"Consumerism" is a blanket term describing a social ideology in which individual identity is constructed through the purchase of goods and services. This ideology has a death grip upon America, and many heads in the church nod with approval. With parking lots full of SUVs and plasma screens dotting our narthexes, this one's hard to deny.
But I'm part of the problem.
I'm a graphic artist and web designer. I've spent the last for years designing junk mail, among other things. It's my job to convince people to part with their dollars.
In the coming weeks, I'll be exploring consumerism and it's impact on the church. But what good is a critique without an alternative? Perhaps we'll discover other ways of "being human." Here's hoping I'm on to something.
- Scott
Comments (3)
I guess there's two parts to my question for what I hope you can unpack in future posts.
1) How do you think consumerism has affected our Monday-thru-Saturday Christianity? And how can we fix that?
2) How do you think consumerism has affected our Sunday morning Christianity? And how can we fix that?
Perhaps I'll strugglingly cough up a couple proposals of my own down the line... :)
Posted by Brandon | September 19, 2006 2:12 AM
Posted on September 19, 2006 02:12
Now that Christianity is a target demographic, I think there's great spiritual danger for the church.
Take a look at www.foxfaith.com.
Posted by Rev. David Williams | September 21, 2006 1:21 PM
Posted on September 21, 2006 13:21
Agreed, Reverend Dave -- I saw that FoxFaith link at the Huffington Post yesterday and it freaked me out.
An insidious part of consumerism is it says to demographics "this is what you people like to wear, listen to, read, talk about, vote for, etc.". When those demographics are soccer moms or middle school punksters or senior citizens, it's bad enough. But when the demographic is a RELIGION, those claims of consumerism on our identity becomes much much more terrifying.
How do we correct this? Do we burn effigies of Jim Caveziel, Bono (whom I adore), and other consumer-Chistianity icons or what?? ;)
Posted by Brandon | September 21, 2006 3:35 PM
Posted on September 21, 2006 15:35