What Would Jesus Buy?

What is ethical consumption, according to the Church of Stop Shopping?  First, try to buy things that are made in America.  If that's not possible, then focus on buying products that will put your dollars into the local economy.  Find the Mom and Pop stores that survive in your area, and patronize them.  As Rev. Billy notes, we can all start talking to each other, and put our money back into our own communities.

When we buy from the big companies like Wal-Mart and Target, we buy stuff made in China, Bangladesh, Honduras, etc.  These purchases implicate us in the lives of workers employed to make this stuff.  One of the most sobering scenes in the movie concerns Wal-Mart's labor practices.  Charles Kernaghan, the Director of the National Labor Committee, describes the results of a fact-finding trip to Bangladesh to meet the 13-year-old workers sewing clothes for Wal-Mart.  These children work 19-hour shifts and earn around 17 cents an hour.  Kernaghan is convinced of the basic decency of the American people, and knows we would not buy these clothes if we knew how they were made.

The filmmakers tell three teenaged American girls about their visit with Kernaghan, and the girls decide to research their own clothes to find out where, and how, they were made.  They call the company, who tells them they can check online.  The girls duly go online, saying to each other, "We just never thought about this before."  Their Internet search takes them to Corp Watch and China Labor Watch.  It's not easy for them to read about child workers, roughly their own age, being burned, scarred, and beaten by supervisors.  It's not easy for us either.

James, the director of the Church of Stop Shopping's Gospel Choir, says, "We say stop shopping just to get your attention.  No one can stop shopping.  But you can have a conscience about your shopping, think about how it affects other people, explore your options.  That's all we ask." 

What are some options to explore this Christmas?  Several years ago, my family joined the ranks of those who do no shopping at all.  We donate to charities in each other's names.  The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, Heifer International, the Humane Society of the US, Ally Cat Allies, and the Smile Train are all favorites in our family.  Apparently now it is possible to buy charity gift cards, but Consumer Reports found hidden fees, so-called "administrative costs" that can skim a big chunk of your donation off the top.  Better to give directly to the charity of your loved one's choice.  To check on a charity's reputation, visit Charity Watch or Charity Navigator.

Reverend Billy prays that we will be saved from the mindlessness of consumerism, and perhaps that is the best advice of all: be mindful.  In a powerful bonus feature included on the DVD called "The Ten Commandments Are Made in China," the filmmakers pay a visit to the China Aid Association, where Association President Bob Fu introduces them to Sara Liu Xianzhi, who spent six years in a Chinese labor camp because she is Christian.  Sara tells her story, describing how she was tortured by police who used electric shock batons on her naked body and in her mouth.  At Shayang labor camp, she and her sister were forced to make Christmas lights.  The quota was so big that they often worked around the clock. 

Sara Liu says she drew comfort from the thought that they, the Christians, were making the Christmas lights.  "But I will never purchase this," says Fu. 

What is it like where you live?  Is the downtown area beautifully illuminated in Christmas lights?  What do you think about that, now that you know where those lights come from?  Reverend Billy's plea starts to make a lot of sense.  Stop shopping.

For more ideas, and to check the Church's calendar of events, visit Reverend Billy's web site.  Learn about life after shopping, and watch the pages of Patheos.com this month for more reflections on ways to spend this season of holiness restoring your health, finding deeper connections, and honoring the beauty of creation.

Beth Davies-Stofka teaches courses on comparative religion and the philosophy of religion. She has also been an online columnist and critic and contributes regularly to the Patheos site.