The Spiritual Health of Ronald McDonald

by Will Braun

Perched on shiny plastic benches we filled our little temples of the Holy Spirit with greasy treats. Ronald McDonald was relatively new in town and a Sunday school teacher's chances of qualifying as cool were increased if she or he took the class for some fast food fellowship. I was about 10 at the time, and happy for a break from the Sunday morning routine.

Since that day at a McDonald's in a small town on the Canadian Prairies, my spiritual constitution has shifted. Where my faith formation once included commercialized snacks on the Lord's day, now my Mennonite convictions prevent me from eating McDonald's food at all. For nearly a decade, I haven't put a penny of my money into Ronnie's corporate hands and I haven't put any of his food in my body.

I have no interest in heaping blame on Sunday school teachers who take their class for an occasional treat (or on parents who face tough choices when it comes to fast food). Sunday school teachers and parents deserve affirmation and encouragement. My interest is broader: analysis of the spiritual health of the Big Mac.

For me, being a Christian means faith is applicable to all aspects of life. The point seems obvious, but if it is, why have I never heard a sermon on the fast food phenomenon?

John Ralston Saul calls the Big Mac the "communion wafer of consumption," placing McDonald's at the symbolic, spiritual center of consumerist devotion. The franchise is indeed iconic both in scale and nature. With over $20 billion in sales at its 27,000-plus stores last year, a $2 billion advertising budget and one of the most recognized symbols in the world, McDonald's is more than just a place for cheap eats. It is a cultural force that aggressively shapes the spirit of our age.

My reasons for not eating at McDonald's are spiritual. If our bodies are temples, surely what we put in them affects the health of our souls. And despite attempts to fight their reputation as a peddler of fat, McDonald's continues to infuse an unconscionable amount of grease, sodium and sugar into the global diet. I prefer, when possible, to nourish my soul with food grown and prepared with care and respect.

I also care about the cumulative spiritual impact of saturating society in commercial messages. McDonald's is a bearish participant in the profit-driven communication of values. Behind the seemingly innocuous smiles and cheery tunes are shareholders whose primary concern is not the physical or spiritual well-being of society. Of every dollar spent at McDonald's, part goes to their advertising campaigns. I think they have enough influence without me lending my support.

Then there is all the white and yellow garbage, a lowest-common-denominator approach to labour and accusations of environmental abuses. Sure McDonald's has some positive qualities--every corporation knows how to smile--but overall McDonald's is spiritually unhealthy.

So I go elsewhere to feed my body and soul. I still get the urge for fries from time to time, but the sense of gratification I get from not having eaten at McDonald's in almost a decade--the sense that I am making a spiritually healthy choice for myself and the world--makes it easy for me to pass up the urge. At such times I like to think it is my Mennonite instincts of withdrawal from worldly influences that are kicking in.