Unbelievable indeed. For those of us who fight the totalitarian consumer culture that dominates Americans – Saturday the 18th of October 2025 – we are in a state of happy shock. Seven million people “breaking into public space” — with totally homemade wise-ass signs, dressed like frogs, leopards, giraffes, unicorns and big birds…. Wow!
Our work: we fight against saturation advertising, pixelated simulations of reality which are profit-taking, invasions of neighborhoods by condos and chains, intrusions into our love-life by perfumes, cars, computer dating, mascara and – did I say cars? – this economy adds up to be gas-guzzling and Earth-killing climate-changing war machine… So I was saying, those of us who see billionaires laying to neighborhoods and eco-systems alike, this Saturday is some kind of radical heaven.
Will it last? Please don’t go home and peel off your reptile skin! Because this might be how we demand compassion for strangers at the border, and traumatized families hiding in sanctuary churches, and – this might be the best way to defend the founding documents of our compassionate Constitution! Marching away from our human chauvinism might be related to marching away from racism which might be connected to our sexism, our white nationalism…. Get back into that animal suit and make funny noises! Now!
And respect for common decency and our country’s best ideas will never be possible if we worship products. If we spend 7 to 10 hours at the screen every day, not good. If our best minds are A. I. … not good. Did you notice this about Saturday? Here in New York City, a hundred thousand of us in Times Square, which is the most concentrated canyon of product imagery in the world… whole skyscrapers converted into televisions…. We didn’t notice the ads!
We were not noticing the flocks of underwear and stupid romcom movies and video games that normalize machine-guns and actors falling off cliffs with perfect hair…. a hurricane of products surrounds us in Time Square but we didn’t look up, we are having too much fun with sincerity and home-made humor and animals. Sincerity, home-made humor and politically radical animals don’t support the narrow culture of Consumerism. Those basic fun things are the corporate marketers’ enemy.
And will someone invent non-plastic animals to wear in this revolution in public space? This breakdown of human chauvinism in order to assert compassion, by way of pretending to be peaceful animals that leaped from the pages of illustrated children’s books – this is an important discovery. Let’s perform it inside non-plastic animals, Amen?
So the Church of Stop Shopping, also known as the Earth Chxrch, we were left in a state of disbelief Saturday that was a fantasy come true. When the sun was setting and we were going home we said “Thank you! Don’t forget this!” to 100,000? 200,000? counting Brooklyn’s march? I myself tried to march and preach with our animal choir but we never got out of Times Square. Too many animals.
Maybe a couple Fish Eagles flew overhead (Manhattan is surrounded by ocean and rivers) and said to each other “Unbelievable! What’s come over the humans! Maybe they’ll stop bombing people now. Looks like they love each other and they’re having fun pretending they are citizens of the Earth!”
Believe it! Earthalujah!
Rev. Billy