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The SSPX has announced its two partnerships with Amazon.com. http://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/shop-amazon-and-give-sspx-2817 & http://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/another-way-give-sspx-amazon-3155

At first blush, it might seem that it is good for the SSPX to get this “free” money which it can spend however it wants. But there are four reasons why this is bad and tends to contradict what the SSPX is supposed to stand for and is supposed to be doing:

  1. Isn’t the SSPX supposed to represent holiness and purity in this world?  Although Amazon certainly sells many neutral products, nonetheless it is awash with impurity, rock-and-roll music and practically every other evil.  Amazon is not necessarily worse than other sellers such as Walmart.  But doesn’t it send the wrong message for a group which is supposed to represent the embodiment of holiness and purity (the SSPX) to tell everyone that it has linked itself with one of the largest modern sellers of sin and corruption?
  2. Even assuming contrary to fact, that Amazon were to sell nothing overtly evil, nonetheless Amazon would still embody consumerism and materialism.  Isn’t the SSPX supposed to promote Catholic simplicity, detachment and a focus on the next world?  Doesn’t it send the wrong message for a group (the SSPX) which supposedly promotes self-denial and detachment, to tell everyone that it has “partnered” with one of the best-known embodiments of attachment to things of the world (Amazon)?
  3. Worse yet, to make its Amazon Program and its AmazonSmile Program pay off richly, the SSPX correctly understands that it needs to continually remind people of its partnership with Amazon.  Thus, for many months, the SSPX has been emailing its faithful more frequently than once every four days, reminding the faithful that the SSPX is linked with Amazon.com.
  4. The above three reasons pertain to the message the SSPX sends merely by partnering with a large purveyor of both evil and consumerism.  Besides sending that message, look at the practical effect this partnership has on the faithful.  To some extent, when the SSPX reminds people that they can benefit the SSPX by shopping on Amazon, this will merely shift business toward Amazon from a different retailer.  But it is inevitable that to some extent, the SSPX’s promotions of Amazon will cause the faithful to buy more than they otherwise would have.  This consequence is unavoidable when the SSPX continually tells the faithful: “Buying from Amazon helps us.”  For this reason, it is human nature for the SSPX faithful to indulge in more materialism because of the SSPX’s two Amazon programs. The SSPX specifically tells the faithful how much money the SSPX will receive if 2,000 SSPX faithful will collectively spend $1,000,000.00 on Amazon. The SSPX adds that it can make even more money if the faithful will spend $1,000,000.00 on Amazon.com after joining both Amazon programs that the SSPX is promoting. Id. Unfortunately, the new SSPX encourages its faithful in other ways too, to desire the riches of this world. For example, the SSPX seminary is currently selling $100 tickets for its raffle giving away a Mercedes-Benz sedan. http://stas.org/en/giveaway See the picture below.