The Introduce Yourselves Thread

Thank you for doing the work which needs to be done.Great job thinking outside of the box. As an Old Catholic priest I try to recognize truth when I see it. You are always welcome in Rhode Island.
Fr. Jakob Lazarus

I absolutely love what you guys are doing. while commercialism is a type of rapidly spreading, contageous cancer- I think there is a cure, and the more that people go out and share that cure and the freedom and health that comes from having a sane mind and heart, the less damage humans will ultimately do to our beautiful planet.
keep on truckin, guys.

Cassie
whidbey island, wa

Dear sisters and brothers,

I was at the service at the Rozentheater in Amsterdam. I'm a long time fan, but this was my first encounter in person with the Church. I passed on the opportunity to testify, and regretted it later. So, I now choose to testify here.

Forgive me, sisters and brothers, for I have sinned. Last week, I bought myself a brand new Packard Bell laptop.

When I got home with it and started it up, punishment for my sins was immediate. Within a few minutes after startup, the screen was filled with popup windows I never asked for. The usual suspects. All sorts of adware from Packard Bell. Commander Norton's extortion racket. And some webcam widget that I couldn't click away, try what I might. I opened up Internet Exploiter and found Go Ogle Toolbar pre-installed. In short, I was already gazing down the throat of Yog-Sothoth. Time to perform an exorcism in a hurry.

So, first thing I did with my new machine was download Ubuntu Linux, the current version named Natty Narwhal, burn it to disc and push the drawer back as soon as it popped out. By bedtime, the demons were expelled. Praise the good people at Gnome, Ubuntu, and all those other amazing open source projects.

It was the right thing to do. Microsoft owns Windows. Apple owns OS X. Linux is of the commons. It is ours.

And then, I see how the story of my new machine resembles my own. As a child, I had installed on my brain what I would now call a proprietary operating system. It's known as RC. Which, as you know, stands for Remotely Controlled. It's property of a big old corporation in mass psychology with its head office in Rome. To give you a quick outline of that beast, it's like a hierarchical structure of extraterrestrial colonial power. On top, there's the three-headed deity Younohu. Then, His/Their viceroy on Planet Earth, the Pope. Then, the Cardinal, the Bishop, the Priest, then your Dad, then your Mum and then you, sheep.

I've spent a lot of time going through the source code of this belief system (or BS, as Saint Robert Anton Wilson would call it). And I think I've found the line of code that causes most of the trouble. Here it is:

BELIEF IS GOOD

Just look at that fucker. Just look at it. Once this little meme slips by your BS detector, at age two or three usually, the floodgates are open and all sorts of malicious memeware can walk right in and make itself comfortable. Once you will believe anything, you will believe anything.

We're in dire need of a new operating system for the wetware. One that is not only not built on belief, but that's built to cast it out wherever it finds it. One in which immediate insight overrules mediated knowledge.

As the great nineteenth-century Dutch writer, anticolonial activist and Saint Multatuli wrote, seen from the Moon, we are all equally great.  

When visualising an organisation, we are taught to do so in elevation view, with a top at the top and a bottom at the bottom. Just like an old skyscraper with the plushiest offices on the top floor. Let your mind soar, rise above street view to look at it in plan, and you get a whole different picture. No above, no below, but a mesh of interdependencies with a center and a periphery. Zoom out and find it meshing into the periphery of a greater mesh with another center. Zoom out again, and again, and the mesh of interdependencies spans the Earth. Zoom out some more and it spans the Universe.

Not that either point of view is true, of course. They're points of view. Just where you happen to be at. That's the whole point. You'll never have an overview from just one point of view. You'll have to move about.

In the Mystic Order of the Black Sheep, we have a little ritual called the Vow of Levity. ¨I hereby promise that I shall never take anything or anybody seriously, least of all myself.¨

Oh, and if you take the vow, don't laugh. It doesn't count if you laugh.

Blessed be,
Frank

Ten years ago I gave away most all of my stuff and ran away from Florida looking for a better life. I went bankrupt and have stayed debt free since then. I now live in San Francisco, and have been watching Rev Billy from the sidelines for most of these years. As I have watched our country and world decline, being eaten up by massive consumerism and greed, I have tried hard to refrain from the corporate mantra and do my best to shop locally and support small business. But it gets harder every year as more and more companies and people sell out. I feel it is time for me to get off the sidelines and do something to help save our world. I would like to hook up with others in my area, and dream of going to New York to attend one of Rev Billy's services. I fear for the children of today, that they will not have a tomorrow. I grieve for the loss of an innocence that once was. I only hope that in some way I too may help the Rev in this cause to stop the madness and help others learn that a simplier life is one much more rewarding to the soul. Much love to all the dreamers of a better life.
Carmib

 Synchronistically, I was standing in front of Theatre 80 just in time to find out about the first show, which happened to be on the 8th anniversary of the "Shock and Awe" attack on Iraq. Purim both times..

Our house meeting, for our intentional cmmunity in Bushwick "Surreal Estate" was always held on Sunday, so I made an exception to my routine to attend. 

Then I realized it was more important to attend the Church get-togethers than to attend my house meetings. I needed the energy, inspiration and society of the Theatre 80.

http://tinyurl.com/3gvj3br

I wrote about it it a few days later.

I need to be face - to -face with a spiritually oriented circle of close friends and am a strong admirer of Rev Billy's writing and thinking. The spirituality + activism overlap is rare, maybe unique.

I am a writer of a hyper-linked work, a collaborative work, on the Net, called the "Synchromysticism Forum" and am an Admin there.

Synchromysticism is a newly coined word, yet the tradition springs from alchehmy, esoteric tradtions, oracle reading, jungian psychology and theory, surrealist and dadaist art movement, dream analysis, shaminism, kashmir shaivism (yoga), advaita vedanta and is a fusion between those things and modern science, hisorical research and topical commentary. 

My correspondents in this are widely scattered and the research and dialogue would not be possible without the Internet. 

The Synchromystics believe that the shared and subjective field of consciousness (the world) is an indivisable whole, wherein all things are connected. 

My personal belief system / reality tunnel is that Nature herself is against the destruction which is happening on this Earth. And that we, who want to enable the paradise on Earth this world was/is meant to be, have the mysterious force of nature and grace with us.

I need to find people in my own physical world to share this experience. Not sequestering it all on the virtual electronic networks. 

It's confusion since I use pseudonyms for my on-line writing - though all the names I use are variations on my own name. Vasudha is the name given to me by my guru, Swami Muktaanada, in 1977. And I used that name for 20 years. My old friends call me by that still. It's my "spiritual name" so I thought it was a good one for this on-line forum. And I will answer to it.

Hope to see you all soon in the real world. I am not allowed to post yet on some of the Forum, but I need to know about the event on Thursday, if there is one. And how to sign up for the flash messages on Twitter.

Best,
Vasudha / Marguerite






 

Over ten years ago we were fighting hard to protect our small town from a gas station development that wanted to locate outside our town and suck away our commerce coming off the freeway and overload our sewer plant that was already maxed out. We lost that battle but in the battle we learned that these fights can rob you of your family and your soul by creating a confrontational anger that can indeed hurt inocent people. We still honor the good fight for the earth, water and children and still participate in action as our beatful county faces the destruction by gas fracking.

Our epiphany of earthaluja was the formation and direction by the Great Mystery to start an eco tour company so that we could share our heart for the land and water with families and kids in an effort to make them less afraid of nature and more knowledgable about it and hence maybe protect it at some future date. We share our love and enthusiasm for Nature and hope this infectious honoring can grow especially with the children. Over the years (10) we have seen kids exposed to our gentle 'fun in nature' experiences grow up and pursure endeavors that are centered on justice for the land and a desire to make changes.

There is hope and in doing many small things for Mother Earth and we can make a difference.

Hi all, I'm working on a project that I think might be of interest.  The idea came to me as I watched the beginning of what they are now calling "The Arab Spring".  Please visit it on FB, and join in if you can.  It's about shouting for independent thought, getting beyond the two party divisive retoric, and waking people up to the consequences of a divided America.  The name of the project is SIFTr as it aims to SIFT through the enourmous amounts of media garbage foisted at us every day.  I hope you can join us at the Figment festival in a few weeks to experiment with this strategy.  Keep on doing this important work!  SIFTALUIJAH!

The name of the FB page is Sift Project at Figment 2011.

Hi all, I'm working on a project that I think might be of interest.  The idea came to me as I watched the beginning of what they are now calling "The Arab Spring".  Please visit it on FB, and join in if you can.  It's about shouting for independent thought, getting beyond the two party divisive retoric, and waking people up to the consequences of a divided America.  The name of the project is SIFTr as it aims to SIFT through the enourmous amounts of media garbage foisted at us every day.  I hope you can join us at the Figment festival in a few weeks to experiment with this strategy.  Keep on doing this important work!  SIFTALUIJAH!

Hello everyone!

I'm LeonessAnnie, a.k.a. Mumzy, a.k.a. Anne-Marie, and I'm a 30 year old drama student from Cambridge, UK. Today I handed in the last of my year 2 essays, to which I decided to write about Reverend Billy and the Church - what a way to end the year and begin the summer!

I'm sure many of the good people here would agree that they felt something wrong with the values of society before they heard the Reverend's message. My husband will vouch that when out shopping, I sometimes tended to vocally protest my unamusement at consumerism and the capitalist machine that wants us to feed it constantly.

Something I've noticed is how difficult it is to turn away from it. It is EVERYWHERE! Most material goods I am fully aware I don't need. But the things I feel I do need, I want to be assured it was produced locally, and not feeling saddened when seeing the printed words "made in China".

I don't want there to be impoverished countries, I don't want consumerism getting in the way of life and a sense of community in towns and cities that has been dying away for decades. I can't bear to go down the street of my childhood home because it breaks my heart to see how it's changed with so, so many cars and litter everywhere, and I'm betting few neighbours know one another the way we used to know near enough the whole street once upon a time. It shouldn't have to be once upon a time, should it? The utopian image is to turn it around and make the whole world full of self-sufficient communities that respect each other and thus becomes one big global community. It's a happy image.... let's make it happen!

Love to all <3 xxx

 Hello,

It's just that years ago two O'Neil kids were named after my dad and uncle - Dan and Mike Maloney. Just thought you could be one of 'em.

I'm Kathy Maloney Johnson. Just ran across this whole shebang. Looks interesting. I'm an art teacher in Florida. 

Hello!

My name is Athena and I just saw your movie What Would Jesus Buy last night. Fantastic message!! I have to say I haven't had a credit card in almost 6 years and my life is SO much less stressful. Stop buying so much crap and you will just plain feel better. Having a brand name logo doesn't make you a better person, it makes you a BROKE person. The only debt I have in my life now is student loan debt. Now if we can just get a university system like they have in Europe where college is FREE, then America might begin to be heading in the right direction. Rock on ya'll.

Anyway, Hallelujah Rev. Bill! You are totally awesome :-)

The Stop Shopping Gospel Choir and the Not Buying It Band are full of such gifted musicians!  I loved the one woman quoted in the show who said you were all probably unemployed, so this probably gave you something to do.  You guys are not left-overs and cast-aways, but really very talented.  That you for putting your talents to a very important message, even though it may end up seemingly thank-less. 

Satan would have us be slaves to our lusts, and Corporate America and the Military Industrial Complex (pawns of Satan, in my opinion, if I can say that and not sound too judgemental) would have us be slaves to line their own pockets.You have helped me, and I'm sure many other people, "see the light" and turn in to new ways to free ourselves and turn away from --- and work to undermine --- these false idols. 

So, thank you.  Many of multiple generations will rise up and call you blessed. 

Keep up the good work!

Just watched "What Would Jesus Buy?" and wanted you to know that you DO make a difference.  Consumerism is "The World" and Idumea warned against in the Scripture, and your work helps inspire people to start getting themselves out of its clutches. 

I have a whole new commitment to living a more plain and simple life, and rediscovering the joys of family and friends.  I have been getting progressively better over the last five years, and this film gave me a whole new way of looking at why less is more. 

I also appreciate the great good will and humor you use in spreading the message.  God bless you.

Well Hello People,

Not sure how much I want to say as an intro, guess I'll just start and end!

I was 'married' to a serious shop-a-holic who ruined his and my (yes, a male shopping addict, they do exist, Virginia) credit, not once but twice. I have since left him in the dust, suffering with his Parkinsons (No, I am not heartless, he is). Enough about him, good riddance to bad rubbish.

So, here I am 3 years later, and I've lost nearly all of my once prized possesions, been diagnosed as severely bi-polar (major God complex here folks, I feel I must save humanity from extinction! Like I could even begin to, but if not me, who?), fired from my job, can't get another, now homeless, living with my sister, my beloved Saab repossesed. But, I still have my circa 1995 Pioneer 100 disc changer and stereo, my one connection to the weird meta-world we live in!

I'm crazy, but I'm happy. I'm broke, but I'm kind of oddly free. At times it gets hard, but I'd have to say over-all, I am much happier. There is much more, but I don't want to bore anyone!

God Bless,

RtTBt

It kind of just happens and then I'm broke and months behind on my rent and other bills.   So now I'm on an austerity budget and my therapist suggests Shopaholics Anonymous.   Well...

I thought that my time in the Life After Shopping Choir would cure my penchant for using spending as a gentle salve to deal with life in general.  It did not work and instead of a gentle salve, spending has become part of my problem.

Luckily, I never had credit cards or I'd be up poopy creek.  The fear of being kicked out of my apartment has finally gotten me to get my ass in gear and start paying my bills off and start trying to save money.  Luckily, my overspending is kind of an asset because I have lots of food stocked so I was able to pay off some bills and not worry if I was going to have food to eat for the week.  I just have to be not lazy and actually cook.   I spent a lot of money eating out all the time.  Now I have to cook food and wow, I actually eat healthier.

I wish I could say that I'm an innocent victim of all the lures that stores use to get people to shop.  I'm not.  I just have to be more vigilant about why I shop and do I actually need what I want to buy.   It's common sense stuff but when the obsession hits me, common sense goes right out the window.

Anyway, I'm Barbara and I'm a soprano in the Life After Shopping Gospel Choir and I'm giving it another go in trying to stop my shopping.  Pray for me!

I've loved the movie and the CDs (have ordered the first book but haven't received it yet).

Tonight I'm trying to watch the streaming service but only getting audio, no video. In fact as I am writing this the all streaming seems to have stopped (maybe to fix the problem.)

I know you'll never make it to Northwest Louisiana, but know that some of us here believe you are doing very important work. In fact, that you may indeed be a true prophet of the Fabulous Unknown. 

 Dear Rev. Billy, 

If you had a Facebook profile I could interest at least 800 friends in what you have to say... It's a powerful message!

Love, C...

Hello,

I read about you in my boss's SIERRA CLUB magazine a few months ago and loved what you guys represent: the ultimate backlash against all those MEGA stores and businesses such as WalMart and Starbucks. You guys do this all with humor and wit which let's us all have a good laugh about our sad state instead of crying about it (which is what happens when other activists take the serious route). So fast forward many months, a classmate announces that Rev. Billy will be in our school (PCC). I got out of work early to attend and took a seat to watch your movie What Would Jesus Buy? It was both hilarious and an eye-opener. My only dissapointment that evening is that the lounge where the movie was featured was not packed to the max (as it should have been) and there were a few stragglers that should have done themselves the favor of just staying home or....shopping! I hope that for your sake and mission, your visit to our school was not the biggest letdown: there were some of us who were truly listening and were very appreciative of what you had to say. So all that I can say is to keep on preaching and doing the Lord's work! My small mission this Christmas is to give more meaningful gifts (preferably from independent markets) and keeping out of malls as much as possible. I hope everyone else can do their small part too. :)

Hello
Listen to a facinating interview with the Rev Billy and Savitri with Radio Reverb in Brighton, UK.
I had the priviledge to meet Rev Billy after an action to exorcise a Starbucks in our town that had been opened in contravention of local planning regulations. The Church of Life after Shopping rocked the town and it was a wonderfully positive day.
Rev Billy offered to speak on my show that day but we didn't have time to set it up... but good on his promise we caught up by phone on the eve of this years  Thanksgiving.
The Rev Billy and Savitri were in dark mood but always entertaining and this interview is an insight to the real life and concerns of two of my personal hero's.
Featuring music from the choir this a show I hope you'll enjoy and share.
Love Aluyah!

Ken Finn

kenfinn.podomatic.com/entry/2010-11-25T07_26_34-08_00

hello!  my name is mccabe and i m a 33 year old female.  my husband and i have gone through bankruptcy after a lifestyle of instant gratification and keeping up with the jones'.  i just watched what would jesus buy?  and i became inspired that there is an organization of people that see the same injustice and ignorance that the american consumer is so wrapped up in.  a system where we hurt ourselves by buying cheep so we can eat but can't earn a decent wage in the businesses we use. thank you for the message and the energy y'all have put into spreading the good word!

Dear Rev. Billy:

I am a miserable sinner from the most sinful state in the USofA: FLORIDA! And not just in Florida, I live in CENTRAL FLORIDA, the home of Satan's spawn: D*****W**** , with you-know-who. Our whole culture is based on two economic paths: TOURISM and CONSTRUCTION. We worship, in no particular order:

Tourists
Retirees (aka: "Snowbirds")
Transplants
Building strip malls to house small businesses that will go out of business in a few months to leave behind more empty strip malls.


We do have a plethora of nail salons, Chinese restaurants, gambling arcades (which cater directly to the aging snowbird/retiree population) hair salons and pizza parlors, and dollar stores.

 The rich Yanque snowbird retirees who come from "up Nawth" to grace us with their filthy $$ for six months out of the year, are perfectly content to be serviced, golf/fish/hunt and play with the grandkids. And they want EVERYTHING FOR FREE. The cheaper something is, the better. The other half of our economy is the working poor.

THERE IS NO LEARNING HERE. THERE IS ONLY SHOPPING.

Let me say that again;

THERE IS NO LEARING HERE. THERE IS ONLY SHOPPING.

I am not without guilt, though Jesus knows, I try. Been shopping at thrifts for over 30 years. When you live in a poorer community that is entirely dependent on the lagresse of: A. the government; B. Tourism and C. Construction, the working class in the community gets hit first and the hardest. We have one of the highest rates of unemployment in the NATION, and are #3 in householders in the nation of homeowners who are "UPSIDE DOWN".  THERE IS NO LEARNING HERE, THERE IS ONLY SHOPPING.

And. it.s ALL. MADE. IN. CHINA. ALL of it. ALL.

I went to the Cracker Barrel yesterday and purchased two lawn ornaments at 40% off. Forgive me. They are made in China. I am A SINNER.

Living in a service economy hell where THERE IS NO LEARNING. THERE IS ONLY SHOPPING has at times reduces me to the lowest primitive instinct of shopping JUST TO SHOP. THERE IS NOTHING TO DO HERE AND NOTHING TO LEARN. THERE IS ONLY SHOPPING. If you want to learn something---anything---it must be in direct relation to MONEY. There is no learning for the sake---indeed, the joy--of learning. 

Our religious denominations include: WALMART (the biggest), Target, Lowes,  Home Depot, Dollar Stores, Rent-to-Buys, fast food chains, gambling arcades, tanning salons, nail salons, hair salons, Chinese restaurants.

Pray for me. I feel a bout of mediocrity comin' on---and here, that means--LET'S GO SHOPPING. Shopping here is our mental stimuation, our intellectual reason, our creative awakening, our path to consciousness, our lifeforce, our prana, our soul, our heart, our yet-to-be-born-child. It fills up the time between the ETERNAL NOW and the hour of our funerals. It holds us, nutures us, provides love, sustanance, soul food, identity, bonding, community, our "I". Shopping heals all wounds and provides a reason for living, because without shopping, without consuming, WE WOULD DISAPPEAR.

I saw your movie last night on Sundance, Rev. Billy, it is what inspired me to write you. I've been conscious of "Consumerism as a Viable Alternative to Actually Being Alive" for quite some time; seeing your movie motivated me to seek out your site. Sir, you NEED to come to the SEAT of SATAN'S SOUL: The "City Beautiful"--ORLANDO, FLORIDA!    

Hi all, I'm a minimalist, environmentally conscious type o' person or have always liked to think of myself as such but have found lately that I have been using my credit cards too much. Not to the point of being overwhelmed in debt.But have noticed a large decrease in my savings and more importantly a feeling of stress about the debt and even more so about going against my anti-consumerist anti-corporate culture beliefs. I have made far less money and had much more savings in the past when I was more true to the not shopping tenants. I was always all about thrift stores and used goods and pretty much bought only the most necessary items.

But I have strayed from the path of consciousness and now have little savings and some debt to pay off. After watching what would Jesus buy I started to cancel credit cards and have made a pact with myself not to use the ones I have. When i did not have credit cards I had more savings, safety, and a cushion, shoot I even had more fun money cause I wasn't paying Macy's off for shoes I do not even wear!!!

So I am grateful for the reminder to be a more conscious consumer and person in general!!!

Greetings from Ireland!

I recently watched 'What Would Jesus Buy' and was very impressed- there's nothing like a little dose of Rev Billy et al to show up the Big Boys (TM) as the grasping, Orwellian-wannabe bozos that they are! It was also a very poignant piece of work- watching this at a time when we are dealing with the side-affects of endless credit and predatory practices, I couldn't help but wince.

Over here, people are very much cottoning on to the idea of buying independent- with the tough economic conditions, people are very aware of the importance of supporting jobs with their hard-earned euro. For my own part, I work as part of a art and design market, so I'm always glad when people choose our handmade and locally made work. I've been there two years and have been strongly influenced to choose the independent, local, ethical, handmade and one-off options in my own life. It has definitely enriched my life in too many ways to count.

Your compassionate, heartfelt and uplifting message is being heard. Keep it up, and I look forward to joining some of your actions in the future.

Loving your church from Denver, Colorado.  Keep up the great work everyone!

Comparing Jesus Camp and What Would Jesus Buy?
http://jeffstilley.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/jesus-camp-what-would-jesus-...

Discussing freedom of speech on private property
http://jeffstilley.wordpress.com/2010/04/12/free-speech-and-private-prop...

Peace

Hello, My name is Adam. I just saw the movie What Would Jesus Buy. I think that is the only time I have laughed and cried during the same movie. LOL Thank you for everything you guys are doing and I will pray for your mission. I will try where I am to turn people on to this and get them to stop shopping at least as much. At one point in the movie you guys were unsure if your message was reaching anyone and if it was that they didn't want to hear it. Well it is reaching people and God bless you for doing it. Keep it up guys you are making a difference no matter how tough it gets or how little a difference it may seem at times, you are making a difference. God bless!

I just watched the movie 'What Would Jesus Buy'; thank you. I have never been a shopaholic, but I have had my moments. I have lived my past 39 years anywhere from 300,000 dollar houses to tents next to a campground. I have lived through never knowing need, and to some degree want, to bathing in public restrooms to clean up for a job interview. What I have learned through all this is that happiness is a state of mind not a place and the things that you are surrounded by.  Now to the topic of Christmas, for the past several years I have asked my family for the same thing, to take the money they were going to spend on me and donate it to a homeless shelter, food bank or a conservation charity. It has yet to come to fruition. I will ask the same this year, but I am going to add the caveat that if they ignore this and still have to get me a gift I will donate that gift to my local homeless shelter, goodwill, library(yes I am an addicted bibliophile). I encourage all to do the same and to let your friends, family and relatives know that this is the best gift they could give you, because if you are like me you probably have everything you need and a lot of things you don't need. Keep up the fight Rev. Billy, again thank you.........

My name is Theresa. I have 3 daughters.  My ex-husband was a shop-a-holic to the point of bankruptcy.He handled all the bills and told me not to worry, he had it under control. This worked for about 18 years. Finally the credit card debt got so bad we could no longer pay our bills. He was paying credit card payments with other credit cards. This tore my family apart. I have been on my own for the last 9 years. I have NO credit cards. I lost my job in February. I have not been able to find another one yet. It has been hard but I am surviving. I realize a lot of my ex co workers are having a much harder time because they have so much debt. So I guess I learned a vaulable lesson from my marriage! This year I had no money for gifts. I did give my only grand child $10.00. That is all I had to spend. My children are all old enough to see I don't have money because I don't have a job. Even when I did work I did not shop at WalMart. I think the world has gone crazy. We are sending our jobs overseas. I don't understand how the big corporations think they can sell their products if no one has a job. I worked for Hanes Brands. My job is now off shore.

Merry Christmas and  I want to thank all of you in this Church for your work.  Your work, in the form of the mockumentary "What Would Jesus Buy?" is even now still dazzling my mind.  I first saw it today. A wonderful gift of YOURSELVES to the WORLD with a message.  I never knew people like you existed in real life.  I've been alone fighting the battle for twenty years.  I thought everyone else must be deaf, dumb, and blind, not to see what is going on and the ramifications and consequences.  I did the math and the numbers are staggering.  You guys amaze me!  And I am not easily amazed!  You seem to have stayed true to your concepts, as much a possible, and that ain't no easy thing.  I'm a recovering Lawyer (Ole Miss, Class of 1987), thinker and scientist.  A neophyte idealististic lawyer, I took on a case of a black prison inmate accused of raping a white female prison guard.  The Setting: Parchman, Mississippi. Date: 1989.  Young and fresh, full of jubilant dreams of justice.  Knew the law upside down, inside out and sideways.  Believing in my client's actual innocence, I took the case.  Thus, started my dark journey into Southern justice.  Turning over rocks with wild abandon in pursuit of truth, I was soon bloodily curtailed. 
Enough to know I saw the underside of the Beast, as have you.  The place where "maintaining the status quo" is the ultimate paradigm.  
Thank you for gifts of that movie and this website and providing a place where far reaching and justice minded people can come together.
Hallelujah.  ElijahCory 

Wonderful news!

Finally a message to get me excited.
I am with you all

I will  pray for your mission

Where can I catch a performance of the choir?

How can I join the choir

shirley

In November I bought the CD (ooopps!) by The Stop Shopping Gospel Choir when Rev. Billy Talen was in Minneapolis.  I gotta say that song Step Away from the Big Box, Step Away, Step Away... made an impression.  I can't stop humming it as I drive by the Wal-marts, the Targets, and Mall of America while NOT shopping. 

How ironic that same month I was teaching students about child labor around the word in the Read 180 program by Scholastic, and later found out that in Time for Kids (the magazine produced by Scholastic) they were shamelessly advertising for Disney.  How can you be advertising for Disney and also be saying how awful child labor is when Disney treats their workers in China so bad?  Isn't it all linked together?  Shouldn't someone write Scholastic and address this issue?  They do have access to all school children in the public schools so that would be a good place to start.

I was just introduced to Rev. Billy and the Choir, on the Sundance Channel.  Lying in my bed, I sat upright, clapping my hands in glee!  Fantastic it was... you folks, a'marchin' and a'singin', down Main Street, Disneyland, U.S.A.!  I had to open my laptop and send your website right out, to all my family and friends, who had all been agonizing over being broke this Christmas and unable to go out and buy stuff for everyone!
God bless Rev. Billy, the choir and the band... everyone.  Ya'll keep singin'.  'Cause you know, if you do... if you keep tellin' folks somethin' long enough, they'll come to expect it.  Like "Alice's Restaurant" on Thanksgiving... right?  That's what it'll be... like the "Alices' Restaurant Anti-Massacree Movement".  It'll go somethin' like this... 

"...And the only reason I'm
singing you this song now is cause you may know somebody in a similar
situation, or you may be in a similar situation, and if your in a
situation like that there's only one thing you can do and that's walk into
the store, wherever you are ,just walk in say "Sorry, but I'm joinin' Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Gospel Church.". And walk out. You know, if
one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and
they won't take him seriously. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony,
they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them.
And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in
singin a bar of "Stop Shopping" and walking out. They may think it's an
organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day,I said
fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of "Stop Shopping" and
walking out. Why, friends they may thinks it's a movement.

And that's what it is , the Reverend Billy's Stop Shopping Gospel Church Movement, and all you got to do to join is sing it the next time it come's around on the guitar...

With feeling. So we'll wait for it to come around on the guitar, here and
sing it when it does. Here it comes."

(With heartfelt thanx, much love & respect and humblest apologies to Arlo Guthrie.)

Ya'll keep singin'... and spreadin' that good word.

From Amanda

Greetings to you Reverend Billy and to the beautiful Life After Shopping Gospel Choir.  I just saw 'What Would Jesus Buy?' on Sundance and wanted to send a big "Amen!" shout out to you wonderful people.  The songs were beautiful and the message was dead-on.   

I noticed this was a pre-shopocalypse picture (made in 2007 before the American economy collapsed under it's mountain of unreconcilable debt).  Your 2007 tour turned out to be prophetic.  I think people are starting to rethink their priorities a bit.  They seem to be paying down debt and spending less...  Halleluyeh!

God Bless You All,

Jon Bailey
Minneapolis, MN      

I was so pleased after watching this documentary!  I enjoyed this more than anything I've seen in such a long time.  This is so unique, creative, and very, very effective!  I think it's wonderful.  I know, from having protested in the past against  a few things myself, how tough it is to encounter the inevitable security employees and police.  It can be daunting, but this is great, and I can't tell you how much learning about your group has given me hope.  A million thanks for putting your energy into something so vitally important. When the woman in the film, the reverend's wife (sorry- I'm bad with names) said she needed to know that their effort was having some impact, I wanted to yell YOU ARE! You have no idea!  Thank you!

I would just like to say that I respect differing opinions as pertains how & why people live their lives and the choices they may make that will affect said lives ... both for themselves and others.
I would caution, however, the route, at least for purposes of consideration, of not going overboard in pursuit of such causes.
Appropriate enthusiasm in nature of principled stance should not be construed to mean that one may wing-nut themselves to The Outer Limits of acceptable behavior.
Reprobate reasoning must never master in the forum of civil life/discourse, much less should the court of public opinion be seen to degrade to the level of the lowest common denominator.
Thank you for your attention, Carry On...

 joab in atlanta/marietta georgia here

found the rev by luck, remember seeing him on tv some tikme ago very happy to have found the site

i am 62 a world class blues player if i do say so myself and do paralegal work for a living

i have a share book on care2.com as joabblues, a little more radical than the rev but similar flavor and a couple of little blues experiments on youtube under same name if y'all ever get to the sunny south or i get to travel i would love to sit in with the band and maybe do a version of burden down,  i have been a minister of music and the band in true holiness churches i believe i could fit right in

I listened to all the songs today, very nice, as Cab Calloway told Nat king cole, enunciate, no sense in all those wonderful lyrics getting lost.

I feel better
So much better
since I laid my plastic down

I am very proud of y'all

joab

 Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

I am a single mother of three children - 3, 5, and 8.  Like so much of our lives to date, I have been living the way I was raised and what has always made perfect sense to me. . .thrift, value, love, sustainability, DIY, humbleness, stewardship, intuitive politics. . .leading up to removal of my conscience in politics, and just recently, the work-machine that ends up making us into soylent green.  Yes, I am un-employed.  Have been for 6 weeks now.  Through the grace of God we live damned well - don't ask how.  No - do ask, I'd love to elaborate on my theory.  

I never knew names existed for the philosophies and ideologies and practices I have lived by.  And only a few time was I roused enough to make a pledge to tell all what I believed, in a vain effort to change - all young fights for huge causes - Peace and absolute dumbfounded outrage of the ignorance surrounding major political events.  Change begins with ourselves, and three kids to raise amidst all this savage, soul-sucking Succubus called the economy is enough of His Holy work for me - until I saw Rev Billy.  Actually, I lied, forgive me, until I saw "The Story of Stuff" which says all the right stuff, but not loud and gaudy enough to completely rouse me again to the proud stance of activist as the Rev Billy and his Family - their Love and Mission sets my soul on fire!  Local-lujah!  Praise Be!

I, with my children, are engaging on a journey towards finding a home for next to nothing.  I said a home, not a house.  We, too, are on a Mission to be protected from the demons that wail for us in the giant billboards pimpling the country-side.  We live rural Tennessee and I only wish that there was more ignorance to the 'rest of the world' as is perceived.  My son speaks about something he saw on tv.  We don't have tv, but I learned they watch tv in kindergarten!  At the basic, most fundamental platforms of education they are teaching them to be consumers.  Being poor, I notice this with heightened sensitivities - almost every day the teacher or the school asks for money - field trips, book sales, ice cream (with the stuff inside those ice creams being poison enough with the onslaught of advertisements have my children doubt what I teach them), candy for every holiday you could name, gifts for parties, charities, donations to the school - which is planted in a very impoverished county - which brings to the forefront also, my poor neighbors pressured to literally buy into all this junk because if not they would not be supporting their local school.  And I have yet to see a difference in the level of quality at the school.  

Quality comes from the heart, not from money.  And that, is how my three children and I live so damned well when we're so poor.  

for contact
specialscar@gmail.com

Just saw WWJB.  Loved it. 

I bought into most of the beliefs of the Stop Shopping Church/The Church of Life After Shopping years ago.  But I suppose like most of us, I struggle to live out those beliefs to the extent to which I'd like.  The desire to teach my kids human and spiritual values over the values of consumerism provides my greatest struggles over it.  This responsiblity toward my kids, seen in the face of the difficulties of fullfilling it, make me sad and overwhelmed sometimes.

But in spite of that, the movie helped me.  It gave me insight, reminders, ideas and motivation!  I'm prompted to re-think some of the decisions I still have to make about Christmas gifts and celebrations this year.  I have a combination of good ideas and challenging questions.  But not much time to figure out how I'll act on them!  I think it might be fun though!  How many days until Christmas? 

If nothing else, whatever I do now is a step in a good direction.  How may days do I have to re-think and revise until Christmas 2010?  We're coming both to a New Year and to Epiphany, right? 

Christmas past spills from my closets, the flotstam and jetstam of my children’s childhood. The Game of Life and Masterpiece, two pottery wheels, (battery operated and electric), two karoke machines and three Monopoly games, (Junior, Wizard of Oz and my mom's set from the 1940's).  This year is different for two reasons.  My family has changed and Reverend Billy came to town.

My eldest daughter crossed to adulthood, by birthday and life-way a grown-up. My middle girl decamped for Portugal, an exchange-student refugee, fleeing a senior year spent at a suburban high school. My son is a teen-ager, gone from debatably taller to someone I clearly look up to. Both his eyeballs and his heart are on a new level.

Yet, I cling to the stuff of their babyhood. I still have toddler tub toys in my upstairs bathroom. The family room cabinet is crammed with VCR tapes, Disney Movies, Little Rascals. The Brio train sets, the Playmobile figures, the Lincoln Logs clod the cupboard beneath the stair. The boxes entomb answers to the relentless question of Christmases gone bye and buy, the pleading demands of aunts and grandparents, “I need gift ideas for your kids.”

How pure I wanted to be when my children were young. How diligently I tried to enforce a buying ethic, no Barbie, no logos, limit the Disney. But, you can’t beat back the demon monoculture without a sense of humor. My daughters’ favorite nightgown was long and pink and had the Little Mermaid on it. So much of my sleepy little girls is tucked away in that fabric, I have to love it.

By the mid 1990s I lost the Barbie war. Barbie’s measurements didn’t match-up to my ideas of feminine realism, but I gave her grandma the go ahead to get my daughter a newly apportioned more realistic fashion doll, “Free to Be Me.” Later, when I could no longer hold back the flood of Mattel, the “Free to Be Me” doll kept a special place in the play hierarchy as “The Fat Barbie.”

To wax fanatic, is to find your self a foolish hypocrite. I am a sinner and weak. I admit that sometimes, as the shopping days dwindled to Christmas, I’d spend a bundle in the last few hours, afraid my children wouldn’t feel loved unless they got more stuff.

Reverend Billy tells the story of descending the stairs on Christmas morning, the living-room floor lovingly layered with his mother’s judicious selections, how theatrical, how magical. He told this story at Macalester College last Sunday during the Twin Cities leg of the "Blessed are the Broke, Blessed are the Jobless" crusade. Forgiveness fell on my shoulders like the first flakes of winter. I felt all the stuff, once so firmly anchored in boxes and shelves lift just a bit. The goods held down by 'might have been', and 'once were' found buoyancy.

Somehow my children survived the onslaught of consumerism. They keep emerging from the effluence of their affluent upbringing. “Mom,” said my oldest daughter, “you made Christmas special and it wasn’t just the gifts.” God love them. And God grant me the strength to clear out those closets, the forgiveness for filling them in the first place and God bless Reverend Billy for coming to the Twin Cities.

When I was fourteen years old, I read Bram Stoker's Dracula.  After reading the book, I planted garlic throughout the house to ward off my home against vampires and I buried the book deep in my dresser covered with garlic bulbs.  My mom noticed that the house had a rather pungent smell after awhile and then she discovered the garlic planted throughout the house.  She went to my father and told him that I was very strange.

I'm Sister Barbikat or Barbara R. Lee if you need to ask the police what lock up did they put me this time.  Only kidding....sort of.
I sing soprano in the choir.  I am the only off key singer in the choir but I get away with it because of my charm, my enthusiasm and my talent for massaging feet.

Reverend Billy has not completely brought me over to the light but bless his heart, he still hasn't given up on me.  

I love the choir, I love political activism.  I used to squat in the Lower East Side.  I loved working in the building I lived in and being surrounded by like minded people who cared about each other and our living space.  I learned alot about dumpster diving, recycling things to use that others throw away.  I learned to try to heal myself first through herbs, rest and good food before going to the doctor.  

My mother taught me to love myself as a black woman and she saw to it that I didnt feel inferior to anyone.  I think she did too good a job because I have no respect for anyone that represents authority unless I know they are compassionate with their rank and not bossy creeps that abuse their power.

From celebrating the release of Dhoruba Bin Wahad to meeting one of the survivors of the Move bombings, Ramona Africa, I am blessed with not just knowing black history from the past but knowing my black family in the present.

It's a rainbow, my rainbow of love,  it reaches all over the world.  The many people that I know that do political activism, sing,  write stories, draw, paint,

CREATE.

Being in the choir and learning and loving with Billy and Savitri gives me such joy!   They are kindred spirits, I could wish for no better place to be right now.

Well, that's enough out of me.  Oh yeah and I'm an animal person.  Two cats own me and I hope to have a dog to boss me around too.


Blessed Be!!!

I just watched your movie last night and it made a big impact on me.  Not that me and my family needs to change our spending habits, we already did that, but to see you and your courage.  Thank you for what you have done and what you are doing.  I just watched a recent video clip on your site (one of the live shows archived). You asked your community what next, what should we do next.  My suggestion is duplicate yourself if you can.  double triple quadrupple the message.  The message, not the show.  I don't think there are many that can do the show - you are fabulous and effective.  You have an awesome team around you.  You have a terribly hard message for people to hear, but you do better than most in getting it across.  Read Ezekiel 2-3 and hang in there.  Apart from the show, the message is in the hearts of many people.  Encourage others to pass the message on and help them encourage others to pass the message on.  Duplicate, multiply, reproduce.  I think you are part of the antidote to overcome the disease but we have to act the part of a antibody and multiply.  Soon the whole body of America will be overtaking the disease.  I hope anyway.  Keep up the good work.  I wish I could do more directly to help you.  I'll try to do my part here in New Mexico.

And I have a suggestion for Kymm.  Try networking through political activist groups.  There are many groups starting up around the themes the Rev is preaching about.  Make friends, help them, and you'll come across people who need what you have to offer.  Do some stuff for free and build a portfolio.  You're skills are needed.  And if this is really what you want to do, don't give up, keep at it.  If you need more contact me on facebook or at robertcoss.com

I would say buy one.  There's a big difference between purchasing pointless crap that you don't need that was made by some child laborer in Indonesia and buying a piece of art with an important message.  Not all consuming is bad.  We're mamalian organisms, and by nature must consume.  But we can be humans and practice ethical consumerism, and buying a copy of what would jesus buy would be doing just that.  Not only will you be "voting with your pocket book" which is supporting good things and organizations which truly need your support, but also you can use your copy to educate other people in an awesome way.   When I used to talk abotu ethical consumerism at work, people would get really angry with me.  But this movie is funny and silly and in that way is subversive.  It gets a message across by, ironically, not being super preachy about it, but being ironic.  You can help just by buying one and showing your friends!

 I am seriously conflicted and I need guidance. I have just become aware of this movement. I seriously want to but the film, but . . . I am trying to not buy things. What do I do? I am not joking. 

Thanks

Jason

 I am seriously conflicted and I need guidance. I have just become aware of this movement. I seriously want to but the film, but . . . I am trying to not buy things. What do I do? I am not joking. 

Thanks

Jason

I saw WWJB last night with a couple friends.  We loved it.  I have long since believed that Christmas is the worst holiday because of all the commercialism associated with it.  I was most amazed that so many people were against the message, but I guess it's the same thing with smokers.  They know it's bad, they understand it will kill them, and they still do it.  Most people can not be saved, but I am trying.  I have told my family members and friends that in lieu of gifts this year I would like them to make a small donation to a local rescue center for needy cats.  I feel good about this choice and about the quest to spend less on useless crap to fill a void.  I hate Disney too!!!! 

Hello Friends my name is Tina and I'm from the Southern-Tier of Western NY.  Last yr my husband was laid off from Ethan Allen when it closed after 35yrs.  The notice came as the guys started back to work after the Christmas Hoilday. 
Last yr at this time we came to realization that buying junk and going without to pay our bills was crazy.  So we decided to teach our 16teen yr old a lesson in Responsibility and Love.  We did not set a tree up and we did not exchange presents, we shared the day watching movies on line about Love and Togetherness.  On Line because we gave up Cable TV 6yrs ago...We now only allow in what is a learning experience and not Commericals of Greed and Sexuality...That's how we came upon this website..Thru topdocumentaryfilms.com/what-would=jesus-buy (excellent site) for learning...
Well back to my story...All was wonderful until his friends starting bragging about
what they received for Christmas... he felt horrible and sad....But after several days he got over it and he's a better person because of it...This yr we are celebrating the day Baby Jesus was born...we will set a modest tree up and the day will be filled with how we can help others in the coming year. 

In conclusion I see this as a blessing that my husband found your site and after my best friends death this past Monday I was feeling down and out.  But Jesus gave me a beautiful gift this year...Many new friends....

Thank You
Tina Marie

Hi All!!

I've been unemployed since last April and have been using this downtime to get myself educated at the local community college.

My intention is to go into web development.  However, as I gain new skills I can't help but be concerned about finding myself in the cogs of the machine again.  The IT industry is huge and varied. My hope is to be part of the solution, not the problem.

Does anyone out there have any ideas on how to avoid being ground up in the corporate machinery?  Or maybe on how to work from the inside.

It is only my first semester.  It will be a while before I am looking for real work.  I'd love to get some imput on the subject.

Kymm