Lent and 'pop' theology

[realFedUp]

http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=news.display_archives&mode=current_opinion&article=CO_050224_braun

Lent and 'pop' theology
by Will Braun

I was sipping a soda on the eve of Lent when it became clearer. The stars in my head - those specks of truth orbiting inner space - aligned themselves with rare clarity. The ancient rhythms of Lent presented me with a liturgical path leading beyond the consumer fatigue of our era, a gentle path of spiritual de-corporatization.

At that moment I recognized my willingness to not only fill my body with a substance of nutritional detriment, but to actually pay Mr. Coca-Cola for the self-destructive opportunity. It felt in every way like a matter of dignity. I was repulsed by the bottle in my hand. If I was making a donation of $1.39 to Mr. Coca-Cola in exchange for his plastic-packaged froth, he was smarter than I. I felt that change was not only possible, it was inevitable.

The decision to give up something for Lent had been made for me. It happened before guilt or duty had even stated their nagging case. The motivational force was other, and stronger. The forces of my inner universe placed the value of dignity squarely above the value of fizz. I would abstain from big-name soda (i.e., Coke and Pepsi products), and I knew that after Lent there would be little reason to revert to the carbonated ways of old.

What emerged from my experience was the realization of Lent as a liturgical antidote to consumer stress and excess.

continued

Also more on Coke:

In Poland they have found mold in dirty bottles used for Coke drinks; in India Coke plants are contaminating rural lands and water AND using up water from the people's wells for their bottled water AND selling bottles of water which contains contaminated residues; in England just last March Coca-Cola had to admit that its Dasani brand water was common tap water, and according to Reuters, about one in five bottles of water sold in the world is produced from tap water and not from springs. Etc, around the world.

For more information, including the zillions of different names Coke puts out, look at www.corpwatch.org or Public Citizen at www.wateractivist.org.