Sweatshops & Justice

Where did it come from? How did it get here? What does my purchase support?

But it isn’t with complete ignorance that we forego a peek behind the curtain. We’ve heard about injustice in the labor industry: stories about sweatshops in which children are forced to work grueling hours in deplorable conditions under the awful mastery of slave drivers. Factories that collapse and kill hundreds. Women that are trafficked into slavery in front of a sewing machine.

But we’ve heard other things as well. “This company is bad, that company is good.” “It’s not as bad as it sounds.” “It’s better than no job at all.” “The industry is inherently flawed. No one can shop without some blood on their hands.”

For those of us that are disciples of Jesus of Nazareth, the fundamental precept of our apprenticeship to Jesus is that we live out the way of Jesus. That we become like Jesus and carry on his work in the world.