“How (Not) To Speak of Consumerism”
10 Jan 2007
Borrowing from my good friend, Peter Rollins’, new book, “How (Not) To Speak of God“, I want to engage the concept of consumerism in a postmodern, emerging context and how it relates to Christian praxis. I come from a fundamentalist Christian background that swung on the pendulum to one extreme and I am striving to not swing the other way and fall somewhere in the middle. I see often in emerging church circles how people view consumerism as BAD and destructive. Yet, I want to offer some thoughts that have been swimming around in the murky fish bowl of my mind. I liken it to a dirty martini! ;) So, please read with an open mind, chew on my words, and give your feedback. I will try my best to answer any questions. I am constantly on a learning curve and open-minded. Not to say I will change my mind, but often the words of others get me thinking and chewing more. So, come dive in with me and let’s see how deep we can go!
We Christians tend to be some of the worse at the old adage of throwing the baby out with the bathwater and going to extremes, one way or the other. I include myself in this camp, as I am guilty of this at times. I am learning as I continue to travel on my journey to find nuggets of truth and light to take with me and leave heavy chains behind. All I hear most days from many emergent types is how consumerism is so bad and we need to stop consuming. I agree it is out of control for a global world, but not everyone has an extreme problem with it and I feel others who feel convicted should not be putting their pharisaical fences upon those who do not.
Bono is one who sees a problem with the wide gap between the poverty stricken and the wealthy west. He recognizes that consumption problems will not be solved over night. Thus, he considers offering people a way to ‘responsibly consume’ through the (Red) campaign to raise awareness and tap into where people are already consuming and will continue to consume. He has been criticized for not doing more to stop mass consumption. He is but one man, and I think he is doing much to empower the poor. He is not our Savior but a messenger and activist doing much more than many Christians sitting on the sidelines complaining and/or consuming at alarmingly high rates.
Fair trade is often encouraged as a way of making educated and concerned choices when shopping. We are encouraged by films like Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” to start and make better choices in how we consume and care for our planet. It comes down to a matter of priorities. Thus, an area where we can be more responsible is making the effort to be more informed and educated on how we can contribute to solving the problem.
Consumption has always been a part of our humanity and it is how we have capitalism and live and trade and survive. Yes, globalization can get way out of control. Yet, not all is bad and to poo poo it is an extreme in itself.
So, let us be aware of selfish and potent consumption in our global society, but recognize that there needs to be a balance and own up that not all consumption is bad. Also, people do not and will not change over night so we must work with what we have and make the best decisions possible from this vantage point. If it were not for consumption, then those who benefit from Fair Trade would really be hurting. It is all in our perspective. Is the glass half empty or half full?
It was nice to learn about my fellow peeps! Thanks for posting this and inviting me to be a guest blogger. I hope I can challenge, stretch, and open people up to good conversation through my post. Pax, Adele aka Existential Punk
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Comment by KymK*Y*M
5.33 pm on 10 Jan 2007
In reading Adele’s blog a thought came to me… Its almost as if society as a whole is not unlike an alcoholic. We must first admit we have a problem. Most of the people I know “talk” a good game, but still don’t do much in the way of recycling and making better choices in products and/or procedure to help “save” our lovely planet. Can we be a week-end “casual” consumer? Or do we have to go to consumption AA meetings and go cold turkey? I personally don’t believe that our society could destroy the earth even if we were trying to. I do want to do my part as a tiny piece of a collective whole to just do what’s right. That is how we should be living anyway even without the impending doom of ice cap melting, global warming, end times, total destruction Blade runner (when Mel Gibson was sane)type future that has been promised us! (if we dont put that old news paper in the “cycle” bin as my grandmother would say)
Comment by Paul
5.53 pm on 10 Jan 2007
Thanks Adele, i agree with you that we need to get a balanced view on consumerism – buying is not in and of itself bad – in fact I looked at christmas and rather than railing at all the present buying that was going on thought wow isn’t that good that people are buying gifts for each other and many of them are actively trying to think what this person would want and go and do something – my point that we have too few of those moments in life to actually positively consume…
trying to be healthy in consumption is of course another challenge and i agree with (1) that sometimes we in the west have the same sort of insight into our consumption that an alcoholic has with their drinking problem… well it was only a case or 2…
Comment by dan brown
5.59 pm on 10 Jan 2007
Consumerism is certainly an intersting subject and the negatives are easy to see. During a recent vacation to the Mexican Rivera as our ship was anchored off the shore of Puerto Vallarata and Mazatlan there were Wal Marts where there used to be cute tile roofed buildings. These Wal Marts and other corporate ikons make us see the debasing of much that we have fond memories of growing up for example, the corner ice cream store, etc. On the other hand the financial blessings that many of us have in the west are the result of increased business productivity. We need to put blinders on to what others are doing with there money including Christian celebrities and see what we can do to make our local communities better. There is much that can be done within the local school systems or for that matter use our imginations to move Christ out of the chruch and into the world. I like to periodically look at my check book and see where my dollars are going and set some goals for how we can be beter stewards and use our money to advance the kingdom. If we look at were we spend our money it says a lot about where our heart’s are. We have choosen to live in a wonderful neighborhood but not the most expensive house. We could certainly move up if we wanted to but we have so much more freedom by keeping our spending down to use the extra money for sacraficial giving. Your sincerely, Not Dan Brown the author
Comment by Geoff Holsclaw
6.03 pm on 10 Jan 2007
How can we get “off the grid” when it comes to consumption?
From an environmental perspective, many are trying to get off the “energy grid” (based in either coal or nuclear energy) by resorting to solar, wind, or geo-thermal energy.
But how can we get ‘off the grid’ when it comes to expoitative consumption? That is the question. Certainly we must in a sense consume in order to live (and to do this we usually enter into some sort of exchange). But this doesn’t mean we must enter into exploitative comsumption based in Capitalism (which is one type of exchange among many).
so let me suggest a distinction: consumption is good and necessary, based in the natural order of Creation where each biological and natural system exists in an endless exchange of material (multidirectional; i.e. physical material turned into biological material, or even cultural material, and eventually from biological into inert material). But CONSUMERISM is the consumption of what need (and much of what we don’t) based in an exploitative system (exploiting the human laborer and the natural order) which does not mutually exchange materials, but instead hordes them (unidirectional).
Comment by Geoff Holsclaw
6.09 pm on 10 Jan 2007
also,
my beef with the (RED) Campaign is that while it certainly is for a good cause (AIDS refief), the manufactures of those products (GAP, etc) are generally the most exploitative in production. So while it might make the customer feel good (easy Western guilt), it doesn’t help the sweatshop problem. Instead we should boycott sweatshop products and find a more worth place to buy clothing.
see http://for-the-time-being.blogspot.com/2006/12/no-sweat-clothing.html for some links.
Comment by Helen
7.11 pm on 10 Jan 2007
Thanks Adele.
It seems clear to me that small changes which actually happen are better than big ones which get discussed but never actually happen.
So, yes, let’s figure out what doable steps we can take now and take them, as well as discussing ideals and ultimate goals.
Maybe it’s true in some situations that it’s the thought that counts.
But I don’t think it’s true when it comes to addressing world poverty.
Comment by headphonaught
9.01 pm on 10 Jan 2007
Just spent ages typing in an eloquent response… and it got the code wrong.
Anyway… in my view consumption is the symptom… with the disease being covetousness aka wanting what we can’t have.
I wet my ((scottish)) pants last night when Stevie Jobs announced the iPhone. Do I need it? My Sony Ericsson phone does me fine… so no. Do I want it? Heck yes!
We are taught :: You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Is this still valid? Of course it is. We are in denial if we do not covet… and when it comes to consumption the grass is ALWAYS greener.
Question is… do we need it? If yes… then we need to take time to think through the purchase. Can we buy second hand… from a charity shop? Give to organisations who will benefit from our money.
If not… can we buy from organisations who have a proven supplyside reputation from careful production?
If not… can we buy from discount retailers?
Its also about stewardship of our resources… and also about being a stumbling block.
Consumption is part of society… its time we were responsible about it.
My tuppence worth
T aka H
Comment by Peter J Walker
9.18 pm on 10 Jan 2007
Hi Adele,
Thanks for the ‘heads up’ on your post!
I think you and I both fall prey to a little over-correction on the pendulum swing: I think together we’ve thrown more than one baby out with its dirty martini water (mmmm… still to early in the day to drink, here. Shoot!)
Anyway, while I think responsible, conscious consumerism can create a lot of economic benefit (and that’s good for economies, countries, nations, and business) it’s important we don’t forget what consumerism by its very nature: a socio-economic structure reliant on greed for its growth and very survival.
Ghandi said, “God forbid that India should ever take to industrialism after the manner of the west… keeping the world in chains. If [our nation] took to similar economic exploitation, it would strip the world bare like locusts.”
I think more importantly, in a “free consumer economy” Christ’s “least of these” have no value. The Kingdom of God doesn’t only clash with the culture at large, it piteously makes no sense through our cultural lenses…
John Berger wrote: “The poverty of our century is unlike that of any other. It is not (as poverty was before) the result of natural scarcity, but of a set of priorities imposed upon the rest of the world by the rich. Consequently, the modern poor are not pitied… but written off as trash. The twentieth-century consumer economy has produced the first culture for which a beggar is a reminder of nothing.”
That last line is particularly poignant. I think by its very nature, consumerism creates an attitude of disdain toward the have-nots.
Rightly, we must look to find a practical way to address world poverty, and those steps must inevitably be taken within consumerism. But I think I’ll hold to the belief that consumerism IS evil, even if a necessary one.
Great thoughts Adele. Keep writing – miss you at George Fox!
Comment by Eli Dorman
9.40 pm on 10 Jan 2007
If we are not well grounded in a personal awareness of our own patterns of consumption and weaknesses with regard to this, it becomes increasingly difficult to consider the many and varied ways our consumption, or over-consumption of resources, is damaging to people in other places. Just because we can afford to live a certain way, does not mean we’re off the hook or can throw our consciences out the door. If God has given us more it is for a purpose, and I do not believe that purpose is so we can have more stuff.
I am among the guilty, believe me. I have a particular weakness for buying small electronic gadgets because they are cool. I own two mp3 players, not because I need to, but because my earlier one did not have enough memory (like I really needed to cram on a few hundred more songs that I will never listen to in one setting). My point is, we must turn the microscope on ourselves when it comes to this issue. I don’t think buying and selling things is bad, but sometimes our attitudes about these things and about the effect of our lifestyles on others is conveniently compartmentalized. Our life choices, I believe, are profoundly revealing of our hearts.
Comment by Existential Punk
2.49 am on 11 Jan 2007
Ok, i am going to try to post this a 5th time now:
i am really excited about everyone’s thoughts here. Much great stuff to chew on.
i think the root of our consumption problem is the need to fill a great chasm in our souls that only God can fill rightly and permanently. How that plays out in our individual lives is between God and each individual. We think having more stuff will make us feel better and more secure. It’s like a drug addiction when drug levels get you only so high and more or different or stronger levels of drugs are needed. So, this is how i see consumption problems. Until we grow more secure in our identities and experience the depth of love our Good Creator has for us, we will constantly be striving to fill these voids with stuff, and we will constantly be disappointed. I would think we would get it, that this stuff does not do it for us. Yet, we are humans and are often very slow learners. We need to have conversations about this, recognize our own weaknesses, then submit all to GOD and ask for mercy, which GOD gladly extends!
Thank you everybody!
Pax,
Adele
Comment by Jason
9.01 am on 11 Jan 2007
Adele (10): Before you post a comment, highlight it and control copy, or apple copy (if on mac). If you enter wrong comment code you can then re-paste the comment.
Also clicking back in browser should take you back to comment box with comment in box still.
Sorry for any problems.
Jason
Comment by John Watson
10.50 am on 11 Jan 2007
The church is great at telling the world how to be, when we know we can only be it by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. There is a good balance in consumerism, but not where materialism becomes an idol.
Comment by Helen
12.02 pm on 11 Jan 2007
By the way, back arrow doesn’t work in browsers set up to refresh the page every time you go there.
Ctrl-C is a safer way to go :)
Comment by steven hamilton
12.18 pm on 11 Jan 2007
Peter –
thanks for the provacative perspective…thanks for seeing beyond the immediacy of an -ism…past to the power behind it and the values possibly inherent in it.
Comment by Peter Aschoff
3.47 pm on 11 Jan 2007
Thank you for sharing this. I think our problem is not that we are consumers of certain things but that we have come to a place in our culture where we are more defined by what we consume than by what we produce.
So it is a good practise to remind ourselves that giving is better than receiving…
Comment by marc
4.14 pm on 11 Jan 2007
Hi Dan
I like your book but thought the adaptation with Tom Hanks was not so good:)
Sorry could resist it!!
Comment by Chad
6.57 pm on 11 Jan 2007
Are we talking about consumerism or materialism here? Consumerism is a necessary function of economy. If we didn’t have consumerism, like you stated in the article, how would FairTrade or the Red Campaign help?
Materialism is the desire to have more and more with with little interest in ethical or spiritual matters. Materialism seems to be more of where this discussion is heading.
Also, is it exploitation to give a a work 2 dollars an hour instead of 2 dollars a day to live on? I have issues with saying that’s exploitation when the alternative is death and starvation. Now, I would say it is exploitation if that same worker is a child and/or working 18 hour days…
Comment by Stephen Kingston
10.04 pm on 11 Jan 2007
You are right to draw attention to the balance here. Consumption cannot be bad per se, but on the other hand, greed is certainly a sin, and I think that asceticism is a Christian virtue. But not to the extent that we are all called to live in monasteries. So we must all be consumers to some extent.
Comment by Molly
10.35 pm on 11 Jan 2007
Hm…good thoughts. I so agree on the swinging from one extreme to another…as I exit the traditional “camp,” I am struggling with finding a balanced place, instead of obeying my urge to run far far in the opposite direction.
Comment by Eli Dorman
12.40 am on 12 Jan 2007
Consuming has to do with using resources. We (people from the States) consume far more of the world’s resources than people in many other countries. We are often materialistic in our consumption of resources, but our materialism is still a form of consumption that I think has an impact on the rest of the world. Obviously, we all need things to survive (food, water, clothing, shelter, etc) and I do not think God is opposed to us having other things that simplify and enhance our lives, but I do think if we are too focused on our possessions we are often blind to other issues surrounding our consumerism/materialism.
I used to pay little or no attention to the labels on the clothing and other items I buy as far as where those things were made. But now I am very concerned about the living and working conditions of others, as well as a balanced economic playing field for workers here and in other nations.
It is simply unjust that a multi-national company would perpetuate poverty by moving their operations to a country where wages are low and not do anything to increase those wages and improve the quality of life of its workers. For me, materialism is symptomatic of the consumeristic world we live in. I accept that I too have played a role in perpetuating some of these issues while striving to make practical lifestyle and attitudinal changes that reflect the intent of my words.
I think twice about throwing a shirt in the hamper after only wearing it once (my attitudes about the consumption of water, historically, have not considered the lack of fresh and safe water resources elsewhere). For me, this is more than a simple change, it is something that requires action, even if that action is small. Because the action itself represents a shift in attitude that is important evidence that progress is being made in my practice of living a life that values the limited resources of others.
Comment by Bryan Riley
3.31 am on 12 Jan 2007
Materialism is bad when we try to fill our emptiness with material (and not God). Consumerism is bad when we are not mindful of God’s purpose for the things he entrusts to us as stewards. In the end, shifting our focus from God and His purpose to anything else results in idolatrous and destructive.
I know I have often succumbed to Mammon worship in my life and allowed my belief in what I have to take priority over my belief in God and obedience to Him.
Comment by Helen
1.49 pm on 12 Jan 2007
Bryan, I agree and disagree…
Yes, it is definitely a bad idea to try to meet our emotional needs with ’stuff’.
However, our emotional needs are not an absolute; they come at least in part from what we are telling ourselves about us, life, the universe and everything.
So, simply substituting ‘God’ for ’stuff’ isn’t going to make us mature. If that’s all we do we’re still going to be disfunctionally addicted; we simply changed what we are addicted to.
Being ‘addicted to God’ might sound like a good thing but it isn’t, because it is based on fear and need and makes people dogmatic and heartless.
For us to be generous to others so we can live out “love your neighbor”, we must move beyond fear and need being the driving forces in our inner being.
Imo.
Comment by Bryan Riley
2.55 pm on 12 Jan 2007
Helen, I’m not talking addiction. I’m talking devotion. Love. Focus. I’m talking a passion for God because He first loved us, so much so that He sent His only Son to live and die and live again for us even while we had nary a care in the world about Him. I also think it is impossible to be addicted to God and any use of the term addiction in connection to God is counterintuitive. Allow me to explain.
Looking up the word “addiction” I found this in Merriam-Webster’s online: “compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly : persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful.”
Obviously, the one true God can never be “harmful.” Additionally, because God loves us so much that He allows us to choose not to love Him, I’m not sure that He ever lets us develop a habit about Him. In fact, if we have any formed habits about God at all, it is more likely that we are habitual about not following Him.
I believe that anything we put in our lives to substitute for the satisfaction that can be found in God alone (again, I’m talking about God and not gods) will be found lacking.
Comment by Makeesha
4.26 pm on 12 Jan 2007
someone said this already but I’ll echo it, I think it, like most things, comes down to mindfulness. Being aware and intentional about every area of life and most definitely the area of consumption.
Comment by Existential Punk
6.09 pm on 12 Jan 2007
i think GOD can even become an idol for us when we place our expectations and pharisaical fences upon GOD. When we are seeking GOD for our own good and purposes makes GOD in our own image. When i became a Christian it was for ‘fire’ insurance to keep me outta hell. Meister Eckhart, a 14th century mystic, said, “God rid me of God”, which means our human ideas, constructs, images, etc. need to be evaluated and understood as not being all who GOD is.
Comment by Bryan Riley
9.43 pm on 12 Jan 2007
EP, that’s not making GOD an idol… that is making SELF an idol.
Comment by Existential Punk
9.51 pm on 12 Jan 2007
With that logic then, Bryan (26) then wouldn’t self be the idol in ALL things? i still hold that GOD can be an idol if held to for selfish gains especially when we claim we are worshipping GOD and we are in reality putting ourselves 1st. i understand what you are saying but i am taking it a step further. It’s not so cut and dry for me.
Comment by Helen
10.02 pm on 12 Jan 2007
EP I like your approach.
Bryan, there are less restrictive definitions of addictions which don’t require what is addicted to to be harmful. In those definitions the point is that we have a wrong relationship with a substance, activity or person.
Comment by Bryan Riley
10.48 pm on 12 Jan 2007
EP, I do think that self becomes an idol almost constantly, which is why God reminds us that worship is to offer ourselves as living sacrifices.
Helen, yes, there are many definitions of addictions but even if the substance isn’t as harmful as others, in the end the addiction itself by definition becomes as you say “wrong” are problematic. Moreover, my main point wasn’t the word harmful. It was the fact that I don’t think you can ever be addicted to God given His loving choice to enable us with a choice. God is love and God is freedom. Anything addictive by definition is enslavement. If you find yourself addicted to something you believe is God I believe that if you truly sought out what it was you were addicted to you would find that it was a god, not God.
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