Christian values web site from the American Family Association (AFA):

(http://www.afa.net/petitions/SignPetition.asp?id=1430).

Let's look at these rumors as an exercise in critical thinking & ethical behavior.

When we pass on an accusation (whether it is against an individual or a company) that is false, we are, whether we know it or not, lying. We are breaking God's command & setting a false witness about Christianity -- that Christians are bigots who don't care about the truth. Although I am no friend of Target or any other major retailer, I am a follower of the One who said he was the Truth.

Although AFA is a good organization that promotes good values, it is not always correct, & in this case it is actually wrong. While it is not as far off as some other rumors about Target, it is still not accurate.

It may seem that some of my criticism is "nitpicking," but the principles behind both the false assumptions & my critique are important because they equip us to stop making mistakes and begin making good evaluations.

The AFA piece, as it is being currently circulated, makes the following assertions: Target bans the Salvation Army & its disaster relief fund-raising; continues to support homosexual groups but refuses to support religious groups; and is beginning to stock sex toys in its feminine hygiene department.

First, it is true that Target bans the Salvation Army from putting its donation kettles in front of its stores. But see below for the conditions & the reasoning behind the ban.

It is not true that Target refuses to support Christian and/or Catholic organizations through its philanthropic programs. In fact, each Target store has its own local program for community support, & none of the application for funding guidelines precludes religious organizations from applying or receiving funding. The only restriction is that the funds will not be given for religious purposes. The reasoning behind this, even though we may not agree with it, is hardly "anti-religious." It is Target's position that funding religious activities could easily be misconstrued by those of faiths not represented as being favoritism for select religion(s). Because they have shoppers from many & no faiths, they choose to use their charitable giving for purposes that are not explicitly religious so as to offend no individual religion represented by their shoppers.

So, for example, Target would not fund a local church's sanctuary renovation project (explicitly religious) but they may well fund that same local church's clothing drive for destitute children (not explicitly religious). The Minneapolis/St. Paul MN Target Foundation guidelines, for example, say: We do not make grants to individuals or to religious groups for religious purposes. They do not, however, exclude religious organizations from applying for a non-religious purpose.

I am aware that some religious organizations have applied for funding but been denied by one or more Target contribution programs. I have no evidence, however, that such denial is specifically because they are religious. In most cases, the application has fallen into the category of "not for religious purposes." If the application does meet the restrictions, however, but the grant is not made, we cannot know the grounds for that denial unless Target specifies the grounds. I am aware of no Target documentation that a denial was based merely on the fact that the application came from a religious organization. As the recipient & provider of donations for more than 30 years, I know that there are a myriad of reasons an application may be denied, one of the most common being a lack of funds to award all the applicants as they have requested.

A statement that attributes a motive ("pressure from homosexuals") to a policy based on anonymous "many observers" is unfair & unprovable. The only evidence we have for Target's reason to ban the Salvation Army kettles is their published one: they ban all forms of solicitation from in front of their stores because of overwhelming customer complaints about their feelings of harassment having to breach the sometimes formidable wall of homeless, children's and other charity & pseudo-charity "panhandlers" that once ringed most Target entrances.

A policy by Target to ban front-of-store solicitations by the Salvation Army and every other individual or organization because of customer relations is not the same thing as refusing to support any religious organizations.

It could well be that a local Target charity would give to the Salvation Army for a soup kitchen project, but not for a spiritual counseling project. And as I explained above, Target's policy banning all on-site solicitation applies equally to some hypothetical "Dollars for Indigent Gays" as it does to the Salvation Army. In fact, the general ban has been Target policy for many years and the Salvation Army was exempted (given preferential treatment) by Target until 2004, when the corporation decided that having the Salvation Army's camel's nose under the tent was going to result in the whole camel of solicitors, real & pseudo, under the tent at some point. So, they began treating the Salvation Army just like they were already treating everyone else.

It is not true that, all things being equal, Target "continues to support" homosexual groups while banning religious group support. As I explained above, Target's policy is against its contributions going for religious purposes, not for religious groups. So, the policy would dictate, hypothetically, that it would refuse a contribution to the Metropolitan Community Church (the MCC is a church specifically designed to include & minister approvingly to gays) for "Gay Bible Studies," but could grant a contribution to the ABC Baptist Church's community literacy program. In the same way, hypothetically, it could refuse an ABC Presbyterian application for aid to buy hymnals for worship, but approve an MCC application for aid to buy story books for local destitute children. It is also equal in it treatment of on site-soliciting. They would ban not only the Salvation Army kettles, but some hypothetical Gay Rights kettles as well.

WARNING -- Explicit descriptions follow. The version of the AFA Target alert to which my commentary refers has been slightly changed by the AFA to make it not quite as inaccurate as it once was regarding the "vibrator" accusation. The version I am responding to states that Target is planning to stock & sell the "new line of women's products that includes a vibrator" from Elexa by Trojan. The revised version:

states that Target is planning to stock & sell products from Elexa by Trojan that can be used with, or are related to, sex toys. This revision tells me that AFA has become aware that their previous statement was inaccurate.

In fact, Elexa by Trojan is a new product line by one of the best-known condom manufacturers. It includes 4 items: feminine "intimacy" gel; feminine "refreshing" cloths; condoms (3 kinds); and a "vibrating ring" (http://www.elexabytrojan.com/products.aspx). Target is not planning to carry the "sex toy" -- the "vibrating ring." They are going to carry some of the other Elexa by Trojan products, as additional kinds of the same products they already carry (lubricators, wipes, & condoms) from Trojan & other companies.

To link them with the "sex toy" business because they carry the wipes, gels, & condoms which can be used with a sex toy is not fair. Unless such accusers will now also accuse Johnson & Johnson because baby lotion or Vaseline can be used as a feminine lubricant or indict Pampers because baby wipes can be used for feminine hygiene. And if we are going to boycott Target for that loose association, why not boycott Savon, Walgreens, & Albertsons, which also carry the Elexa by Trojan brands? Or Amazon.com, from where you can order the vibrating ring from the comfort of your own home, delivered to your door by your local UPS driver?

In conclusion, while as consumers we can choose to use or avoid any retailer we want, for any or no reason, the Bible commands us as Christians not to bear false witness & we should not condone spreading false stories about anyone -- Christian or non-Christian, personal or corporate.

Personally, I don't like Target. I don't like their selections, quality of merchandise, layout of their stores, & customer service. I don't regularly shop there. I think they are cowardly for not entertaining applications for donations to worthy religious causes simply because they are for religious purposes. I don't like that they have chosen to include charities with values I don't like (gullible environmental causes, wasteful government support programs, naive international "peace" programs, &, yes, organizations promoting lifestyles with which I disagree like planned single parenthood, homosexuality, & shacking up heterosexuals). I have the right to choose to shop there or not shop there for any or no reason.

As a Christian, I have no right to judge them falsely, still less do I have the right to promote that false judgment to others. Instead, I have an obligation to tell the truth & promote the truth because I serve the Lord who declared himself to be the truth (John 14:6). That obligation holds even if I don't like the person or company I am defending with the truth.

Before you hit "forward" to that Internet rumor sitting in your IN box, think critically, remember your ethics, & serve the Lord of Truth.

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