Ecclesial Spirituality Against the Threats of Utilitarianism and Consumerism

Abstract

The paper presents ecclesial spirituality in opposition to anthropological threats brought about by utilitarianism and consumerism. It shows ecclesial spirituality from the angle of its (paradoxically) vertical fundament, derived from the “faith in the event” (Jean Daniélou) of the eternity plunging into the earthly sphere. It provokes the contemporary culture, contesting some of its canons. It also protects man against the expansion of those social trends which, reducing the status of a human person, answer its “desire for happiness” with offers such as: purchase, use and “letting off steam.” Utilitarianism and consumerism are animated by a spirit directed horizontally, leading man towards goods that are material, financial, ludic or prestige-oriented, characterized by short-term, “seasonal” usefulness. They do not bring the purchasers long-lasting satisfaction (of possessing and consuming), instead they raise “self-digesting passion,” which enforces a style of constant purchasing “something new” (fashionable today) and getting rid of “the old” (the previous season).Spirituality open to transcendence, based on evangelical vision of man and humanity faces the necessity of preserving its own identity from being contaminated by the “spirit of the times,” and of promoting anthropology in which man, multiplying goods (work, creativity, economics) uses them decently and honestly (ethical norms), preserving the ability to delay (“not now”) the experience of happiness and persistent (with faith) reaching for eternal perspectives.