Do Retailers Know Us Best?
December 22, 2008
by Rusty Pritchard
Three pieces of writing occupied my mind this morning. All are relevant to the storm of consumption that strikes the nation at year’s end. One came in the annual double Christmas issue of The Economist: a disturbing review of brain science research into the psychology of shopping, much of it proprietary. Corporations have sponsored numerous studies in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to see which parts of a consumer’s brain respond to which products or brands. The Economist cites an academic researcher:
“We are just at the frontier of the subconscious,” says Eric Spangenberg, dean of the College of Business at Washington State University and an expert on the subtleties of marketing. “We know it’s there, we know there are responses and we know it is significant.” But companies commissioning such studies keep the results secret for commercial reasons. This makes Dr. Spangenberg sure of one thing: “What I think I know, they probably know way more.”
In our most basic (and base) appetites and desires, we are known intimately by retailers, and they use that knowledge to manipulate us. For many people, being known leads to enslavement.
What a contrast to the way we are known by God!
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? (Galatians 4:8-9)
As Joanna and I were praying this morning, she prayed something that came from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s sermon “Transformed Nonconformist”. We looked up the quote later:
Everywhere and at all times, the love ethic of Jesus is a radiant light revealing the ugliness of our state conformity.
In spite of this imperative demand to live differently, we have cultivated a mass mind and have moved from the extreme of rugged individualism to the even greater extreme of rugged collectivism. We are not makers of history; we are made by history. Longfellow said, “In this world a man must either be anvil or hammer,” meaning that he is either a molder of society or is molded by society. Who doubts that today most men are anvils and are shaped by the patterns of the majority? Or to change the figure, most people, and Christians in particular, are thermometers that record or register the temperature of majority opinion, not thermostats that transform and regulate the temperature of society (from Chapter 2 of King’s Strength to Love).
I don’t doubt that most of us who claim to be believers (including me), if subjected to a brain scan of our responses to brands and shopping opportunities, would respond almost exactly as the world does. Part of the response comes from just being human.
Does a response that comes from the spirit as well as from the gut make a difference to our consumptions decisions. So far, there is no magnetic resonance imaging device to track our spiritual responses to commercial culture. Can we cultivate a spirit of transformed nonconformism that controls our merely human responses? Can we be the hammer and not the anvil, the thermostat and not the thermometer?
Retailers think they know us; we think we are known by God. For Americans, the holiday shopping season may be the best test of who knows us best.
Rusty Pritchard is a natural resource economist and the editor of Creation Care magazine.
What If We Had a Year of Jubilee?
December 17, 2008
by Ariah Fine
The Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25) is one of the most radical things I’ve come across in the Bible. It’s one of those passages non-Christians should know and ask all the Christians they talk to about, and expect some sort of a response regarding it. The Year of Jubilee is many things, but one thing it is in particular is a time for all debts to be forgiven, and everyone to have a fresh start. Could you imagine this happening? It’s supposed to happen about once every 50 years, so let’s just say, oh 2009 happens to be the next Jubilee Year. What would happen if this was carried out on an Individual Level? Church? City? Country? World?
Read more
Creation Care coloring books
December 17, 2008
From Jonathan Merritt:
I ran across something surprising today: a creation care coloring book for children. I would never have thought about something like that, but it is a great idea. Never too early to get your children thinking about creation care stewardship. But, here is something even better: IT’S ABSOLUTELY FREE. Check it out at http://www.marvelbelievecare.
Advent, Christ, and Creation Care
December 12, 2008
My post today is focused on our coming expectation, as God’s people, of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s important for each of us to refocus on the centrality of Christ to the Advent season.
Isaiah 11 gives us a glorious vision of Jesus Christ and his implications for the rest of creation. The reign of Jesus alters all relationships. It even brings peace to creation. This verse in Isaiah suggests that the reign of Jesus comes even as when he is a babe.
I would encourage us to read and pray through Isaiah 11. Read more
Religions Take Creation Seriously
December 10, 2008
There’s a nice article in New York’s Poughkeepsie Journal about how a number of religions are getting serious about creation care. Jonathan Merritt, of the Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative, and a contributor to this blog, is featured as an evangelical voice.
Green Pastures
December 8, 2008
A study out last month shows that the disparity between rich and poor populations can’t be calculated in monetary terms alone. Health disparities between the two, at least, have to do with green space, as well as greenbacks. Read more
Movie Review – Fuel
December 4, 2008
A few weeks ago at the Austin Farmer’s Market I saw a flier for the documentary “Fuel”- a film about (you guessed it) alternative fuel sources. It seemed like the sort of film I would like so I decided to catch it during its limited engagement here in Austin. My first attempt didn’t go so well. I pulled up to the theater and saw that it was surrounded by news crews. At first I thought they were doing coverage of the film. Yeah right. Apparently the theater had been robbed by a gunman earlier in the day and was shut down. I had to wonder what sort of idiot would rob the independent arts theater, but needless to say I didn’t see the movie that night. My second attempt proved more fruitful.
“Fuel” is the outcome of activist and writer Josh Tickell’s quest to stand up to our country’s addiction to oil and propose alternative solutions. It recently won Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival and is in many ways unlike any other documentary I’ve seen recently. Most documentaries that speak to fuel usage and the global crises it causes are fairly doom and gloom oriented. They paint a hopeless scenario, are pretty heavy-handed with the guilt, and speak vaguely to the need for change. “Fuel,” though, is different. While it unequivocally points out the problems with petrochemical corporations and our political dalliance with oil, it does so from a very personal perspective. Tickell tells his own story – from his mother’s heath struggles common to those living near the Louisiana refineries to his experiments with veggiemobiles. His candid approach is a constant reminder that the fuel crisis is not just an abstract phenomenon, but a very personal issue. Read more
The Missing Link
December 3, 2008
While more and more churches are awakening to God’s call to creation care and stewardship of the earth, I find that relatively few are thinking about environmental impacts on the world’s poor or about broader environmental issues beyond the U.S. border. The connection between poverty and tropical deforestation has long been one of my hot button issues—first because the connection is so close, and second because the rural poor are some of the most forgotten, voiceless people in the world. But I have been told several times recently that people don’t link these issues to creation care:
“Sure we want to begin recycling, saving energy and reducing our carbon footprint, but tropical deforestation? Poverty? Shouldn’t you be talking to the missions committee?” Read more
All Organic, All the Time
December 2, 2008
The New York Times has a piece on pediatrician Alan Greene, who recently completed a self-imposed challenge to eat ALL organic, ALL the time, for three years. It’s an interesting anecdotal report on the effects of such an experiment, at least. Sadly, the article doesn’t highlight the benefits of organically grown food that aren’t related to human health, such as the health of the animals and of the natural systems that support agriculture. But it does link to Dr. Greene’s children’s health website, a helpful resource itself. Read the article here.
A Mother’s Instincts
December 1, 2008
Audubon Magazine has a concise, empowering piece on Lois Gibbs in its November-December issue. Gibbs was the mother of children affected by the Love Canal toxic waste scandal of the 1970s, when a community that had been built on a chemical waste dump site in western New York suffered birth defects and chemical-related diseases from toxins and carcinogens leaching up through the ground and into their homes and yards. Fighting for her children’s health in that context launched her into a life of transformative environmental justice. She founded an organization, now called the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice, which has successfully convinced high-profile corporations to alter their environmentally destructive practices and materials. Most of the organization’s actions focus acutely on reducing toxins that are destructive to creation and that pose a threat to the health of children.
At a time of year when we, as Christians, are talking a lot about mothers and children and Mary’s bravery regarding Christ’s birth, it’s exciting to read about another woman whose willingness to do right has helped creation.
