The Happy Tutor and I were recently at a progressive funders conference trolling for prospects, he for his business, I for mine. We were talking on the plane back to Dallas about Christmas, Christians, and the Marketplace - remind me not to bring those subjects up with him, particularly in a plane packed with Evangelicals. He, in a loud voice, waving his third glass of Thunderbird, went off on his usual toot about market idolatry,
God created this world and entrusted it to Adam and Eve. Our first parents fell through their own spiritual pride, putting all Creation at risk. Now, in this season in which we remember the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, let us embrace his example and live on less, disdaining riches and greed. The Rapture, some say, is coming, when the seas run like sewers with the dead. Soon the prideful Christians will be gone, (they say it is to Heaven). Then when we have been Delivered from these Prophets of the Marketplace, who preach the Anti-Gospel of Greed, it will be up to us to fix what they have broken.
Let us pray for the salvation of all men and women, whether they call themselves Christian or not, and the world entrusted to us. Each of us can slay or bind Satan within us, to some degree, one Brand Name at a time. What this country needs is not a Bible-Believing President, but an exorcist.
I think Tutor, as befits a pro bono Dungeon Master to the Stars, goes way too far in flagellating his fellow citizdens in the spirit of the early Christian ascetics. While I respect his right to worship as he pleases, I apologize to all he offended. I don't think you will see him on American Airlines again any time soon, according the Air Marshall who threw us off in Tuscon. Good manners are the essence of civil society, which is why we call it "civil," after all. Please do not judge me by him. I basically feel that each of us should do whatever we want as long as we don't make any trouble for our superiors and don't use bad language.
Still, as we approach the holidays we might put a little green back in Christmas. The Center for The New American Dream "isn’t about deprivation. It’s about getting more of what really matters—more time, more nature, more fairness, and more fun." Rather than going nuts like Tutor, or resorting to prayer, we might at least cut back a little. The Center has many good ideas on how to do that, and they are quite bland.