A cause you can do something about

Potentially more threatening than aging stockpiles of nuclear weapons, Wal-Mart (yes, I'm comparing bombs and labor issues) is becoming more and more of an issue in the American economy. Read below. Then click on this link to do something about it. Right now. _____ Admittedly, we saw a glimmer of generosity in Wal-Mart's speedy delivery of desperately needed supplies to hurricane victims last month. They were first on the scene to the poor, widowed, and orphaned among us. But to focus only on Wal-Mart's short-term charity misses major dimensions of the biblical concept of generosity. Modeled on the nature of God, the creating, sustaining, and redeeming character of biblical generosity is not about short-term charity but long-term justice for all God's children. The sustaining life of God is about creating structures and cultures of care, wholeness, and fairness that are enduring. Wal-Mart's charity should not divert public--particularly religious, attention--rom the largest retailer's long-term discrimination, import exploitation, and overtime and union-busting scandals. In contrast, faithful generosity is not primarily about short-term gifts to the needy, but the long-term task of building right relationships, weaving righteousness into the fabric of our lives. The biblical exhortation, "From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required" (Luke 12:48), is about an understanding of stewardship that is always bound to fair use. Stewardship underscores our humble understanding of our temporary ownership of common goods and the obligations for equity and sustainability tied to that privilege. Unfortunately, Wal-Mart's current dominance of the market is draining rather than sustaining local communities. Every Wal-Mart store employing 200 or more people costs taxpayers more than $420,000 in government social services used by employees whose low wages and unaffordable health insurance mean they largely subsist among the ranks of the working poor, according to "Everday Low Wages: The Hidden Price We All Pay for Wal-Mart," a February 2004 report by the Democratic staff of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Wal-Mart's anti-union policies also prevent workers from organizing for wages and benefits to support their families. More of this article here.