“I feel happy when I go to the mall because I get to buy the things
that I need.” This is what someone said when I asked, “what do you feel when
you go to the mall?” Change the words “mall” for “church” and “buy” with “heal”
or “reflect” and you will see that indeed the mall and the consumerist system
is trying to use our human need for God and twist it into a constant fulfillment
of desire (The Persuaders). Obviously people cannot feel that they are being controlled
by those media makers; in other words, they cannot realized they are inside “the
Matrix”.
When I was at the mall I asked some people if they thought that there
was anything religious about the mall, these were their answers:
- - No, not that I
can think off.
- - No
- - No
- - No, you? (I
answered yes, consumerism is a religion; he said, “interesting” )
- - No
- - No (after a
while she changed her mind) yes, there is community
Do you see a common factor on these answers? Not a lot of people
reflect on what they do, we do not ask “why?” We accept the reality of the world
with which we are presented” (The Truman Show) because it is the most
comfortable way to live, it is also the way society has been teaching us to
live since the beings of society. That is precisely why we love the mall so
much, because the guilt you are supposed to feel while you are not being able
to cope with reality (although you should) is gone, cup-caked by the feeling
that you need this and that because you need it you are making a smart choice
by buying it. We think, “I am not being controlled, I make my own choices” but
those “sale” signs are not really smart choices as we think, but more “you are naïve
enough to fall for this.”
How does all of this related with the church? In every way, but churches
are smart choices. At least in my hermeneutic situation, Christianity is our
way to step out of “Seahaven” (The Truman
Show). As Jon Pahl pointed out, malls use every characteristic about a
church to give a “spiritual” atmosphere, a
you-are-not-doing-anything-wrong-by-consuming-everyhting-you-like place to
persuade buyers to join this religion. The church helps us be aware of King Consumerism
to discover that real happiness can only be felt in Christ.
Obviously part of the problem is the society we live in; it has been
slowly structured in a way that expects us to consume (for economic reasons,
for social standards and for human “necessities”). But we have to remember we
are society.
Interesting experiment, Sin Hee, and I love your graphic. :) I especially appreciate your observation that "obviously part of the problem is the society we live in; it has been slowly structured in a way that expects us to consume.... But we have to remember we are society."
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