By: Mario Hood on February 28, 2019
University of Virginia sociologist James Davison Hunter published the seminal work, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World, in 2010. As much talk in the Evangelical ethos centers around engaging culture or transforming the world, Hunter’s work was much anticipated then and continues to be influential now.…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on February 28, 2019
These people who have stirred up trouble throughout the world have come here too, and Jason has welcomed them as guests! They are all acting against Caesar’s decrees, saying there is another king named Jesus![1] James Davison Hunter’s To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World builds on…
By: Harry Edwards on February 28, 2019
In my last blog post I sought to bring to the fore some of what ails our beliefs and behaviors of Christianity in the West but more specifically in the United States today. In this post I would like to continue where I left off; and that is to offer a hopeful way forward for…
By: Rhonda Davis on February 28, 2019
Every day, when I enter my office, this is the picture I see behind my desk. Both of these framed pieces were given to me by close friends after I participated in ministry events and campaigns with them. On the left is a token from a conference where I taught. It is a challenge to…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on February 24, 2019
“Miller analyzes how consumer culture commodifies everything, including religious practice, making it impossible to confront it head-on. His discussions on learning the origins of where a consumer product comes from and on embedding religious practices into the traditions from which they are taken are particularly helpful. Miller succeeds in moving the discussion of consumer culture…
By: Shermika Harvey on February 24, 2019
The world is changing before our eyes. Things that were once sacred has become fads changing and evolving with the time. Religion has become a counter product of the newest event or program at the local church. On any given Sunday, people can choose for an array of buffet style Christianity ranging from the traditional…
By: John Muhanji on February 24, 2019
The book by Vincent Miller has been a significant challenge to me as much as it has been a profoundly and theologically structured. What struck me most was part of its title “Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture.” I related this with our Quaker Christian Faith and Practice, and one of the essential…
By: Wallace Kamau on February 23, 2019
Edmund Burke[1], is quoted attributing the triumph of evil to the inaction of good men. For any thing good to happen or for evil to be defeated, it takes a good man to take responsibility to do something to change the situation, rather than being a passive observer. Miller[2]in writing about consumerism, takes the bold…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on February 23, 2019
Is there a way forward? What way will we take? What will be the long-term ramifications? These are questions being asked of denominations today and specifically The United Methodist Church this week at their Special Session of the General Conference. As I research the viability of flourishing denominations in the 21st Century I must consider…
By: Mary Mims on February 22, 2019
“How do you know about Gucci, Reverend Mims”, one of the youth asked me as he saw the familiar symbol on my sunglasses. “Gucci has been around way before you were born”, I responded. The real question was not how I knew about Gucci as a brand, but how did this 16-year-old, with no job,…
By: Nancy VanderRoest on February 22, 2019
At a funeral I officiated at this week, I told many stories about my special patient Margaret and how she truly touched my life. I noted that she was a bright light while here on earth, even though she had many struggles throughout her life. But I shared that Margaret believed that God’s glory is…
By: Karen Rouggly on February 21, 2019
We have a nest in our house. Not the kind that birds have, but the thermostat kind. We got it when we moved into this house a little over 4 years ago. What’s cool about a nest thermostat is that you can be wise with your energy consumption, and you get this little green leaf.…
By: Sean Dean on February 21, 2019
In the musical In the Heights the main character is Usnavi, a second-generation immigrant from the Dominican Republic living in Washington Heights in New York City. Over the course of his life he has been told that his goal in life needs to be to move back to the Dominican Republic, because that is home…
By: Jenn Burnett on February 21, 2019
I’m watching with interest the exploration of the identification of ‘toxic-masculinity.’ The term has not yet achieved precise definition, but it has arisen as both an academic and social project aimed at defining traditionally tolerated root beliefs about masculinity that have grown into destructive behavioural patterns. I would argue that a key contributing factor to…
By: Digby Wilkinson on February 21, 2019
This week’s book, Consuming Religion, Vincent J. Miller,[1] affords a well detailed and careful examination of two unavoidable interactions between religion and consumerism: religion as a consumer product and religious people as consumers of religious beliefs, images, and everyday products. Coming from an historic liturgical tradition, I see this disconnect between objects, symbols and even…
By: Rhonda Davis on February 21, 2019
It seems that, without our consent, we have been undergoing a transformation from the inside out. Over decades of time, our consumer culture has changed the way we think, feel and behave. At least, this is what Vincent Miller proposes in Consuming Religion. In this book, Miller begins by explaining, “This is not a book…
By: Andrea Lathrop on February 21, 2019
I cannot imagine the Western Christian that could read Vincent Miller’s Consuming Religion and not have at least one prick of the heart. For me, there were many. It is extremely difficult, given our embeddedness in consumerism, to imagine a world of non-consumption Christendom. Miller gives me pause and greater discomfort on what was already uncomfortable. I…
By: Harry Edwards on February 21, 2019
Neil Postman, an American social critic, professor and author, best known for his book Amusing Ourselves to Death, compared two dystopian visions of the future. The famous version is from George Orwell. He saw a future in which totalitarian states ruled with fear and control. His classic novel 1984 created a world in which its…
By: Mario Hood on February 21, 2019
As a pastor and marketer, I find Vincent Miller’s, Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture, fascinating on many levels. From the marketing perspective, it challenges the ethics of said industry when it comes to the commodification of religious symbols. Daryl McKee in the journal of marketing writes, “He (Miller) goes…
By: Rev Jacob Bolton on February 19, 2019
I recently had a fascinating conversation with Elysa Hammond. Elysa is the Vice President of Clif Bar and their Director of Environmental Stewardship. Simplified, her job is to make sure Clif Bar uses the most delicious, healthy, organic, sustainable, earth friendly ingredients in their products – and then to make sure that those products are…
