Mammon Worship in America: Challenging College Students’ Perceptions About Consumerism and Affluence

Abstract

As American adults experience record levels of material affluence, they are giving less to religious organizations and are experiencing declines in well-being and mental health even while turning in greater numbers to religion. At the same time, a rising percentage of college students aspire to be well-off financially and overspend in ways that may constitute a modern form of mammon worship. In response, this paper provides Christian college instructors biblical and social science resources and thought-provoking discussion questions to use with their students to demonstrate that while money is not inherently evil, it cannot buy happiness, and aspiring for affluence actually leads to harmful psychological outcomes.