Cavanaugh spends the chapter on the issues of consumerism. He starts by explaining that consumerism is not an issue of attachment to the material world, but rather an issue of detachment, “What really characterizes consumer culture is not attachment to things but detachment. People do not hoard money; they spend it. People do not cling to things; they discard them and buy other things” (Cavanaugh, 34). As we become more and more dependent on manufactured goods and further separated for the labor of creation, we start to value our possessions as less than what they are; we see them as easily disposable and replaceable. Cavanaugh goes on to talk about each aspect of production and how we as a nation have detached ourselves from the issues and
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The first and easiest to spot being scripture. Genesis 1:4, 1:10, 1:12, 1:18, and 1:28, as well as, Matt. 19:21, Psalms 24:1, and I Cor. 12:21-26 are just a few of the many verses he cites throughout this chapter to support his argument. He also uses reason as a source by taking us step by step through his thesis and evidence for it. Finally, he uses tradition as a source. He does this by quoting material from St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and even Pope John Paul II. These past religious figures though spoken as well as written words have explained how past Christians believed and how they should believe. Cavanaugh also argues that our natural human condition is to desire; he explains that as entities that consume to survive we naturally feel a void that we strive to fill. Though God is the only thing that will fill the void completely and permanently, we as humans attempt in vain to fill it with material goods. This argument rests on the assumption that Christianity is true and that the only way to fix the detachment within us is to attach ourselves to …show more content…
That we start with a hole inside and the only way to fill the emptiness inside ourselves is through God and doing His work. I have grown up my whole life being warned to not be seduced by the evils of the material world and to keep myself separate from the poison of earthly possessions. But Cavanaugh argues that possessions in and of themselves are not evil; its whether we idolize them as the reason we live or use them as tools to better the world we live in. The books I read and clothes I wear and toys I play with cannot, by themselves, poison my soul. It is the importance I place on them that corrupts me. Cavanaugh argues that its ok to possess as long as you’re willing to pass on your excess possessions to those in need. If your new phone becomes more important that feeding those who depend on you; you are corrupting your view on the possession which in turn further corrupts your eternal soul. Cavanaugh strengthens every claim and opinion he makes by sighting multiple trusted sources. He also really makes you stop and think about how much importance you place on the collection of stuff. He also makes you see your possessions not as worth their price tag, but as worth the hours spent slaving over its production. They are worth the sweat poured over day after day of unsustainable work environments but no power to change them. They are worth the desperation to make enough to feed the laborers as well
The first and easiest to spot being scripture. Genesis 1:4, 1:10, 1:12, 1:18, and 1:28, as well as, Matt. 19:21, Psalms 24:1, and I Cor. 12:21-26 are just a few of the many verses he cites throughout this chapter to support his argument. He also uses reason as a source by taking us step by step through his thesis and evidence for it. Finally, he uses tradition as a source. He does this by quoting material from St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and even Pope John Paul II. These past religious figures though spoken as well as written words have explained how past Christians believed and how they should believe. Cavanaugh also argues that our natural human condition is to desire; he explains that as entities that consume to survive we naturally feel a void that we strive to fill. Though God is the only thing that will fill the void completely and permanently, we as humans attempt in vain to fill it with material goods. This argument rests on the assumption that Christianity is true and that the only way to fix the detachment within us is to attach ourselves to …show more content…
That we start with a hole inside and the only way to fill the emptiness inside ourselves is through God and doing His work. I have grown up my whole life being warned to not be seduced by the evils of the material world and to keep myself separate from the poison of earthly possessions. But Cavanaugh argues that possessions in and of themselves are not evil; its whether we idolize them as the reason we live or use them as tools to better the world we live in. The books I read and clothes I wear and toys I play with cannot, by themselves, poison my soul. It is the importance I place on them that corrupts me. Cavanaugh argues that its ok to possess as long as you’re willing to pass on your excess possessions to those in need. If your new phone becomes more important that feeding those who depend on you; you are corrupting your view on the possession which in turn further corrupts your eternal soul. Cavanaugh strengthens every claim and opinion he makes by sighting multiple trusted sources. He also really makes you stop and think about how much importance you place on the collection of stuff. He also makes you see your possessions not as worth their price tag, but as worth the hours spent slaving over its production. They are worth the sweat poured over day after day of unsustainable work environments but no power to change them. They are worth the desperation to make enough to feed the laborers as well