What Would Jesus Buy?

No Impact Man posted a video of a Rev. Billy interview (with a vile media guy). But it reminded me that I'd heard the Rev. Billy on Democracy Now this Week.

“What Would Jesus Buy” is produced by Morgan Spurlock, who gained fame with his documentary “Super Size Me.” Reverend Billy joins us now in our firehouse studio and Morgan Spurlock joins us from Los Angeles.

* Reverend Billy. Founder of the Church of Stop Shopping. His latest book is “What Would Jesus Buy?: Fabulous Prayers in the Face of the Shopocalypse.”

* Morgan Spurlock. Producer of “What Would Jesus Buy?” He is the director of the 2004 Oscar-nominated film, “Super Size Me.”


I wonder if years from now we might look back and marvel that it took whacky, clowning to seize media attention to broadcast the idea of not consuming? It is such an anti-amurkan notion.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, well, assuming there's anyone left to look back . . .

katecontinued said...

Too true

Anonymous said...

I assume you're already familiar with the book Your Money or Your Life, but in case not:

http://www.amazon.com/Your-Money-Life-Transforming-Relationship/dp/0140286780/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195857135&sr=1-1

Also, what would recommend as reading for someone just beginning to think about sustainable living space practices?

katecontinued said...

Actually Thom, I wouldn't recommend anything to read. Instead, I suggest one use the next month - amurka's high holy days of worshiping at the alter of acquisition - to keep a journal. Simply observe.

Keep a log of your purchases (which you do anyway if you follow Your Money or Your Life). Think about things. Get a feel for 'without' and how erroneous this concept is.

If every single citizen did this sincerely for a year, then making the following year a 90% reduction - Austerity Riot would be feasible.

katecontinued said...

I am so pissed when I make stupid errors.

worshipping has 2 p's

katecontinued said...

Thom, I sent you this reply email and it was undeliverable.

I agree with you on this one. I read this book back in 1993. I have
recorded every receipt since I read that book! I intend to devote
several posts in January (or December) to this book and to some of
these rock solid resources. This book was one of the finest I ever
read in my life regarding money.

Additionally, I think it takes some real time to really grasp this
lifestyle. Like that startling video I posted about money several days
ago, money is something we have all been lied to, misguided and made
to either fear or worship.

I struggle almost daily with reminding myself that living as I do is a
choice and I needed feel like a slaker. God damn work ethic.

Anonymous said...

Kate -

Thanks for all your thoughts on the matter. I like the idea of a journal, and I will give it a go.

You tried to email me? Hmmm. We can try it again if you like at thom.bassett@gmail.com.

And don't feel bad about that extra p. Remember: You're talking to the boy who confused "their" with "there" on your blog recently . . .

Anonymous said...

And as for that G-d damn work ethic, it's something I try to help my students become conscious about, all the while struggling with my own version of it . . .

katecontinued said...

Thom, I noticed at Shakesville Pub the talk of movies. The one you were praising is one my neighbor just saw and hated it. Ha.

But, yesterday she and I saw Sean Penn's movie, "Into the Wild" and I just loved it. The cinematography is spectacular, the casting is excellent and the storyline works nicely with what we have been discussing about sustainability. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it already. Do see it before your students, as it would be a rich one for discussion of coming of age.

Anonymous said...

I'm definitely going to see ItW. Really liked the book, and I've read good things about the film too. I've actually thought about using it in my intro to philosophy course next fall.

What did your friend dislike about No Country for Old Men? I suspect the reaction to the film will be like the one to Cormac McCarthy's work overall: very strong and deeply divided . . .

Anonymous said...

And, if I may say so, I think you're in error about whether you made an error earlier re: the number of p's in "worshiping." British English has two, whereas American English has one. I assume you use American English, and if so, then you had it right originally. You were wrong about being wrong, in other words.

katecontinued said...

About my error - I must be reading too many British pieces, ya' think? I do know I confuse the s/z thing as well as the er/re endings.

What a great idea for the philosophy course. My friend said of the No Country for Old Men - she was astounded that it was so highly recommended because she thought it was far too bloody (violent?) and the man she saw it with agreed. She said she spoke to her son last evening and he just loved it.

Anonymous said...

When you start adding u's to words like color and labor, well, then we'll think about a linguistic intervention.

As for NCfOM, it is a bloody, violent, gory film. But, and maybe I'm wrong about this, I see the violence, etc as a kind of objective correlative for the characters' inner realities, their "spirits" even. And it's something I think the book and film handle with real subtlety and meaning. For example, the character of Llwellyn Moss fails to successfully shoot an antelope in an opening scene. This failure, as the film reveals, reflects a central truth about who he is (and isn't). Similar truths about the characters hold when it comes to their respective relationships with violence.

Of course, then there's the fact that McCarthy sees the world as just a g-ddamned bloody place too.

Anyway, have I worn out my welcome yet with my ramblings about this movie yet?

katecontinued said...

Not used to finding comments at this new place I have here. I have been laughing to myself with a bunch of old tunes. After I posted the Laurie Anderson I started listening to her stuff and now I am listening to Kinks, searching for one of their songs that listed words. Can't find it.

Re: movies. I am sadly out of that world mostly. I will pass along these comments to my neighbor. I see maybe 2 or 3 films a year. The austerity thing . . . and I have no excuse with books. I went from a novel every couple days to zero -and I will be posting about that sorry state.

Anonymous said...

You're laughing and listening to the Kinks . . . I'm grading papers that do many bad things to language, critical thought, and interesting and important books. Your Friday night is much, much better than mine. Not much of a Kinks fan, but anything Ray Davies wrote is so much better for me to read than this stuff.

Going through a Lou Reed phase these days . . . Not sure why, but there it is.

By "a novel every couple days," do you mean reading or purchasing (or purchasing and then reading)? I wonder what a deeper commitment to austerity would do to my relationship with books. I mean, I exercise just about no restraint at all in getting them.

katecontinued said...

Figured out why I couldn't find the song. Wrong old band, it was King Crimson. That was quite a brain fart since these bands were vastly different.

Anonymous said...

Then there's Crimson and Clover, which isn't even a band. You won't learn much about the Kinks by looking that up either.

katecontinued said...

My friend, you would rediscover public libraries. I haven't bought a book in years.

Damn, I just lied. I found a Ralph Nader book for my son the other day for $4. My son is half Lebanese and I thought he would like Nader book on Seventeen Traditions. Nader talks about his Lebanese parents . . . yada, yada, yada.

BTW, I am not a Kinks fan either. That is why I felt I was losing it when I was searching.

The Lou Reed thing makes me laugh again. I saw the funniest website. You may have seen it already . . .Check it out

katecontinued said...

I should say why this is so funny. I am not advocating laughing at people's appearance. For one thing it is not primarily a choice issue (hairstyle, fashion and glasses aside). But, I am laughing at the concept, the mind fuck of seeing these men this way. It is particularly funny with the boys who hate teh wymmans.

Anonymous said...

Libraries? Those are the places where (a) you don't have to give anyone money to take a book home, but (b) they expect you to bring it back in three or so weeks? Yeah? I've heard of those. Wasn't sure exactly what they were for though.

But what will I do when it's 3:12 a.m., I want to look up that passage on Blood Meridian, and the library doesn't open for 5 hours and 48 minutes? Huh?

And I'll have to learn how to read a book without writing in it. And at my advanced age.

Fucking integrity.

Love the site. Didn't know about it beforehand, but I have thought exactly that about Chuck Klosterman, I swear.

My word verification was "ynidshh." Which is what a drunk person with cerebral palsy would turn "Yiddish" into.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
katecontinued said...

You are the bibliophile. I have never heard of Chuck Klosterman and I am sure I never would have unless I'd just now been forced to google.

Are you from North Dakota?

Anonymous said...

Huh. Bruce Cockburn made the list too. Another of my favorites.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Anonymous said...

You deleted a comment?

(looks around for the line he apparently crossed)

Not from North Dakota. Or South. Am from South Carolina, but no longer live there.

(more laughter about the men-qua-lesbians)

katecontinued said...

G'night and happy paper grading. It was fun chatting. I am shutting down 'til the A.M.

Lee said...

Thanks for posting the trailer of Rev. Billy. I've been aware of him and following his exploits for a while :-)

He'd be hilarious if the subject were't so deadly serious.

I wonder if the movie will be showing here in Melbourne (Australia) where I live?

katecontinued said...

I wondered what part of Australia you lived in, darhaja. I have a friend I lost track of 10 years ago who lived in Melbourne. Her name is Monica Doyle. Please let me know if you have heard the name or if there is a listing. I miss knowing where Demonica is these days. She is(was) an oil painter, musician, performance artist, graphic designer and activist.

Lee said...

If I hear of her I will let you know, but Melbourne is about 3 million people!

Still, the world is a small place.

katecontinued said...

Well, I leaped over to your site and saw you were the kind of woman who just might bump into my friend - artist, musician, activist, etc.

Lee said...

Does she have a website? Googling her might yield results :-)