The consumption of faith & the faith of consumption

[GirlinContempt]

Christianity in a Consumer Culture
http://www.consumer-culture.org/
Consumerism is the driving force in our society—a spirit of our age. It is enmeshed within the fabric of our society. There are many critics to consumerism—those who are rightly concerned about the destructiveness of consumerism when it comes to economic justice or environmental issues. However, consumerism also reaches deep into the heart of American spirituality. Consumerism shapes the way we relate to each other, to our society, and to our God. Christians need to intentionally and carefully navigate our consumer culture, responding to its dangerous complexities with a deepening awareness of its promises and perils. The Conference on Christianity and the Consumer Culture will be both informative, fostering a deeper understanding of consumerism and its role within our society, as well as formative, providing strategies for faithful living in light of the promises and perils inherent to our consumer culture.


When Jesus looked on Jerusalem, he wept. Jerusalem was a very impressive, very beautiful city. But the people of Jerusalem did not accept Christ in their lives, instead focused on their pride and greed (this is, of course, my interpretation).
Paul warned the church at Corinth not to be led astray, even as Eve was by the serpent, from the simplicity of Christ.
And, of course, if you look to John 2:15-17, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

I am not Christian, and I don't pretend to understand all the complexities of individual faith. But at the same time, I don't quite understand how someone who's read the Bible and accepts the teachings of Christ can find congruousness in Christian faith and the modern consumerism that essentially attacks faith. Consumerism manufactures discontent, and holds before you a false God of earthly perfection to be achieved through earthly gains. Consumerism, more oft then not, is immoral and unjust in creating those goods, marketing those goods, and consumerism views God's children as commodities.
How can you reconcile that with the teachings of God? "Jesus answered, If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'" Matthew 19:21

"Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys." Luke 12:33

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

Just some thoughts. Comments?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. The concepts you presented

are tenets found in many spiritual traditions. One of the five pillars of Islam is to give to others, and many Sufi mystics have given away to others that which was needed, without thought to themselves. Buddhists talk of non-attachment, and many Hindu ascetics have little or nothing to their name.

I know of Christians who practice the teachings of Christ. Needless to say, I'm not referring to the reicht wing fundies who wish only to amass a fortune here on earth.

[GirlinContempt]

3. Oh, of course some christians do

this whole thing came about in a discussion with a very very close friend of mine who was almost a priest. He's one of the best examples of what I think Christian faith is.
What I'm referring to isn't even just people who identify as right or left, politically. I'm talking about the large numbers of people I see in the Americas who seem to embrace God, but at the same time embrace this consumer culture. I see more and more churches using marketing tactics & flashy shows to convert or hold their parishioners, and I just think that there's a disconnect.

[rkc3]

2. I think you are missing a key point - there are a good number of

christians who view their wealth and possessions as a sign of their worthiness. They have led godly lives and god has rewarded them for their goodness.

They also view the poor as undeserving of god's love, having led drunken, promiscuous lives. They deserve their lot in life, just as christians deserve their rewards here on Earth.

And on top of that, their ministers, the ones who push the rapture, empower their followers with this feeling of superiority - only the chosen will be taken up to heaven. The heathens/undeserving will be left behind to rot.

Those are my two cents.

[GirlinContempt]

4. Well, then, I would suggest to those people that

they read the bible. Admittedly I haven't made it through the whole darn thing, but it seems pretty clear on those points. So I don't think it's I who's missing something, but rather them.

[rkc3]

5. I wasn't slamming you, I think I just took your analysis a bit further.

Having the opportunity to work with several people who are anxiously awaiting the rapture (and this company has 28 people in it - so it's way too small to have 4 people in this group), I know that they have read the bible.

Maybe they haven't read the whole way through it, but they've read the parts that are convenient for them - the parts that verify their beliefs are accurate. The parts that aren't convenient, like Matthew 25 (least of my brethren) are ignored because that interferes with their view of the poor as undeserving.

I'm not sure what they're missing - aside from perspective or a good grasp of reality.

[GirlinContempt]

6. I didn't think you were

attacking or slamming me :)

[rkc3]

14. Good -

:toast:

[crispini]

10. Material possessions as a sign of godliness--

I think that goes back to Calvin, doesn't it? You are correct, there is ample precedent for this idea in many "Christian" churches.

The thing about the Bible is that it presents many mixed messages -- there is certainly plenty of foundation for the reading that the OP presents, but there is also foundation for the more "fundie" type of beliefs.

[rkc3]

13. I always thought is was the Puritans who held this view - I can't

recall if Calvin was a Puritan, but I think they shared some common tenets.

[crispini]

18. Could be, I'm just going off my vague recollections

of early American history, which are pretty old at this point. :D

[GirlinContempt]

20. Calvinism was one of the first self-described puritan sects, I believe

[GirlinContempt]

16. I haven't found many

that go against what I'm saying (Talking about Christianity, mostly NT) but I'd like to find some of the other messages, any ideas?

[crispini]

17. Try the Old Testament.

That's the thing, a lot of this "fundie" stuff comes from there. Very inconsistent -- hello, didn't Jesus come to "supercede" the OT, so to speak?

[GirlinContempt]

19. Well yeah

I mean, if you discard much of the old testament, and claim to embrace Jesus as your saviour, dipping into the OT for arguments seems a little... off.

But, even the OT had charity & giving in it, though not QUITE the same:

"During the seventh year, let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove." Exodus 23:11

"At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied." Deuteronomy 14:28-29

"Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near, so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin." Deuteronomy 15: 9

"There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land." Deuteronomy 15:11

"Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court." Proverbs 22:22

"A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops." Proverbs 28:3

"He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses." Proverbs 28:27

"The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern." Proverbs 29: 7



I don't think I need to go on ;)

[rkc3]

21. Jesus was the kinder, gentler God. The OT God was a real prick.

So to speak.

From my Catholic school days, we were at least taught that the OT was to be considered as more of a series of parables - not to be taken as the inerrant word of God.

The NT was a bit different, although the books of Matthew, Mark Luke, and John differ in some respects, they were to be read from the different viewpoints of each man - I guess they each got a different story from the Holy Spirit.

And IIRC, the book of Revelations wasn't originally going to be in the bible because the compilers didn't want the kind nonsense we're getting at the moment over the Rapture.

[guruoo]

11. In other words, they're saying...

'he who dies with the most toys wins'?

[GirlinContempt]

7. .

.

[guruoo]

8. Very good piece....

However, the lines below will provide a means for critics to
marginalize your argument.

(this is, of course, my interpretation).

I am not Christian, and I don't pretend to understand
all the complexities of individual faith. But at the same time,

[GirlinContempt]

9. Well, anyone who

wants to marginalize my points just because I'm not a believer would find SOMETHING to discredit me on, even if I left that out. I'd rather be honest ;)

Glad you enjoyed it

[earth mom]

12. Praying to the almighty dollar.

Far too many churches are all about "prosperity". You know, if you believe, have faith, all the "things" you want like MONEY MONEY MONEY will come to you. It all just strikes me as praying to the almighty dollar. That's one of the main reasons I don't like organized religion.

[GirlinContempt]

15. Well, it's not the fault of the religion

it's the fault of the people who're organizing it, if thats the case. Jesus was pretty clear on this stuff I think. Churches used to want to prosper as a prosperous church could do more of God will (such as charity), so churches gaining funds isn't always greedy, or going against the teachings in the Bible.
However, material gain for the sake of material gain, in the sense that we're seeing now, is a whole different can of worms.

[earth mom]

22. Money is what underlies far too many of the faithfuls "faith" these days.

There was a story on last week on one of the prime time news shows on CBS,NBC or ABC, about a church that was swindled by a con man out of a few million dollars. Now the church building has been repossessed and the members are furious because they "invested" money in the church and got worthless bonds in return. Funny how the pastor of the church didn't invest any of his own money though, especially since he was the one preaching about "prosperity" to those faithful church members!

IMO, Many Churches these days ARE selling the notion that if you truly believe in Jesus all the good stuff YOU want will come your way-meaning money and prosperity. All done in the name of Jesus. :eyes:

[GirlinContempt]

23. Yeah

the churches are selling that, and I don't get how they can reconcile that with the Bible