The ethics of consumption
I am currently reading Being Consumed:Economics and Christian Desire by William T. Cavanaugh. The author provides a theological and cultural analysis of our consumer society. He presents consumerism not as materialism, but as spirituality gone wrong. Consumerism has many of the elements associated with spirituality: the search for transcendence, detachment, community, and human solidarity. Cavanaugh provides an economic ethic based on the Eucharist in which the ultimate consumption of the body of Christ relativizes all other consumption. The economic belief in scarcity, because human desire is unquenchable, is met with the abundance of life in Christ. I believe this book provides important insights on how people of faith are to live in a world dominated by stuff. This might be a very good group discussion topic.
August 30th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Absolutely. I’m reading it right now and the theology is rich. Cavanaugh does an excellent job challenging the reader regarding fair trade issues and where our “stuff” comes from, not to mention thinking through how much of it we really need. I also appreciated his chapter on consumerism being not about attachment to things, but a detachment from them. The thrill is not the thing itself but the pursuit of that thing. It’s not the buying so much as it is the shopping.