As the biggest shopping day of the year approaches us on Friday, when the holiday gift-buying frenzy begins, I thought I'd let you know about The Rev. Billy. You may already have heard of him, he's in the new movie, "What Would Jesus Buy?"

(Associated Press/Jeff Chiu) Shoppers search through purses on sale at Macy's in San Francisco, the day after Thanksgiving last year.

It's a very interesting question. And if you ask The Rev. Billy, he would say buy nothing. He's more apt to convince you to "spend" time with your family and loved ones than actually buy anything. He and his choir from the "Church of Stop Shopping" go around to malls and big box stores pleading with shoppers to stop the insanity. They are based in New York City.

Check out what he says on his Web site. "Consumerism is overwhelming our lives. The corporations want us to have experiences only through their products. Our neighborhoods, 'commons' places like stoops and parks and streets and libraries, are disappearing into the corporatized world of big boxes and chain stores. But if we "back away from the product" - even a little bit, well then we Put The Odd Back In God! The supermodels fly away and we're left with our original sensuality."

For the past few years, there's been a growing movement in some religious groups to become active in environmental issues, believing they must care for God's creation. Even though he is a mock reverend, The Rev. Billy's plea to stop shopping harkens back to the real meaning of the holidays, spending time together. The message also goes along way toward reducing the amount of packaging that ends up in landfills, the gas-guzzling transportation of all the goods, etc.

I first heard of the Rev. Billy on Marketplace Money. And according to the radio show's Web site, we as a nation will spend half a trillion dollars on Christmas this year and create 5 million tons of extra waste.For further reading, Moneyplace has a special project airing on consumerism, and it's fascinating stuff.

As for The Rev. Billy, he's calling this Friday "Buy Nothing Day."

1 Comments

Susana on November 28, 2007 12:57 AM said:

I think Rev. Billy is right. Consumerism is overwhelming our lives. We spend so much money on Christmas presents and forget that our close people need our attention and love much more than a present we will buy in the nearest supermarket!

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