Toyota is not known for being a controversial company. Generally, you buy a Toyota for rather unflashy reasons: safety, dependability, and a reasonable price.
For this reason, recent revelations about Toyota’s radical social policies shocked the conservative world. A few weeks ago, Christian activist Robby Starbuck shared on social media that Toyota apparently funded a kids’ camp called “Brave Trails,” where adult men “dress up as creepy princesses to teach 12-year-old kids” what it means to be “queer-affirming.”
That is not all. According to reports, Toyota Canada “provides Toyota employees and their kids a $10,000 benefit for sex changes in addition to coverage for hormones.” One Toyota official was quoted in a story from Benefits Canada as saying that Toyota employees “celebrate Pride all year.”
All of this came as bad news. It reminded many of us just how great the influence of wokeness has been in many corporations. People do not normally consult Toyota Motor Company for help on sexual “inclusivity”; most folks poking around the showroom floor aren’t in immediate need of training as a drag queen. Sadly, Toyota embraced just such a corrupted mission, according to reports.
But here is some very good news: thanks to Starbuck’s advocacy, Toyota has apparently reversed course. The company recently announced that it will no longer support DEI initiatives, sponsor events with the LGBTQ lobby, or participate in the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index. These are, to put it simply, tremendous victories.
Nor is Toyota the only company to reverse course on wokeness. According to Bloomberg, Ford, Tractor Supply Co., Microsoft, Lowe’s, John Deere, and Harley Davidson have all taken similar action in recent months.
Christians should feel great encouragement over these developments. We should not sit by as companies and organizations (and churches) embrace lies. We are a people of truth, after all, saved by the Lord of truth (John 14:6). Let us raise our voices together about the ideological drift of institutions and churches, and support those who do the same.
We should do so because following godless ideologies is not without consequences. In the most practical terms, wokeness comes with a serious dose of sticker shock.
The truth, however, is free—and it sets us free (John 8:28).