Shopping "Savages"

How ridiculous and tragic has "black Friday" become? Here's an article about a Wal-Mart employee, accidentally killed by an unruly crowd eager to obtain holiday shopping bargains.

"A Wal-Mart worker was killed Friday when 'out-of-control' shoppers desperate for bargains broke down the doors at a 5 a.m. sale. Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers shouted angrily and kept shopping when store officials said they were closing because of the death, police and witnesses said."

What were the bargains? A 50-inch television: $798. A digital camera: $69. Movies such as The Incredible Hulk for $9. Notice these are all digital bargains, oriented primarily if not exclusively for entertainment.

One witness to the stampede likened shoppers to "savages." How sad, particularly in light of the fact that "we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it" (1 Timothy 6:7). Yet in Western culture it is largely believed that this world is all that exists. As such, "the one with the most toys wins." How foolish.