Boycott Apple? No; the effort is doomed to fail.

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Apr 01, 2015

Amid the furor over Indiana's religious-freedom law, the expressions of outrage by self-righteous liberal moralists, and the threats to boycott the state, I hear rumblings about a counter-boycott. If Apple Computer is going to boycott a state that respects religious freedom, should religious people boycott Apple computer?

In theory the answer may be Yes. But a boycott is a weapon of practical politics, and in practical terms the answer is No. Here's why:

A boycott is effective only if it works. If you call a boycott on Apple products, and Apple doesn't quickly feel the sting, the effort fails. Worse than that: a failed boycott reveals the impotence—or, in this hypothetical case, the imprudence—of the people organizing the boycott. 

And a boycott of Apple would surely fail. Watch the iPods and iPads flying off the shelves, and you should have no doubt of the outcome. A successful boycott would require the participation of more than a few thousand activists; it would need to reach millions of people who don't ordinarily get involved in these disputes. It would be an awfully hard sell; we're very attached to our electronic hardware.

Liberals have been more successful in organizing a drive to boycott Indiana, because, frankly, fashionable people don't travel to Indiana all that often. They've made water flow downhill. That's not a good reason for Christian conservatives to try to make water flow uphill.