James Thurber’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty tells the tale of the person walking through life daydreaming, wishing to be something he is not while escaping a nagging partner. Mittie often go unnoticed, but some cross the line between truth and fiction, and these Mittie are well-known as the workplace storyteller or the barfly telling farfetched, daring, harrowing, or bizarre tales. Crossing into Mittyism may seem as unbelievable as the stories the Mittie tell, but a third Mitty proves Mittyism extends far beyond the daydreamer and fibber into a large percentage of the world known as Christians.
Unlike the daydreamer or storyteller, the Christian Mittie sadly believe they live honest, fulfilling lives, but more than sad, they are average. The Christian Mittie vie against a life sentence of ordinary, and like most people, they lack just enough leadership, personality, friends, attractiveness, and many other traits to achieve affluence or the top of the corporate ladder. Life’s mediocrity endurance test becomes survivable only by invoking the Abrahamic dream of the dutiful father-protector of the house providing for his family and loyal wife-mother managing the kids and home.
…on any given Sunday a significant percentage of women sitting in church pews are victims of domestic violence… ~Ross
Christian Mittie claim faith improves life, citing everything from financial gains to healing, depending on the Abrahamic brand. Whether a denomination promises to solve people’s problems or not, which it often does, matters little as believers seek faith for solutions. More than solutions, Christian Mittyism offers prepackaged lifestyles complete with wholesome activities and communities that further reinforce the fantasy.
Despite the benefits of Mittyism, many Christian Mittie spiral into unfulfillment. The way Walter Mitty pretends to be a renowned surgeon, the Christian woman jumps up and down at the MLM convention imagining herself as the self-help guru, Rachel Hollis, an entrepreneurial mom with a great marriage. No, Christian Mittie are not lying to themselves, for they would never lie, but instead find empowerment in the same dream Rachel Hollis claims made her successful before her divorce and career damaging discussions of hiring a maid to clean the toilets.
Unlike Walter’s doctoring fantasy that abruptly ends when life’s dissatisfaction resonates through the dream, the MLM success fantasy leaves less than one percent of Christian Mittie with profit. Yet, Christian Mittie press forward in the MLM make-believe, forming a multibillion-dollar market. The Christian Mittie doesn’t care what the naysayers and researchers say about MLMs because Christian Middyism snakes around the multilevel of marketing and promises the fulfillment direly needed.
“We are a business that’s helping women make more income so they can reach their dreams and look for what God’s calling them to do,” said Monroe, 41, who named the company for Proverbs 31’s Wife of Noble Character. ~Christianity Today
When the Mittie find the MLM leaves them penniless, upstanding wives and husbands, they wander from MLM to MLM or church to church, seeking happiness and empowerment.
More than four in 10 American adults are no longer members of the religion they were brought up in, while about one in 10 changed religion, then went back to the one they left, the study found. Just under five in 10 — 47 percent — have never changed faith.
Some have switched more than once, and a small number have changed three times or more, according to the study. ~CNN
…the contemporary persecution of Christians demands attention: It is occurring on a massive scale, it is underreported, and in many parts of the world it is rapidly growing. ~The War on Christians
“The Supreme Court has insulted you over and over again, Lord. They’ve taken your Bible away from the schools. They’ve forbidden little children to pray. ...organizations have come into court to take the knowledge of God out of the public square of America.” ~Pat Robertson
…American’s rights come from “God and our Constitution, our Bill of Rights,” but that the “cultural war” is threatening the foundations of the family and the church. ~Senator Marsha Blackburn from Christianity Daily
On high school and college campuses…believers who dare to speak up against the homosexual agenda are being ridiculed and smeared. In corporations where they work, some Christians who refuse to acquiesce to the reigning pro-gay environment are reprimanded or fired. ~AFA Journal
Christian Mittie war with homosexuals, liberals, commies, and anyone barring the happiness promised them. For the cause, the Christian Mitty stands back against the wall, ready to meet fate, “erect and motionless, proud and disdainful,” the Christian Mitty, “the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last.”
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
Christianity Today Divine rise of Multilevel Marketing Christians Christianity Today
Consumer Awareness Institute The Case (for and) against Multi-level Marketing By Jon M. Taylor, MBA, Ph.D.
CNN September 14, 2001, Falwell apologizes to gays, feminists, lesbians
Ed Vitagliano Gay activist’s war against Christianity AFA Journal 2006
The Christian Post The War on Christians
James Thurber The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty 1913 The New Yorker
Lee E. Ross Religion and Intimate Partner Violence: A Double-Edge Sword CATALYST: A SOCIAL JUSTICE FORUM
Katherine Rosman (2021) Girl, Wash Your Timeline New York Times
Olivia Cavallaro July 21, 2021 Left Waging ‘Cultural War’ To Destroy American Values Of Faith, Family, Freedom, Christian Senator Says
Paul Marshall June 16, 2014 The Christian Post The War on Christians
Who Profits from Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)? Preparers of Utah Tax Returns Have the Answer. By Jon M. Taylor, Ph.D., President, Consumer Awareness Institute and Director, Pyramid Scheme Alert
