Selling Christmas and Christianity
Offline Christmas time is here, and I thought it would be a good time to think about what Christians say that Jesus did for us. First, let's talk about it the way they say it in church:
From Bible-Knowledge.com (The best hit I got on a google search for "God's Plan of Salvation."
:
The Bible specifically says, without any other possible interpretation, that there is only one God, one faith, one baptism and one way to God the Father - and that is only through His Son Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death on the cross. Jesus says that He, and only He, is the way, the truth and the life leading to God the Father and that no one comes to the Father except through Him!
Many people, including some Christians, believe that God the Father honors all other religions as long as people try to live a good and godly life and try to stay out of trouble.
As you will see in the Scripture verses I will list below, this is not the way God the Father has everything set up. God will not honor any other religion, and He makes it very clear that it is only through His Son and His sacrificial death on the cross that will give people eternal salvation and thus eternal life with Him in heaven.
So Christmas is a time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, God who became man. We celebrate the fact that he came to earth to die at the hands of men so that all who would come after him would be free from the law and free from sin. It all sounds pretty amazing when we hear it in chucrch. I've been there. I lived it for over twenty years of my life.
I'm trying to make this blog about what it is to be human, and not another rant about how much religion sucks. To that end, I want to help explain a little bit of what's going on with the whole salvation-Christmas thing. Take a couple of minutes and watch this video. Seriously... it's very important for you to do this so that what I say afterwards will make sense.
Ok. What I want to discuss is how there can be two completely different tellings of the same story, and though they both have the exact same content, they are perceived quite differently. When you go to church to see a Christmas production, what do you see?
1. Pretty Lights.
2. Angels
3. Mangers
4. Adorable children with big doe eyes.
5. Cute little baby Jesus
6. The pure virgin Mary.
7. The loving supportive Joseph
What do you hear? Beautiful music. Some of the best music ever written was written for Christmas.
What is the message from the pulpit? Love. Lots of love. So much love that God paid the ultimate sacrifice for us to save us from ourselves. So much love, he was willing to be born in a common stable! The Lord Of The Entire Universe lowered himself soooooooo much that he was willing to be born IN A STABLE!!!
For you.
Just you.
He loves you that much. Personally.
Ok. Enough of that. You get the picture. Now, think about the last time you decided to make a major purchase. Suppose you were going to buy a car. If you are like most people, you were greeted personally by a salesman who immediately wanted to learn your name and a little bit about you. You were led to a glittery salesfloor where everyone was dressed sharply and all the cars shone of fresh polish and smelled of leather. Someone immediately scurried off at butler's speed to fetch you any drink you wanted. You were shown fancy brochures with snappy photos of "your new car" doing feats of incredible maneuverability, protecting children from harm, and safely delivering the whole happy family to visit the smiling grandparents.
We are all familiar with the manipulation that goes on with salesmen. We expect it because we know it's their job to sell us their wares. However, we don't trust them. We only go there because we want a new car, right?
Well, that's not entirely true, is it? How many commercials have you seen for new cars in the last week? I have TiVo, and I fast forward through commercials, yet I'm sure I've seen at least a few dozen ads in one form or another, whether at a bar, or in print, or on billboards. Car ads are everywhere! They are all designed to show me exactly how wonderful my life is going to be when I get a new car.
Folks, this is brainwashing. Pure. Simple. Brainwashing. It's exactly the same phenomenon used by preachers, salesmen, and interrogators at Gitmo. Whatever it is you're trying to sell, the important thing is to make the buyer do the selling! Make the buyer believe he was the one with the idea. He thought of it. That way, the ulterior motive of the salesman doesn't matter. The salesman is irrelevant.
That's why we buy cars, and that's why we buy religion. So what if Ted Haggart fucks male prostitutes in his spare time. We have an empty place in our life, and we want Jesus. We feel it deep down inside. Ted Haggart doesn't matter. Neither does Jimmy Swaggart, Fred Phelps, Pat Robertson or anybody else.
Hopefully you can see where I'm going with this. Religion is dressed up for a pageant. We have huge churches with amazing architecture. We have choirs singing beautiful (by some tastes) music. Everyone wears their "Sunday best." The hymnals have fake gold gilding.
I want you to do one last thought experiment. Think of one of those late night infomercials where people are trying to sell you real estate or male enhancement pills. Forget the words for a moment and think of just the images you see. Men in nice suits. Charismatic, strong gestures. Pictures of huge mansions, nice cars, attractive women... everything we want that we don't have in life. And we can have it, too... for just $19.99.
Is it clear?
Just in case, try this on for size. The world is an evil, nasty place. You don't have everything you want. You're afraid of dying. Your family feels like it's a complete mess. What if I told you that there's a super-awesome King of The Whole Universe whose biggest desire is to make you completely happy for the rest of eternity? You get everything you want. Just look at all these people in nice clothes who will be your friend for the rest of this earthly life. When you get to heaven, there will be millions more! Just look at this huge building. We built it for you.
All you have to do is believe that the Super-Awesome King of the Whole Universe came to earth to die to save you from your sin.
Sounds really great, doesn't it? Yeah... so does the new Super-Awesome-Turn-By-Turn-Super-Duper-Satellite navigation system in the Brand New Ford Excessive NINETY TWO THOUSAND!!
Yet somehow, without all the ads, the glitz, the glamour, how many of us would spend a year's salary on a new SUV when the car we have is fine, if a bit outdated? Car companies, male enhancement companies, and religion need to advertise. Not just a little. They need to constantly show us how awesome they are, or we wouldn't buy them.
Now, go back to the simple stick figure movie and watch it again. See if it rings more true now than it did before.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
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I've always found it amusing that the foundational moral tale for Christianity, retold in any other context at all, always fails to impress upon it's audience a message of love & compassion. When Stalin spins the death of Lenin into fanatical rhetoric, declaring that the martyrdom of his mentor has 'freed' the people of Russia from the need to think for themselves, any sane person (including most Christians) sees the act as revulting. When God does the same thing with Jesus... well, that's just different, somehow.
Silence often speaks louder than words, however - and if I were to make a wager, I'd bet that this thread will be screaming with it for the majority of it's life. A testament strongest recourse Christians have against their critics.
- Leon Trotsky, Last Will & Testament
February 27, 1940
sorry, i really don't want to highjack this early in the thread, but when did stalin "spin" this? i mean, "martyrdom" would be a stretch even for him, considering lenin died as comfortably as possible, in his dacha, under the care of an army of specialists, from a neurological disorder and a series of strokes.
just asking because if there is an example of him referring to lenin's death as a "martyrdom," i would be genuinely interested in reading it.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
I'm putting the official Kibosh on the Stalin-Lenin Hijacking. If you want to discuss the merits of communist leaders, martyrdom and ideology, start a new thread, dammit.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
(1) I bought a car, not because I was brainwashed, but because I didn't want to walk the 60 miles to school.
(2) I don't think I have ever seen a late night commercial where I thought to myself, "I want to be that guy."
(3) My shamwow was totally worth 19.99. So powerful it absorbs unhappiness.
(4) A distinction between infomercials/car-salesmen/churches. In at least some churches (not restricting to mere christian churches), money transactions are only encouraged, no required. Furthermore, the "product" of "friendship" and "salvation" are not, I would contend at least not in some churches, dependent upon money transactions. While a salesman/informerical might give you some free things, the ultimate "product" is going to cost something.
To the writer of "God's Plan of Salvation":
I tell you the truth. The only way to get to No Thai is through the east bridge tunnel. It is the absolutely, positively, the ONLY WAY! &, it is a MATTER OF FACT that the tunnel is called the east bridge tunnel.
Assuming all this to be true, a man can still get to No Thai and think he's going through calamazoo. Furthermore, a person can think he's actually getting to No Thai through the east bridge tunnel and actually be going through calamazoo.
...think about it.
no prob, no prob, it was just a quick inquiry and kev answered by email anyway. still, you got a couple bumps outta me, quit grumbling!
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
You might be missing the point, Rhad. You bought a car for transportation; did you buy the bare minimum? How often do you replace your vehicle?
You aren't attracted to larger housing, luxury cars, alluring women, etc? That you haven't consciously told yourself, "I want to be that guy." is not a clear-cut indicator that you haven't bought into the paradigm. The commercial, as hamby has already pointed-out, is not trying to sell you the lifestyle - they're simply attaching their product to a lifestyle that you're likely already sold on.
I don't know of a single church where everyone wears blindfolds while the collection plate is passed around. No, you don't have to give money, any more than the college football player has to involve themselves with the pre-game/post-game prayers; but if you don't, you're effectively cutting yourself out of the group (in the latter case, I hope you enjoy keeping the bench warm. In the former case, I hope you enjoy being on the recieving end of vicious rumors and being blackballed in community events).
- Leon Trotsky, Last Will & Testament
February 27, 1940
What’s the “bare minimum” car? I would consider “bare minimum” as merely to mean “reliable,” but what is “reliability” based upon but a multiplicity of factors: age, brand, past history.
So.. I just don’t see how his point could have been “we don’t buy the bare minimum, ergo we are brainwashed to some extent.”
No.. my answer was directed more towards his assertion that I’m being attracted by the seller. The mere fact that the person is on the tv trying to sell me something in a rather annoying fashion, is enough for me not to desire being him or anything that might make me more like him.
Obviously that’s a bit of an exaggeration, I was meaning only to point out that I don’t find infomercial host or interviewees particularly appealing.
Perhaps.
So.. I’m being sold onto a lifestyle I’ve already been sold onto. So.. where’s the brainwashing? The attachment of the lifestyle to the product? Or the prior experiences that have made us think that what they are attaching it to is something we want?
If the former, okay. I never was arguing that, in some sense, it is brainwashing.
Not all churches pass collection plates.
I suppose it’s possible. Just speaking for myself, I don’t think I ever care to look at whether other people are putting something in the collection plate.
{fixed}
I had actually written out three more paragraphs clarifying my car buying analogy because I knew somebody would miss the point completely. I edited them out because I thought it would be fun to run it up the flagpole to see who saluted.
Rhad, the analogy was useful only as far as it was used, which was to illustrate the power of framing the product, promising spectacular results, and personalizing the buying experience. If you'll read the whole thing again, you'll see that I never suggested that cars and religion were equally useful in the universe, or had the same practical value.
The point of the post is that the framing of religion, particularly around Christmas, blinds many observers to the absurdity of the product being sold.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
Ah. Alright then, understandable.
My point still stands that Shamwow is amazing.
If Sham-Wows are so awesome, why can't you get them in stores?
Also, why do you think the hip young sales guy needs a microphone headset to shoot a TV spot?
(Speaking of manipulative advertising...)
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
He needs the headset because the advertising company couldn't afford a boom mike.. I thought that was obvious.
I'm joking, btw.
'Those car commercials have no effect on me, anyway'
Question: What audience is the above commercial targetting?
If you know the answer to the above question, the commercial has effectively conveyed it's message - and if you're within the target demograph, at some level, the message is, "Huh. That Matrix is made for me."
EDIT: Something I find a bit creepy, with this vehicle / marketing in particular: I really like The Matrix. But I have no idea why! I don' drive. I don't even have a driver's license. But I really, really like this car, despite having never driven one or even ridden in one. I can't possibly defend or rationalize my taste for the vehicle - but, honestly, I just plain dig it.
- Leon Trotsky, Last Will & Testament
February 27, 1940
I custom ordered a MINI Cooper because I watched the movie "The Italian Job". No Joke.
You can get them in the As Seen On TV stores
As for cars the only car I want to buy purely on advertising is the Aston Martin DB9.....I am such a Bond geek.
I REALLY, REALLY WANT AN ARIEL ATOM!!!!!!!!! But I don't have a death wish and I'm not a particularly good driver. Damn, that car is fucking cool!
Ahem. Hamby, another excellent post. I don't know what more to say anymore. It's rare you write something I disagree with and rarer still that you right something about which I can form an educated opinion. Recalling the unit on advertising in com studies 101, however, I'm creeped out by your analogy.
BigUniverse wrote,
"Well the things that happen less often are more likely to be the result of the supper natural. A thing like loosing my keys in the morning is not likely supper natural, but finding a thousand dollars or meeting a celebrity might be."
Ok I'm not sure I understand exactly what you're saying so I'm going to take a moment to tell you what I think it is that you're saying. Yes, this is just to protect me from looking completely stupid and so no one wastes time replying to my post if I got it horribly wrong. Basically you're equating the way religions dress themselves up to advertising. With this I don't completely agree. It wouldn't make sense to do this all the time. Think about it, you don't get a DVD with your new car that has an add for the car you just bought on it. Why would people try to convert you to a religion you're already a part of? That would be like sending me an email telling me about why various religions are wrong and why I should be an atheist. I might respond to you by telling you that you did a good job on writing it but I would promptly follow with a statement telling you to send it to someone it will benefit.
I do agree with the analogy that Christians use Christmas to advertise their faith with the cute kids and all that. But this makes sense since many "cafeteria" Christians (or whatever they're called) might go to church on Christmas but would not normally go any other time of the year. By putting on their equivalent of a business suit and telling you about all the love involved and what Christianity can offer you they might be able to get you to come out the next week and subsequent weeks.
Don't extend the car analogy too far. I only used it to illustrate that it is advertising, not that the products are similar. Religion isn't the same kind of product as an automobile. It's a lifestyle, a set of repetitive practices, and a belief system -- a belief system which is sorely threatened by everything logical and scientific. It's not enough to get someone converted to Christianity. (In theory, it ought to be enough, since that's their ticket to heaven, but it's not... very telling, don't you think?) Once you're converted, you need to get yourself to church as many times as possible. Every time you're in a pew, it's a chance for you to donate money, time or resources to a church cause. Without consistent growing church attendance, organized religion can't grow. Ever notice that the only ads you see for religion are for organized religion? It's not because the unorganized ones are humble. It's because they're broke.
There is an analogy to cars, though. True, you don't get ads for your own car as part of the upholstery (or do you? Isn't that a logo I see on the gear shift?) but if you think about it, car companies aren't just interested in you buying a car now. They want you to come back in three years and trade up. Even new car owners are targets for car ads, particularly because new car owners often feel let down when their new purchase doesn't live up to the hype!
Again, it's a difference in kind. Being an atheist just requires not being a theist. No work involved. Just don't do anything. No money to send, no meetings to attend.
Notice that atheist organizations do advertise, and try to come up with exciting new ways to keep donations coming and attendance high?
I'm a business owner. Seven days a year, there's a college football game two miles from my business. For those seven days, I get customers who only come into town seven days a year... lots of them. Business has been known to double on particularly good gamedays, and it literally helps keep my business open. Suppose that 30% of cafeteria Christians only go on holidays. Do you know how much money that would be if all of them dropped a five spot in the offering plate?
Of course, they want to get the cafeteria types to attend more, but even if they don't, a dollar is a dollar. I'm not suggesting that all Christians are aware of this rationale. Quite the contrary, actually. I'm suggesting that the religion itself is designed to market itself by packaging good advertising as part of the dogma.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
What you said makes perfect sense and I just remembered now how much advertising to donate money my Sunday school had when I was a child. Every once and a while the church would start to donate to a new charity, I suppose whenever they reached their goal for the last one. The money would go to different causes. I remember one was to buy blankets, mosquito nets, pajamas and other night time items for children in Africa (undoubtedly christian children). They would lay out a kit, tell us how much we needed for each one. They told us all about malaria and how terrible it is to live in Africa, all the usual guilt tripping I'm sure we've all seen on TV. They encouraged us to donate and tell us to ask our parents for money (those sneaky bastards) they then passed around a collection basket every week along with another collection basket that went to the church (yes this one is separate from the one the passed around to the grown ups, bastards, I know). Needless to say they never got a penny out of me and thinking about this made me realize how odd even the most liberal of churches really are.
I suppose that's why they encourage their members to get their relatives out during Christmas.
By dogma do you mean the Bible or the oral tradition/other scriputure that has developed in Christianity?
Well, I have a hard time finding much in modern Christianity that can be unequivocably established by the Bible. Even the most fundamental aspects of Christianity, like the trinity, the divinity of Jesus, and the idea of being "born again" are interpreted from scriptures. No matter how widespread a particular interpretation happens to be, it's my observation that another reasonable interpretation is possible.
I say all that to say that IMO, all Christian dogma is oral tradition/other sources/adapted practice. The Bible is often cited as the original source for Christian dogma, but I dare anybody to find any part of it that can't be argued from another part of the Bible.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism