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Faith in the Age of the Ipod—Christianity and Consumer CultureBy Vincent MillerAsking what consumerism does to faith and practice Advanced capitalism comodifies religion We treat our religious beliefs like we do the commodities we consume; we thereby take a passive role rather than an active role in our faith development What is most important is not what we believe but how we relate to our beliefs 1. Habits of how we relate to culture 2. Structures that connect religion and materials Consumer culture is not just about consuming but consuming commodities (consumption of things without considering their story). Comodification is culture assigning value to things—viewing products as abstract, exchangeable goods His point is about perception, we don’t have access to the information behind the commodity. We base our decisions on shallow appearance or commercial appeal. We buy clothes from nowhere, gas from no one that has no effects on the environment. Ipod is not only an object of desire; it is a commodity. It enables a new practice of music. Changes the way we relate to music and culture. Ipod enables the disembeding of songs from their context. Random access. We get only top hits. Narrowing of depth through increased convenience. Consumer culture gives us a shallower perception but also more freedom of access to ranges of options. Playlists: subjective consumption is not only an option but is preferred. We share the experience with no one but ourselves. People identify with their playlists. Religion becomes like a playlist. It is comodified. We can download information about information of other religions and make our selection. We take it out of context. We have shallow religious commitment. We use practices out of context that are devoid of the worldview from which they came. Our commitments too readily conform to culture. Consumer culture obviates standing against culture. Tactics (the arts of the weak, who don’t control the field)// Distinct from Strategy. 1. Piercing the commodity veil to understand where things come from. (Pick a few commodities that are important and figure out the relationship behind them). Know the origins of things. 2. Consumer choice (the moment of decision to buy something or not). Actual space is stronger than imaginary space. Consumer culture tries to get us to imagine what it would be like to possess some commodity, which is different from the actual possession of the commodity. (Ex. The bowflex: Many more people own a bowflex than use one). 3. Swimming against the tide of consumer Christianity. Take the interconnections very seriously between traditions and between institutions. Does it enable connections in praxis? posted by Jake at 5/01/2006 09:42:00 AM  
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"We use practices out of context that are devoid of the worldview from which they came. Our commitments too readily conform to culture. Consumer culture obviates standing against culture."
Interesting observations. On one level I heard one accuse some emerging practices of this type of thing. Using yoga, meditation, etc., without understanding the connection to the culture from which they arise. Practitioners would respond that they are modifying and redeeming these practices while in some way integrating them with local culture.
Reminds me of the ritual of invitation. When it became a staple of frontier revivalism, local churches imported this ritual with modification. Thus, a practice of the rural frontier revival meeting became, without interculuration (bosch), a practice of the local church.
So perhaps the message to alt worship communities that want to avoid this consumerist worship that Miller speaks of is to be serious about understanding rituals and practices from other traditions (Catholic, Eastern church, etc.) before blindly importing them into a particular Christian setting.
Thus, education becomes an important grounding(?) or at least componet of healthy worship. Understanding contexts and history enriches a proper participation in worship.
mark
and just ran across this relevant quote from the W.
"The nation's young generation will wrestle to resolve these dilemmas, he said. "My advice: Harness the promise of technology without becoming slaves to technology. My advice is that science serves the cause of humanity and not the other way around," the president said."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114692814912245873.html?mod=googlenews_wsj