What Would Jesus Buy?
The movie that Santa doesn't want you to see
Very often we are shocked by the magnitude of some of the problems we hear about on the news. Mostly the shock is produced by reports of environmental problems caused by our own greed and total disregard for our planet and the living things that share it with us. But there seems to be a simple solution to these apocalypse-making situations. Apparently, if we would shop less and consume less, the world’s outlook may look very different.
We are being ruthlessly bombarded with images of gadgets, appliances, toys, vehicles, clothes, food, and even medication 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Every single item is presented as something you just have to have in order to be happy. The message is clear: buy, buy, buy.
Businesses constantly tempt us to buy now and worry about paying later. They reel us in with promises of endless credit with no future consequences. And like gullible sheep we are led astray down the path to eternal debt. The media urges us to “shop ‘till you drop” or “shop yourself silly” during the infamous Black Friday or the more innocent Christmas season.
It is during this time that businesses play on our emotions by fooling us into believing that there is a limited supply. We are then encouraged to behave like animals if we want the privilege of owning a certain item. Many of us who are generally educated and gentle turn into mauling monsters who trample over anything and anyone who dares to get in the way of our shopping.
The average American spends about one hour per week in some type of spiritual meditation or practice and up to five hours a week shopping. Most experts would agree that a large amount of people are actually addicted to shopping. American consumer credit debt has surpassed $2.4 trillion, already it has increased in comparison to last year. There is a problem here and it can no longer be ignored.
During Christmas season alone an additional 15 million tons of garbage is created. This means more waste that the government can no longer handle and that ends up contaminating our planet. Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir are on a mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse.
This 2007 film “What Would Jesus Buy?” presents shopping— in the way that governments and businesses want us to shop— as one of the main causes of C02 emissions. We need to re-evaluate what is important to us if we want to save our planet.
Loading...
