Our story begins (as many do) behind a dubious Teriyaki stand in Tigard—a concrete cutaway yields to a secret cove: the parking lot of the Union Gospel Mission Thrift Store.
I forget exactly who it was that turned me on to this hoarder's oasis—maybe it was Brittney, possibly Simon (it hardly matters at this point except that I might duly thank them). The fact remains, that the Union Gospel Mission Thrift Store is of that rare and coveted type that satisfies two essential criteria: one, it has "good stuff" (this is of course completely subjective) and two, it doesn't seem to have any sense for the real value of the goods on display—or at least, it shrugs-off the potential for greater profitability.
The result (for me) is a smorgasbord of stuff-I-don't-really-need-but-can-easily-justify-not-having-to-live-without-if-the-price-is-right. The concept is a mouthful but it can be easily summed in two words—"price absolution."
Price absolution makes for the very foundation of my hoarding... ahem... thrifting habits. It means that if the price is negligible (i.e., $2, 50¢, etc.), then any guilt that might otherwise be associated with a given purchase is absolved. In other words, if I can walk out of a thrift store with a new hat, some cassette tapes, a book on the joy of indoor plants and a kitchen drawer full of primary-colored plasticware—all for under $5!—then why should it matter if I don't get around to reading (or clipping the images out of) the book for 17 years? People blow that much nightly at the video poker machine.
Oh well, who cares. I'm not trying to rationalize anything. The point is, until it starts to tear my family apart one day, I'm perfectly comfortable with my tendency to accumulate things.
I am however less comfortable with purchasing these frivolties from Christian-run thrift stores. I don't know why, I guess I just feel... guilty (I know right, like who's gonna judge me.) Principles, it turns out, can just as easily give rise to feelings of guilt as can morals, and in the case of the atheist who shops at the Christian-run thrift store to take advantage of the "guilt-absolving" pricing, there is likely a violation of principles. But just which principles?
To some extent, the weight I've been carrying with respect to my many and various UGMTS purchases, has everything to do with the erroneous presumption that the sole purpose of United Gospel Mission Thrift Store is to service the less fortunate—to do things like furnish the homes of those who could not afford to "buy new," or to clothe those who, without the help of that new blueberry-colored power suit and off-matching pumps, might have entered into that job interview with confidence suboptimal.
Accordingly, who am I to step in and take advantage of these perceived hand outs (often merely to to satisfy my aesthetic whims), when clearly the items supplied are intended for those less fortunate than myself. Plus, these hand outs are being provided in accordance with a Christian ethic that says help the needy—am I not scum?
So goes my self-important logic.
As it turns out, according to the Union Gospel Mission website "revenue generated by the thrift store helps men and women in the LifeChange recovery community," the addiction recovery arm of UGM. This means that, in effect, I'm doing my part to support a rich tradition of indoctrination. Should this cancel out any of the guilty feelings outlined above? Okay, so now I am rationalizing.
Basically, all items on display are received by donation and then sold, and the profits largely go to benefit the recovery program. Also, most if not all of the store's workers are part of the program.
In the end, my core reason for thrifting (as you might imagine) is quite distinct from helping Union Gospel Mission. Why buy new when there is plenty of decent stuff out there to get use out of. Rather than acquire a taste for everything new, why not acquire an appreciation for all things old, and enrich your experience of history in the process. In conjunction with the ever-clued-in internet, there is much to be gleaned from perusing old manuals, fondling relic electronics, and examining ephemera—such things are informative.
I've prepared a small collage of sights and sound for your meditative enjoyment.
4 comments:
Not sure about your logic here. Why should a Christian organization whose soul purpose is to help people live better lives free of addiction warrant this kind of scrutiny? Shouldn't we be more concerned about the larger companies that we support every day whose soul purpose is to make a profit? I am a vegetarian yet I eat at Taco Bell from time to time. Does the fact that I don't order meat exclude me from supporting a ccompany responsible for slaughter and deforestation? As an atheist who seems to have some regard for the wellbeing of your fellow species it seems to me that a mission of helping people should rank a few notches higher than say a tobacco company who sells a product that kills people.
Good thoughts and well written as usuall though!
Bret
Thanks Bret. If I have a sense of humor it's not apparent in these latter paragraphs. I didn't mean to sound so severe, as though this were an ethical dilemma for me of the caliber of those you've described. Nor do I have any intention of stopping shopping at Christian thrift stores. I just was elaborating on a feeling of contradiction I get when I do it.
Hmm...
the one thing that's irksome to me about Christian help organizations is that they are reliable means of indoctrination. This is not to say that the help they offer is not genuine, as it is part of the Christian ethic. Nor is this to say that addicts (perhaps the majority of them) don't enter into these programs with Christianity already in their hearts, or at least impressed on them. I raise this point to acknowledge the systemic aspect of the way these stories continue to reach people. When I think about this I get a resounding sense for why Christianity has survived as long as it has. (And that is to its credit!) It's just that I don't happen to identify with the meme. I can see it's appeal. I see that it is a powerful tool in helping people turn their lives around. But also wonder about the prospects of non-Christian means of doing so. It's just that Christian organizations are historically (and continue to be) a primary engine for motivating people to help one another (again, to their credit!). But, the results these programs produce, don't necessarily speak to the truth of the doctrines on which they are based, just their utility. Of course, utility is all an atheist has ; )
Thanks buddy!
I did get your sense of humour so not to worry. I want to talk a bit about indoctrination. There are certainly elements of Christianity that seek to indoctrinate through helping the less fortunate. While that is true (and not necessarily bad as you say) there are also many Christian organizations who are out there doing good things just because they love Jesus and want to emulate him. Indoctrination is not always a part of the program. Many Quaker missions are this way. It's almost like me really getting into Bob Dylan and so I start writing songs that sound like Bob Dylan and perform them. People like what I am doing and so they get into me and as a result, Bob Dylan. Some of them start writing Dylanesque songs as well. The reason that I started performing was not to indoctrinate people to the cult of Dylan.
If I am really excited about some dude that does good works for the less fortunate, and so I go out and do good works for the less fortunate, and someone asks me why, I'll say "because thats what Jesus did, and I love Jesus." Someone may wind up getting into Jesus as a result. Is that indoctrination?
Alcoholics Anonymous is a program based on "attraction not promotion" and so you don't find any AA evangelists out there. Just people who want what other people have, they ask them how they got it, and they tell them. The word "indoctrination" carries with it some negative baggage that I don't think is fair of all do-good programs be it AA or Christianity or whatever.
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