Then I get to my church, which is usually a safe respite from the 700 Club Talking Points Memos, just in time to hear an admonishment to do my Christmas shopping at stores that share my values. This is the point where the absurdity of it all really hits home for me. I've never heard anyone at any so-called mainstream Christian church admonish me not to shop at stores that exploit their workers, employ children at slave wages, use sweat shops- these are actually things that would challenge me to go beyond my own convenience and self-serving habits, and not coincidentally, they are the kinds of things that Jesus seemed to have some opinions on (if I remember correctly, He was against them). But maybe in one of those apocryphal gospels there's a passage where Jesus warns the disciples, "Oh, be wary of those who, when trying to sell you goods at cut-rate prices for a celebration that is ostensibly in my name, fail to adequately cite me as the purpose for that celebration."
Here's the whole post.
Wow. This is a powerful piece. Thanks.
Posted by: kimj | Wednesday, December 14, 2005 at 09:13 PM