"'A market economy has nothing remotely to do with getting what you want. It has everything to do with making yourself feel good about what is available' (Carl Elliott, Better Than Well). This is a Gnostic truth indeed, for it trades in and ultimately depends upon there being a radical distinction between the feeling, wanting human subject--that is, the 'I' who feels and wants and the particular, concrete circumstances of any one person's existence.
"Seen through the lens of orthodox Christian theology, such a distinction is nothing more than heresy. For what self, apart from the gift of the body, exists to shop the identity market? And if the mind and identity itself can be altered with medications, what part of the disembodied self is making these choices? Apparently there is nothing left to enliven this puppet self but the tiny part of the mind or soul that makes choices. Choosing itself becomes the defining mark of human identity. In remaking identity as a consumer item, the person is whittled away into sawdust, and modernity's precious autonomy is revealed as little more than the triumph of the well."
- Joel Shuman & Brian Volk (Reclaiming the Body: Christians and the Faithful Use of Modern Medicine)
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