Black Friday and the American Malady
Black Friday and The American Malady
Brian Zahnd
I’m not sure when Black Friday became a “thing.” It hasn’t always been with us. But I am sure that Black Friday as a celebration of consumerism coming the day after Thanksgiving is symptomatic of the American Malady. Miroslav Volf put it this way…
“There’s something profoundly incongruous between the gratitude of the Thanksgiving Thursday and the Black Friday’s mad rush to acquire. Black Friday seems to have been designed to ensure our sense of gratitude doesn’t spill over from Thanksgiving into our ordinary daily life.”
On Thursday we gather around a table to give thanks and feast with family and friends.
On Friday we stampede madly into the temples of American consumerism.
On Thursday we give thanks to God for the cornucopia of plenty.
On Friday we trample our neighbors for a flat-screen TV.
It seems to have echoes of Israel eating the Paschal lamb only to worship the golden calf. Read more