Reply to the following with a minimum of 150 words, the reply must include a discussion on whether the author was right in his or her analysis in either agreeing or disagreeing with Ewert's arguments.
"After reading the article by Ken S. Ewert I would like to know where he found his facts about Christian views? He did not cite any sources after his article. Are we as readers supposed to take his word about these so called "Christian views"? I think he made these "facts" up to further push his political agenda. Granted, I was not alive at the time this article was written, but I don't think that Christians would think the way Ewert explains. But I digress.
Ewerts made a few good points in his article, but he also made some good points as well. I agree with his comparison of materialism. Ewert (1989) stated, "Just as God did not allow Adam to blame Satan or the fruit for his sin in the Garden, we cannot lay the blame for materialism on the free market or on advertising. the materialist's problem is the sin within his heart, not his environment." I could not agree more! It is not the free markets fault Christians fall into materialism, it is human nature to sin and lust material things. As Christians we need to fight these urges and rely on Christ to fill us.
For his third point Ewert speaks of impersonalism and individualism, I feel like this portion of his article makes no sense. He states,"According to many Christian critics, the market encourages self-centered behavior and discourages relational ties in society." How can you compare a form of market to impersonalism and individualism? If he was going to make this comparison, he would need to include every form of market not just free market. Ewert's third points have no validity and quite frankly makes him look incompetent.
In Ewert's fourth point, "Economic Power" he states, "...Christians of the left: that the market, which is often pictured as a "dog-eat-dog" or "survival of the fittest" system, leaves men free to oppress each other." One of the main attractants of the American market is if a person works hard you can achieve anything. If a true Christian is in a position of power he/she will not take advantage of his fellow man. On the flip-side of that coin, if a non-Christian without any regard for his fellow man will take advantage and exploit them. That is the nature of sin.
As for my thoughts about Ewert's article, to put it bluntly, I think it's garbage. I think he is a man with a vendetta against Christians. If he would have had some sort of references or quotes from actual Christians, I would have taken it seriously."