{"id":34004,"date":"2023-11-09T18:14:54","date_gmt":"2023-11-10T02:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=34004"},"modified":"2023-11-09T18:18:34","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10T02:18:34","slug":"cardiac-arrest-may-cure-consumerism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/cardiac-arrest-may-cure-consumerism\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardiac Arrest May Cure Consumerism"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Last week I went to the theater with our pastor and his wife\u2019s small group to see, After Death<\/em>, which is a documentary exploring NDE\u2019s (Near Death Experiences), produced by the same people responsible for The Chosen<\/em>. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by their approach to this complex, and at time, easily dismissed, subject. This film follows the stories of several individuals who claim they experienced the other side during cardiac arrest. It also contains the research journeys of psychiatrist, cardiologists, and physicians who eventually became open to the idea that consciousness is not produced by the brain, and life continues after bodily death.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve read some of my previous post, you may have noticed that NDE\u2019s is a subject near and dear to my heart. It seems to show up every so often in my posts. Over the last twelve years I\u2019ve spent countless hours reading, listening to, and interviewing both experiencers of this phenomenon and those who have researched it in academic contexts. One of the people I flew out to interview for my NPO project was Dr. Raymond Moody, a pioneer on this topic and the person who first coined the term \u201cnear death experience\u201d, in the mid- seventies. He was one of my \u201coutlier voices\u201d for my year of discovery. We discussed his book, God is Bigger Than the Bible. <\/em>Yeah, I was intrigued as well.<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t help but see how NDEs are pertinent to the conversation around consumerism, and in particular desire<\/em>, that Dr. Jason Clark explores in his paper, Evangelicalism and Capitalism<\/em>. Both Vincent Miller in, Consuming Religion, <\/em>and Dr. Jason Clark argue that aspects of western consumerism impact religious faith and human desire<\/em> in negative ways. Miller views consumerism as an interpretive force that has the ability to commodify virtually anything, including religion and tradition. Everything\u00a0<\/em>becomes \u201ccontent to be commodified, distributed, and consumed\u201d.[1]<\/a> \u00a0Consumerism not only reshapes values, but creates a disconnect between belief and practice.[2]<\/a> This consumeristic framework, as subtle as it can be, can nurture individualism and promote self-centeredness in both secular and sacred environments, which runs counter to what many feel is the heart of the Christian faith.<\/p>\n

I was thankful that Dr. Clark, did not take the route of attacking or demonizing culture, but rather proposed ways to redirect desire to what helps individuals and communities become spiritually healthier. He takes wisdom from Augustine who warns against \u201creducing culture to something completely antithetical to God\u201d.[3]<\/a> \u00a0Instead, Jason proposes another solution to western cultures fixation on profit, materialism, competition, and consumerism.\u00a0 He says, \u201cReal revolution is about nurturing the flow of desire, rather than its destruction: It is the need to exceed the desire fostered by capitalism with a re-ordered desire.\u201d[4]<\/a> This is where my NDE research makes its way into the conversation.<\/p>\n

The Perceptual Studies Department at University of Virginia, and other research organizations, have compiled thousands of NDE cases throughout the world over the last thirty years and have noticed some striking characteristics that remain with experiencers years after their initial NDE. When individuals experience the other side, or at least believe they have, they report encountering God, spiritual beings, deceased family and friends, an educational life review, and profound revelations. This very spiritual experience transforms their beliefs and attitude concerning life and causes previous desires to increase and others to decrease.<\/p>\n

What increases and decreases with Near Death Experiencers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lessened concern for material gain, recognition, or status<\/em><\/p>\n

Decrease in competition with others<\/p>\n

Greater desire to serve others<\/p>\n

Increased compassion and love for others<\/p>\n

Increase in mission and purpose<\/p>\n

Heightened self-esteem (Identity)<\/p>\n

Deeper religious faith or heightened spirituality[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

Many of the negative effects western consumerism or capitalism produces like heightened individualism, competition, greed, disregard for others of lower status, and materialism is short circuited by these spiritually transformative experiences. These people are given a new image of what life is about and view themselves as children of God which inevitably changes their desires. As children\u00a0<\/em>of God, they realize they are surrounded by their brothers and sisters, which decreases their competitive drives in all kinds of arenas, including the free market. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One individual who had an NDE left his fortune five hundred company, with all its perks, high paying salary, and prestige to start a boy\u2019s home. His experience radically changed how he measured and defined success. In fact, many of these NDErs leave their careers to pursue what they believe to be more meaningful work. As stated earlier, their concern for material gain, recognition, competition, and status lower. Their desires<\/em> are redirected to other things. God and people truly become their priority in practice, not just in theory, as Miller states was the main concern of his book.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

Of course, not everyone will have a near death experience, thank God, but I believe this phenomenon supports both Vincent Miller and Jason Clark\u2019s argument that the most effective remedy to the negative effects of western consumerism and capitalism is spiritual, theological, and educational in nature. Spiritual awakenings, healthier theologies, good education, critical thinking, and spiritual practices have the best chance at redirecting western consumeristic desires to things that bring life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Vincent J. Miller,\u00a0Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture<\/em>\u00a0(New York: Continuum, 2008), 179.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Miller, Consuming Religion, 19.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Jason Paul Clark, \u201cEvangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship<\/em>\u201d (DMIN diss., George Fox University, Newberg,2018), 202.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Clark, Evangelicalism<\/em>, 174.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Holden, Janice Miner, Bruce Greyson, and Debbie James, eds. The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation<\/em>, (Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger Publishers, 2009), 46.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Miller, Consuming Religion, 19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week I went to the theater with our pastor and his wife\u2019s small group to see, After Death, which is a documentary exploring NDE\u2019s (Near Death Experiences), produced by the same people responsible for The Chosen. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by their approach to this complex, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":171,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[2904],"class_list":["post-34004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-dlgp02-miller-clark","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/171"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34004"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34012,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34004\/revisions\/34012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}