Would You Baptize Exxon?

In 2010 the Supreme Court decided a case popularly called Citizens United.  In a nutshell, it says that individuals, corporations and unions can spend unlimited amounts of money to elect or defeat a candidate for office as long as it is not coordinated by the candidate.  (Much of the nonsense of this election season is brought to you by the Supreme Court of the United States.)  Enough ink has been spilled on whether or not Citizens United was a good decision (I think not).  I want to address an underlying issue raised by the ruling.

Part of the logic in Citizens United is that corporations are, for the purposes of speech in elections, persons and afforded the same protections of speech that an individual person is.  Corporations are persons?  What makes a person a person is a matter of deep philosophical debate.  From a theological perspective, the answer is no easier.  What makes a person a person?

When I was in seminary, this question came up in the context of a discussion about baptism.  In my tradition we practice infant baptism rather than adult or "believer's" baptism.  Underlying the theology of infant baptism is the notion that baptism is an act of faithfulness by the church in response to the faithfulness of God.  The sacrament does not require any belief or comprehension on the part of the baptized as it does in "believer's" baptism.  The question came up concerning whether or not it is appropriate to baptize an individual who cannot comprehend the sacrament.  As someone who believes in infant baptism, the answer to that question is easy.  For others it is not.  

The court and much of the political community argue that corporations are persons.  So my question is this, would you baptize Exxon?  

Calling corporations people demeans what it is to be a person.  People, homo sapiens, are created in the image of God.  Whatever race, nationality, physical or mental disability or other characteristic or station in life, we are all created in the image of God.  But is Wal-Mart or the AFL-CIO or even a non-profit like the United Way?  Are these "persons" created in the image of God?

I realize that baptism is not a universal measuring stick to determine person-hood.  You can be unbaptized and still be human (a child of God).  It is, however, a helpful way of thinking about who and what might reasonably be included in the category of "person." 

As a man of faith, I believe that calling corporations "persons" both misunderstands what it means to be human and demeans the person-hood of every one of God's children. You and I are made in the image of God, wonderfully made in fact and held in the heart of God since the beginning of time.  I simply cannot believe that the same can be said of Best Buy or BP or even the Nature Conservancy.

I am not anti-corporation.  I am against some of the abuses corporations commit and some of the dehumanizing policies of some corporations.  On the whole, however, I have no moral objection to corporations as such.  I just cannot get behind the idea that a corporation deserves the same consideration and rights as a child of God.  

Whether Citizens United is good policy or good law is left to be decided.  

That it is theologically troubling is clear.