Christianity, Economics and Good Life

Christianity, Economics and Good Life

Introduction

Consumerism has become a culture of expectations which drags people towards unhealthy ways of relating to the material possessions and also urge and tempts them to be consumer of one another (Himes, 2007). The term consumer, for sociologists has negative tone but economists use to ignore this. In the race of consuming more and making people consume more, Christian ethics are generally ignored. This paper focuses on the ethics of discernment in consumerism depending upon the four considerations. Later the paper discusses advertising to children within the reflection of four considerations.

Discussion

Hartman in her book does not focus upon how society or Christians consume things, or the effects of this. Rather, she focuses upon how Christians should consume. Christians should consider all four while recognizing that each is a necessary but insufficient condition for proper consumption. Hartman discusses an ethics of discernment by examining concrete examples

She creatively exposes the messiness of consumption ethics by thinking through how to prepare a Sunday dinner with these three thinkers eating together. She succeeds at demonstrating that '[t]here is something messy and open-ended about consumption ethics' (p. 178). she concludes, 'the true nature of this ethic of consumption is not to solve conundrums like the above but rather to address habits, structures, and choices that underlie the patterns of consumption in human lives' (p. 187).

Hartman develops a four-part rubric for discerning where consumption is good: it "avoids sin; it embraces creation; it loves the neighbor; and it envisions the future" (p. 21). The first of these considerations, avoiding sin, requires ascetic discipline. Hartman also sums up a number of key themes within recent consumption ethics. Perhaps less expectedly, Hartman offers a charitably nuanced reading of the prosperity gospel perspective to address what it means for consumption to embrace creation as a blessing (Hartman, 2011).

Hartman concludes that good stewardship is necessary to temper the excesses of assuming all consumption is good. Where she turns to her third consideration, loving the neighbor, Hartman's voice is at its most distinctive. Hartman offers a glimpse at how theological priorities may be brought to bear upon the quotidian and personal details of our ordinary lives. What sort of transportation should I use for an afternoon errand, she asks - car, bus, bike, or by walking - and how might each of these choices lovingly treat self, neighbor, place, and God?

Taken ...