The Man Behind The "Shopocalypse"

Meet Rev. Billy And The Church Of Stop Shopping: Part Street Art, Part Crusade

(CBS)  In the hectic holiday season, as we charge up billions in credit card debt, everyone is urging us to buy, buy, buy.

Everyone but Rev. Billy, CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason reports.

“Stop shopping!” Rev. Billy says. “We are all sinners!”

In passionate sermons, backed by the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Chorus, he urges us not to yield to temptation.

“I want those credit cards in the air!” he shouts.

He exorcizes evil credit card demons, by taking them into his body. But Rev. Billy is not a real minister.

He is, in fact, Bill Talen, an actor and performance artist, whose shows are part political activism, part street theater.

"Your shows are almost comical sometimes,” Mason said to Talen. “But you're not kidding around, are you?"

“I don't believe that spiritual people need to be super serious and boring,” he said.

As Rev. Billy, Talen is also the star of a new documentary film attacking our consumer culture, called: “What Would Jesus Buy,” in which his antics get him escorted out of the Mall of America and arrested … at Disneyland.

"You don't change anything without trespassing. You don't change anything without being in a place people didn't want you,” Talen said.

How many times has he been arrested or had the police escort him out?

“It’s in the area of 40 or 50,” he said.

But the street has become his stage. The choir is all volunteer. His wife, Savitra, is the producer. Donations and grants pay for the rest.

As for Talen, Rev. Billy has become more than just a job. It’s a crusade.

“It’s the shopocalypse,” he said. “Stop shopping!”

[zekwean-2009]

Reverend Billy has the true holiday spirit! He preaches of peace and happiness, without the need for the huge expenditures many Americans make for presents and parties during the holiday season. Good for CBS and Katie for featuring this very interesting street prophet! Reverend Billy is a patriotic American trying to wake America up from its over-emphasis on consumerism. Many American families are drowning in debt. Reverend Billy preaches of a simpler life by encouraging Americans to just stop their shopping. Good coverage, Katie and CBS.

[babette1948]

Rev. Billy is the real deal in a world of phonies.
Stop Shopping may be bad for the economy but that''s a risk we will have to take. Thank you CBS for featuring this great prophet whose Stop Shopping gospel is long overdue.
And thank you Kattie for toning down your hair and make-up. I can''t concentrate on what you are saying when I am distracted by the fluff. Less is more!!!

[noaanhc]

His method may be a very unusual but he does make a whole lot of sense for the true meaning of Christmas has sadly been lost over these many years due to comericalism and the greed of businesses in search of making more any more money.I remember my
great-grandmother telling me many years ago that when she was a young child getting an apple or an orange in her stocking as her only present was to her a wonderful gift.Call me old fashion if you want,
but I do envy my great-grandmother for in her days Christmas was real and not the greed we see today.