Is the Target Boycott Speaking the Truth without Love?

Fiery debate continues over which bathrooms transgender people can use, so much so that protests have led to arrests.

Supporters and opponents gathered around North Carolina's statehouse as lawmakers returned to start their session Monday.

Thousands of people showed up to speak in favor of the state's new law, which requires transgender people to use the bathroom that matches their birth certificate gender. The law also limits protections for LGBT people.

On the other side of the debate, hundreds gathered at an afternoon rally in opposition to the law, and dozens of people held sit-ins outside the offices of legislative leaders.

More than a dozen demonstrators even walked into House Speaker Tim Moore's office and began chanting before the evening session began.

It wasn't long before police started escorting them out, one by one, in plastic handcuffs. They had to carry out one man.

One woman chanted, "Forward together, not one step back!"

Police arrested 54 protesters. The acting General Assembly police chief said all would be charged with second-degree trespassing and cited for violating building rules or the fire code. One person also faces a resisting arrest charge, he said.

House Democrats filed legislation Monday to repeal the law, though a lack of Republican sponsors made it not likely that it would be overturned.

Former Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla., spoke with CBN News about the law.

"Some of the things, in my opinion... they're pretty common sense," Watts said. "I would not say that I wanted some man... that woke up one morning thinking that he's a woman using the same restroom as my 8-year-old granddaughter."

However, Watts believes Christians need to approach the issue in love.

"We need to play a bigger role in solving that with the Word of God," he said. "We often want the truth side, but we leave out the love side."

"Some want the love, but they don't want the truth," he continued. "They're incomplete without each other, and so I think any issue that we're dealing with, whether it be bathrooms in North Carolina... be it poverty or hunger... I think we should address it with not just truth but also with love."

In addition to the state of North Carolina, retail chain Target entered the debate. Last week, the company released its new policy welcoming transgender people to use their bathroom  of choice.

The move led to a firestorm of opposition with more than 700,000 people signing the "Boycott Target Pledge!"

However, not everyone is on board with the idea of boycotting.

"It sounds like an easy and impactful way to take a stand, but is boycotting a corporation the best way to reflect Christ in light of the issues at stake?  I propose it's not," Christian blogger Aaron Wilson wrote in his blog post, "3 Missional Truths to Consider Before Boycotting Target,"

"In fact, I think a strategy of cultural engagement that has boycotting as its nucleus is doomed to undermine the true effectiveness of biblical evangelism," he continued.

Among other reasons, Wilson believes "boycotting ignores the real problem of a Gospel-less culture."

"The best case scenario in this effort is that Target goes back to its long-standing bathroom policy," he wrote. "While this would be great news, you could only call it a tempered victory as no disciples of Jesus would be made and the real underlying problem of sin would still exist."