A Change of Heart

I hate Black Friday. I hate the loss of humanity prevalent when consumers trample other human beings in pursuit of discounted merchandise. More than anything, I hate the unjust practice of forcing workers away from loved ones on the night of Thanksgiving and the following day, so they can feed capitalist greed by serving both their employers and the people on a mission for sales. 

Yesterday, I expressed this hatred via snarky Facebook status, where I pointed to the irony of criticizing the commercialization of Christmas but participating in Black Thursday/Friday activities. But following a conversation with my parents, I had a change of heart and removed the status from my timeline. 

My dad pointed out that Black Friday, while absolutely feeding systemic capitalist greed, does benefit the lower class, a point that allows me to view the holiday with much more nuance and complexity than before. In other words, Black Thursday and Friday represent the only times in which some families can afford gifts for Christmas, a component to this issue that softens my heart to the people who participate in it.

Even though I still cannot condone a practice that unfairly forces the agency of workers under the mercy of corporal employers, especially on Thanksgiving Day, I must concede that I have misplaced my judgment and condemnation all these years. As a future pastor who discusses social justice every day and interprets the Bible with an anti-oppression hermeneutic, I cannot, in good conscience, support Black Friday; for the same reasons, I also cannot condemn the people who participate in it.

To be clear, at play here is not individual greed but systemic injustice. It is unjust to force workers who are at the mercy of a weak job market and low wages to work on holidays that should be spent with loved ones. At the same time, it is unjust to distribute wealth in such a way that forces people into fueling the very system that oppresses them. While individual consumers may buy into this system, it is often the case that there is no other choice, a reality inherent in this system.

For these reasons, I plan no longer to place judgment on the people who participate in Black Friday. It is not the judgment of people that will reveal the presence of God's kingdom. Instead, God's kingdom will be made known in the condemnation of systems of injustice, and when we work to deconstruct the systems that oppress and deny the humanity of God's creations.