Last week I added a poll to this site and asked where you buy the majority of your books. The results really surprised me. As of this moment Amazon has a clear lead with 55% of the votes. That means that half of us buy the majority of our books from Amazon instead of the local Christian bookstore or one of the many online Christian retailers. There are almost three times more votes for online retailers as brick-and-mortar retailers. While I’ll grant that this poll is far from scientific, it does show a clear trend (and one that makes sense of the fact that so many Christian bookstores are closing their doors).
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In the comments, of which there are currently 89, many people indicated that Christians should do better than Amazon–that we should go out of our way to support Christian-owned businesses (see, for example, this one or this one).
I thought this was worth thinking and talking about and would love to hear some feedback. Do you think Christians should go out of their way to support Christian-owned businesses? Is this a moral imperative? Or should Christians feel free to shop wherever is most convenient or wherever offers the best prices? What is our obligation to other Christians in such matters?