Orgy of Consumerism

It is that time of year again: time to write about Black Friday.  Yesterday, my wife came across a video contrasting Black Fridays in the '80s with Black Fridays now.  The difference is huge.  Thirty years ago, there was not some frenzied rush to get to the stuff first.  There was no brawling, shoving, or snatching items from other people's carts.  In fact, it looked like any normal shopping day, except with around five times as many people.  Modern Black Fridays are actually dangerous, and people have died in the rush to get marginally good deals nearly every year for the last decade (a recent study has shown that Black Friday deals are not typically the best you can get).

The average American is Christian, according to polls.  Christians should, according to The 10 Commandments and other Biblical passages, be generous, respectful, kind, charitable, and a host of other virtuous things.  Christians should not be greedy, rude, mean, or otherwise harmful to others.  In the 2013 movie, The Purge, the government mandates one almost entirely lawless day each year (there are some exceptions, mostly with regards to the safety of high ranking government officials and ordnance or explosive weapons).  The unofficial goal of this is population control, though the government does not admit to it.  Anyhow, in the movie, normally good people do or attempt to do completely horrendous and evil things during the yearly purge.  This is what Black Friday is becoming.  People who profess to be good Christians (or other denominations that have similar values), and who act like good Christians, the rest of the year turn into evil, conniving jerks on Black Friday.

I want to compare the events of Black Friday to another kind of completely immoral activity: an orgy.  Instead of sex, the orgy that Black Friday has become focuses on greed, pride, complete self absorption, and abandonment of the most basic self discipline.  Almost equally sinful, this is not an activity that good Christians should be taking part in.  Any Christian willing to take part in such an activity, even only once a year, is a hypocrite the rest of the year.  Just like The Purge, people's true colors come out during Black Friday.  Don't kid yourself: The person you are on Black Friday is the person you are the entire rest of the year as well.  Maybe you hide it really well the rest of the year, but during Black Friday, the truth is revealed.