Born-again Christian groups have been instrumental in organizing boycotts of products advertised on shows they find objectionable, especially those that they feel undermine family values. Church leaders can encourage consumption but, more importantly, they can also discourage it—sometimes with powerful effects. The Disney Corporation discovered how effective these movements can be when the Southern Baptist Convention voted to persuade all its members to boycott Disney’s operations.111 The church instituted its anti-Mickey rebellion to protest the

“Gay Days” at the theme parks and advocated a view that Disney had a radical homosexual agenda that it promoted through its broadcasts. Soon other organizations joined the cause, including the American Family Association, the General Council of the Assemblies of God, the Congregational Holiness Church, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, and the Free Will Baptists. The fallout from the boycott was significant; Disney was forced to lay off 4,000 employees.112 Do religious groups have a right or a responsibility to dictate what advertising a network should carry?

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