Disney Targeted by a 2nd Church Boycott

Religious conservatives continued their crusade against Walt Disney Co. on Wednesday as the Assemblies of God urged its 2.5 million members to boycott the entertainment giant for “abandoning the commitment to strong moral values.”

In a resolution reminiscent of one adopted by the nation’s Southern Baptists in June, the Pentecostal movement’s second-highest legislative body lambasted Disney for distributing adult-oriented and homosexual-themed material such as the controversial film “Priest,” which chronicles the struggles of a gay cleric.

The document likewise said church members are “greatly disturbed” by the annual “Gay Day” celebration held at Walt Disney World each summer. That unofficial event, which attracts thousands of gays and lesbians to the Orlando theme park, is not organized or sponsored by the Disney company.

The Assemblies of God resolution, approved last week by the 250-member General Presbytery at their annual meeting in Springfield, Mo., and made public Wednesday, asked church members to stay away from Disney theme parks, movies and products “until Disney returns to its former stance of producing products of high family and moral values.”

Disney executives made no public comment on the resolution.

Wednesday’s action is the latest in a string of protests by evangelical Christians over Disney’s forays into adult-themed entertainment and liberalized employment policies.

The Southern Baptist leadership was so incensed by Disney’s decision last year to extend health benefits to same-sex partners of gay employees that it adopted a resolution at its June convention urging its 16 million church members to stop patronizing the company.

The American Family Assn., a Christian lobbying group, has likewise thrown its considerable public relations machinery behind the boycott. Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic Knights of Columbus unloaded $3 million of Disney stock this spring to register its displeasure with “Priest.”

Wall Street and industry analysts have so far dismissed the religious conservative boycotts as having little impact on an entertainment behemoth like Disney.

Zachary Lyons, editor and publisher of Boycott Quarterly, a Seattle-based magazine that tracks consumer protests, said it’s too soon to tell whether the boycott will gain enough momentum to affect Disney’s bottom line. Still, he said, continued hectoring by religious conservatives is bound to heighten the company’s concerns about maintaining its wholesome image.

“Big companies like Disney try to act like they don’t have to pay attention to these things, but obviously they do,” Lyons said. “Disney isn’t just selling a product, it’s selling an image.”

Some Christian conservatives were ecstatic Wednesday upon hearing that the religious protest is spreading. The Rev. Wiley Drake, pastor of the First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park and sponsor of the Southern Baptist resolution, predicted that the boycott will continue to grow.

“Disney has tried to characterize evangelical Christians as a small group of extremists, but this movement is bigger than they ever imagined,” Drake said. “We’re delighted to see our friends in other denominations getting on board.”

But confusion reigned among local Assemblies of God congregations, many of which hadn’t heard of the General Presbytery resolution until informed of it by a reporter.

The nation’s 11,800 Assemblies of God congregations--conservative, evangelical, charismatic Protestants--are autonomous and free to embrace or reject the rulings of their national bodies. There are an estimated 68,300 Assemblies of God members in 450 churches in Southern California.

Darrell Owens, pastor of the Anaheim Assembly of God and a Disneyland pass holder, said it is unlikely that his 300-member congregation would endorse the Disney boycott. Owens said a number of church members are Disney employees. The church doesn’t condone Disney’s racier entertainment offerings, he said, but boycotting Mickey Mouse is the wrong way to go about promoting family values.

“The church has more important things to do than go around boycotting legitimate companies,” Owens said. “This is the kind of thing that gives the church a bad name among unchurched people.”

Jim Dotson, youth pastor for Calvary Assembly of God in Stanton, said he supports the moral stance that the General Presbytery is taking with the boycott. But he says he relies on the Bible, not Disney Chairman Michael Eisner, to set the moral tone in his household.

“Anybody that looks to Hollywood and the entertainment industry for their code of conduct is in big trouble,” Dotson said. “I’ve never looked to Disney to set my standards for me.”

Some religious leaders applauded Disney for its commitment to nondiscrimination. Don Eastman, a former Assemblies of God pastor who now ministers at the Metropolitan Community Church in Los Angeles, which has a large gay congregation, said it’s important that Disney not capitulate to religious hard-liners.

“This is just one more way for these groups to vent their homophobia,” Eastman said. “They are losing on the issue of abortion, so they are turning to the last minority they can beat up on.”