Friday, December 14, 2007

buy less, give more

in my line, you meet all sorts, brothers and sisters of the cloth.
meet reverend billy.

since 1999, reverend billy has been preaching against rampant commercialism. especially at christmastime. he began by invading starbucks chanting "STOP SHOPPING! STOP SHOPPING!" along the way, he acquired a choir of red robe-clad singers, who aid him in his ministries.

over the years, reverend billy has been arrested several times. apparently, it IS against the law to shout "STOP SHOPPING" in a commercial district. but his message has spread, and will continue to spread, thanks to a new movie by "supersize me" filmmaker morgan spurlock, and through the efforts of a small but growing community of like-minded preachers across the country who have come to align themselves with the anti-commercial message conveyed by reverend billy. but seeing spurlock's documentary, "what would jesus buy?" might be more difficult than scoring the latest edition of wii. it seems no distributors want to touch this cinematic hot potato. it is now showing in 40 markets nationwide. to learn more about "what would jesus buy?" watch the interview with filmmaker spurlock.


2 comments:

Steve Fuller said...

Not to doubt the words of a "man of the cloth" but doesn't "preaching against rampant anti-commercialism" imply that he really wants us to buy more?

the mostly reverend said...

duly noted, he bleated sheepishly.