consumer culture
New Haredi men’s magazine touts cars, whiskey for the Torah study set
By Avi Shafran — March 11, 2021
(RNS) — Even in times of plenty and even for the financially fortunate, there is dignity in modesty.
How millennials make meaning from shopping, decorating and self-pampering
By Tara Isabella Burton — June 23, 2020
(RNS) — We are experiencing a dot-com bubble for spirituality, a free marketplace of innovation and religious disruption.
Making sense of Mr. Peanut’s senseless death
By Tara Isabella Burton — January 28, 2020
(RNS) — Greater love has no man than this, Jesus once said, than a man lay down his life for his friends. In 2020, it’s Mr. Peanut who makes this a thing.
Gwyneth Paltrow trolls the wellness industry
By Tara Isabella Burton — January 17, 2020
(RNS) — Unlike other companies that commodify our spiritual yearnings, Goop exists apart from the question of whether anyone has ever actually bought any of its products.
In Thailand, Pope Francis wins hearts by breaking the mold
By Claire Giangravé — November 22, 2019
BANGKOK (RNS) — In Thailand's highly formal society, Pope Francis’ relaxed approach has already brought together political and religious leaders to help those left behind in the country's increasingly commercial culture.
As the Chick-fil-A flap shows, the brands we buy are increasingly a values proposition
By Tara Isabella Burton — November 22, 2019
(RNS) — Chick-Fil-A may have capitulated to market forces by ending its support of conservative groups. But its about-face says less about “cancel culture” than about the American spiritual marketplace.
How fan fiction gave millennials power over their spirituality
By Tara Isabella Burton — March 22, 2019
(RNS) — The internet has transformed our consumption of texts — even sacred texts — into malleable pieces that can be reimagined, reinvented and owned in a new way.
Marie Kondo and Kuyō: Is throwing things away really a religious experience?
By Hannah Gould — February 19, 2019
(RNS) — Kondo’s joy-driven minimalism is just the latest iteration of a Japanese domestic management practice intersecting with religion.
Why routine divorce is now inevitable, even among Christians (COMMENTARY)
By David P. Gushee — August 19, 2015
(RNS) A spouse has become a consumer product, to be bought, abandoned or traded in for a new model at the will of the customer.
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