Saturday, June 21, 2008

What Would Jesus Buy?

I’ve said in the past that the Jesus I’ve read about would never own a gun and never vote Republican. My intent is clear when you think about the profile most likely associated with hard-core Christian belief in America. Last year a documentary on ubiquitous American consumerism and the "Shopocalypse" hit the theaters. It was titled "What Would Jesus Buy" and came out concurrent to the '07 Christmas shopping season. I think it was one of the few things that our society didn't spend much money on in 2007. Who wants to go to a mall in December to see a movie that makes you feel bad about shopping?

Yesterday, in an email interchange with a friend of ours in which we were discussing the notion of success defined as having more possessions, including money. I told him, “Having more would be nice… but only to the point of being free of want. Anything beyond that is superfluous. Being poor (but not hopelessly so) and content, is the key to satisfaction.”

I also linked him to this article. It deals with the dirty little truth that lies just out of view of our problems – unnecessary and illegal wars, dogmatic religion, abuse of the Constitution, the “corporatization” of politics, ignoring the ecological morass, denial of wisdom gleaned from the sciences. We might think of these as tangentially related to each other, but I submit that there is a common thread running through all of these and many more societal scourges. Consider yourself urged to read the article.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Buy more. Kill more.

John Evo said...

Seems to be our motto, doesn't it? Really though, I think it's just "buy more". The other part is more of a probable outgrowth of the first.

C. L. Hanson said...

Wow, that's a good article! A little depressing, though. Crazy optimist that I am, I'd been hoping that things were turning around with the younger generation, so naturally I'm not happy to see studies showing that things are getting worse in terms of a total focus on consumerism.

John Evo said...

Hi c.l.!

Well, if you really want to maintain your optimism, you can consider that it was written in 2001. Personally, I think it's gotten considerably worse since then, but you are free to keep a more positive view of things!

The Ridger, FCD said...

John Bloom once said that whenever he saw that "What would Jesus drive?" slogan, all he could think of was: He'd walk. He walked all over Palestine - never had a horse, never had a cart - and only rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link.

Have you ever seen all the Jesus Junk that's available at Christian "bookstores" and online? They are selling some unbelievable shit.

Oh. Excuse me. It's not all Jesus Junk. A lot of it is Witness Wear. I've got to admit that clothing is useful in many situations.

PhillyChief said...

For the record, in that email exchange I was calling myself poor not because I lacked BLING, but rather enough necessities like owning instead of renting, having proper health insurance, decent savings and all that shit.

I saw something on tv this morning from of all people, Hagee, talking about both people flaunting wealth and their beliefs. He said Judas had to point out to the Romans which one was Jesus because he didn't stand out in the crowd. In the spirit of that "What Would Jesus Buy" movie, I'd say these asshats should realize that their silly book does not justify buying a Hummer or Escalade in order to slap a fish on the back as a greater means to show off your Jesusness.

Btw, I love that they used the Disney font for the poster. How appropriate, on multiple levels.

Anonymous said...

What would Jesus buy?

I think we know the answer to that...

John Evo said...

Yunshui, you a stock holder? Because I was thinking "duct tape".

The Exterminator said...

Jesus doesn't have to buy anything. He could steal whatever he wants by magically levitating it from the shelf right into his pocket. Then he could say that his father made him do it.

PhillyChief said...

But of course IF his father told him to do it, it wouldn't be stealing then for whatever he says is good, right? But is it not bad because he says so or he says so because it's not bad?

Well I guess this is only a problem for Jesus if he's shoplifting at Euthyphro's Emporium

Unknown said...

You know, if he could turn water into wine, maybe he could turn water into a Hummer too.