The Church of Stop Shopping from Out of Ur This article highlights what should be an interesting film for the holidays. What Would Jesus Buy? is a documentary by Reverend Billy that pokes fun at the world of consumerism that has America, particularly at Christmas time. The controversy comes in the medium chosen to bash America. Reverend Billy and his "Church of Stop Shopping" are not an actual church in the Christian sense, but masquerade as an over the top televangelist and his congregation sent to preach a message of "stop shopping" to everyday people like you and me. The trailer is hilarious and shows that this film will certainly go for laughs over poignancy, but the jab at the Christian church is more of a stab in the back rather than a punch to the face. In choosing the tile of the movie and stereotype of mainstream Christianity, it seems obvious that Reverend Billy, someone who does not profess to be a Christian in real life, sees the church as having a role of some sort to play in the stop shopping message. But perhaps his point is that the church has no power to convince people to change when it is known itself as a money hungry and self satisfying religion itself? In an age where the church is even being challenged by the government on its money spending issues, with what serious can it be taken if it were to speak against consumerism and materialism? I think this would relate to having a log in our own eye while pointing out the speck in someone else's. I encourage you to check out the movie if you can. A recent Christianity Today review is a good read and states it is having trouble being seen since it cannot get corporate sponsors...surprise surprise.