Commercialization of the Revolution, Part II - Lessons from the Evangelicals

As we ponder ways to spread the light of Rebbe, the Revolution and the RRRR, it may be instructive to look at some false, yet successful, competitors.

Imagine the Possibilities...

"But what is it about the evangelical "product" that makes it so desirable? Any number of scholars have noted that, in recent years, it has been the churches that demand the most of people -- tithing, bowing to firm doctrines, observing strict rules of conduct -- that have grown the fastest. There seems to be something in our nature that requires from religion not just feel-good spirituality but strong moral direction. We are willing to make sacrifices to live by the dictates of a religiously grounded truth.
Mr. Twitchell manages to reduce this profound idea to the dictates of basic consumer theory. Sacrifice, he says -- not least, tithing -- signifies value. The more you sacrifice, the more you visibly value the product for which you are giving something up, and the more you show other people that you value it, too. "Why do true believers sometimes puncture themselves, walk on their knees until they bleed, fast until they are skeletal or join a monastery and go mum?" Mr. Twitchell asks. "Brand allegiance."

Taking from the Wall Street Journal, A Book Review of "Shopping for God", by NAOMI SCHAEFER RILEY