March 23, 2012

All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.  1 Corinthians 10:23

You will no longer be able to buy the John Wilkes Booth bobblehead doll at Gettysburg National Military Park’s gift shop, according to a Los Angeles Times article.

The 7-inch tall figure comes complete with a handgun, in a box that resembles the inside of Ford’s Theatre, where Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln in 1865. The company that manufacturers it is now calling the doll “the most controversial bobblehead in history,” and “the most popular bobblehead on the market today.”

In response to the uproar over the figure, company owner Rick Lynn said, “The consensus of opinion appears to be one of being ‘Rude, Crude and Socially Unacceptable.’ ”

He goes on to say that the Lincoln Memorial bobblehead the company also sells is rendered all in white, “more ethereal almost god like in appearance a figure to be revered,” in his words. “Booth, on the other hand is portrayed with hunched shoulders, scowling, clutching his weapon…The concept of good and evil is obvious and easily understood.”

Lynn then notes that the Yale Law Museum declared his company’s Supreme Court justice bobbleheads to be “historic artifacts,” a “big deal” in the museum world (is he saying that the Booth bobblehead should also be considered a historic artifact?). He tells people to “move on” if they find his work offensive, and perhaps purchase a couple and “dispose of them in whatever manner you deem appropriate.” Or, buy a case and invite friends over to burn them.

(Notice his answer to your offense is not for you to ignore them, but to buy them. Spoken like a true businessman!)

I have a quirky sense of humor, and can understand why some people would view the Booth bobblehead as amusingly offbeat. But would I get one? No. It’s too dark for me. I don’t like guns nor the reminder of violence.

And I’m glad Gettyburg pulled it off its shelves. The Pennsylvania site is a place of solemn reflection, where Lincoln gave his best-known speech, a moving tribute to those who fought and died on the battlefield and a stirring call for a “new birth of freedom” in our nation. For the park to market an object associated with Lincoln’s tragic death just seems…wrong.

Yet…Rick Lynn’s company certainly has the right to make the Booth bobblehead. And stores have the right to sell it.

In the passage I quoted at the beginning, the apostle Paul is speaking specifically to the Corinthians about their freedom to eat meat sacrificed to idols. If you’re at dinner at the house of unbelievers, eat whatever is put in front of you with a clear conscience. But, he cautions, if you discover that the meat has been sacrificed to idols and might offend others, then don’t eat it voluntarily, for their sake. The bottom line: “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (vv. 27-31).

Is a practice beneficial to others? Is it constructive? Does it honor God? While those might not be the guiding principles for the business world, they are in the Christian life.

Now let us all nod our heads in agreement like bobbleheads…