People Are Not Things: Consumerism in Relationships

Recommended Reading: People Are Not Things: Consumerism in Relationships by Lacy Finn Borgo

Honoring choice is the kiss of death to consumerism. It is the kiss of death to turning people into things. Think about every TV advertisement you have ever seen. Manipulation is the method, not informed choice. Children who have been treated like human beings, who are valued for their ‘be-ing’ and not their ‘do-ing’ learn the difference between ‘humanness’ and ‘thingness.’

As parents, we take this a step further and train them in the fine art of noticing. Noticing when the media tempts us to turn people into things. Noticing that the behavior of bullying and racism is turning people into things. We notice where our clothing is made. We notice how the company we support with our dollars treats people. We ask them to help us notice when we lapse. We notice when they lapse. We enter the space of the merciful Father together and ask forgiveness. And we start again. READ MORE