Is Christianity another Form of Consumerism?

Question

Just think about it. Christians obsess over Jesus and God and going to heaven just like the average person obsesses over his car or his iPod.

Christmas is a commercial holiday. Face it, its not even Jesus' birthday! (Christmas was originally a pagan celebration called Saturnalia which commemorated the birth of the sun god) Why do you need to spend so much money on your family and friends just to show them your love?!

Many Christians go to attractive, opulent churches, whereas a shabby and plain one would have done just fine.


And of course, there's the advertisement. More than half of my friends wear those diamond necklaces with the cross on them. Bling bling. Why not a plastic one? If they bold symbolize Christ, who cares what the necklace is made of?

Should I even mention Televangelists and the pope? They're only like 10293809128309128039 wealthier than Jesus ever was...no problem...

Answer 1

no christianity came first homie


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Answer 2

Wow. Great questions, but seriously misinformed. You are only looking at Christianity in the US and you are majorly generalizing. Consumerism in this country is MASSIVE and Christmas consumerism is particularly prolific, but the world is a much bigger place than the US. Canada doesn't even do it up like you do here. And the whole Saturnalia thing is a bit wrong. Christmas was NOT originally Saturnalia, which was a Roman holiday in December to honor the birth of the sun god, IE the new sun as the days finally start to get longer again. The northern pagan Yule holiday of the Germanic tribes influenced Christmas customs quite a bit, too. The bottom line is when the early christian church encountered Romans practicing Saturnalia and the germanics celebrating Yule, they began to understand Jesus and like the new sun, or Year God, and started BORROWING, not stealing, symbols that they thought could relate to Jesus, too. After a few hundred years they decided to place the celebration of Jesus' birthday on Saturnalia (Roman New Year) because to them, they had been seeing Jesus as the bringer of a type of new year. None of this was sneaky or evil (however, the forced mass conversions were!!!) They did these things without ill-will. As a born and bread Pagan and a Christian Theologian, I feel this assessment is fair. Christmas consumerism and Christian consumerism in the US is a symptom of a larger cultural problem and NOT the cause.

Answer 3

first off the pope has no wealth of his own. while the vatican has numerous art works and items that have been donated over the years, they keep them for the masses to enjoy and or scholars to study, not a collector to hord.

unfortunately, Christmas has been changed to usurp the joy of celcbrating, all Christians together on the same day, the glorious birth of our Lord.

my church IS quite beautiful as it's also quite old. in the olden days people would donate items and money to enhance the appearance, also marble & gold was a standard item used when wanting to give a gift that would last a life time. people DID spend money to give back to the Lord, as they would their own homes, as their churches were more a home to them. the churches i attend are both old and WOW and new and more modest.

unfortunately people today are living of the world too much. i will admit, i wear a beautiful but not worth any real money, cross/scapular. it was my grandmothers and given to her by my parents for mothers day- as a sign of their respect & admiration for her and rejoicing in her love of the Lord and the fact she raised them with the same love.

i do believe there are some who use CHristinaity as a money maker, not a Christ waker. they will be held accountable in the end. i only pray those who have fallen victim find Christ and do not hold him liable for the sins of those who make them suffer.

Answer 4

Actually, a lot of christians in rural areas go to the plainest, easiest church to get to. And many of them don't even wear crosses to show devotion. I think that Christianity was originally a normal, humble religion, but got changed and shaped into something else, like christmas. Maybe you've noticed more of the consumerist part because you live in the city. I've noticed it too.

Answer 5

There are a lot of bad examples, that applies to everything. As far as the question of 'how much should I keep, and how much should I give', doesn't the Bible say 10%? or at least that's the generally accepted number. So, if you're friends are contributing 10% to charity/good causes, then what they do with the rest of their money is their choice. Nobody can give 100%.

Answer 6

Yes Christianity is very commerciallized but a plastic cross would be terrible. Its suppoed to be a symbol of your faith not just a keychain you leave around the house. And the obsession, thats called faith.

Answer 7

I was born in poverty, my mom worked day and night to feed eight children,I had to raise my three children alone and most often best i could do was mac and cheese or toast.I love Jesus.

Answer 8

Jesus had money. There are references to it in the scriptures.

Answer 9

Jesus doesn't just $ave! Jesus $ells.

Answer 10

did you know you could BUY your penance instead of saying prayers from the catholic church way back when? lol modern problems on the subject are by no means the begining of the problem itself.

Answer 11

Every facet of our society seems to be a form of consumerism.


(Except for the Muslims; Their ism will kill delete you now, and kill you later.)