As another Christmas shopping season cranks up, can we slow down long enough to mourn for Jdimytai Damour? He was trampled to death in the stampede of shoppers that kicked off black Friday at a Wal-Mart in Nassau Country, New York. Damour’s large size placed him in the front of the store, assigned to stem the inevitable tide of bargain hunters. He wasn’t a Wal-Mart employee, but a subcontractor for a security company hired to control the flow. Evidently, Damour had no training in crowd control, but was placed in the line of fire due to his girth. How many shoppers simply ran over him, literally stomping the life (and breathe) out of him? Jdimytai Damour paid a high price for our bargain shopping.

A wide variety of blame has started to be cast. Was it Wal-Mart’s fault for underestimating the fervor of their day after Thanksgiving shoppers? Should the security company have trained Damour and others temp employees before placing them in dangerous situations? Can security cameras isolate (and then make it possible to charge) shoppers who stepped on him? Undoubtedly a pack of lawyers will seize upon this opportunity to sue. Will they be fighting for justice or hungry for a quick buck themselves?

In The New York Times, Ian Ayres linked Damour’s death to Bob Dylan’s classic song about a fallen boxer, “Who Killed Davey Moore?” In Dylan’s lament, the referee says, “Not I—don’t point your finger at me.” The crowd, his manager, those gambling on the fight, the reporters at ringside, and even the opponent who knocked him out all evade responsibility. “Don’t say ‘murder,’ don’t say, ‘kill.’ It was destiny, it was God’s will.”

Aren’t we all somewhat complicit in the death of Jdimytai Damour? Doesn’t our bargain hunting make us all responsible? When we embrace low prices regardless of the laborers who are might be exploited enroute, we all share in the blame. The same newspapers and television stations that benefited from black Friday’s advertising binge now report on Damour’s death with grave sincerity (but no regret). Yet, to what degree have we all turned consumption into a competitive sport? The reports are still rolling in but it appears the Microsoft’s X-Box 360 trounced Sony Playstation 3 on black Friday. (Why not use the word “trampled” or “killed” instead of “trounced”?) A few years ago it was a crush to find “Tickle Me Elmos.” The next generation camped out for iPhones. Some want affordability, others crave cachet. We all want both.

Some creative Christians have proposed an Advent Conspiracy to subvert our habit. Surely, we can better honor the arrival of baby Jesus by making presents and giving the money we would have spent to worthy causes. Last Christmas, the Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Choir asked us “What Would Jesus Buy?” They provided an early, prophetic warning of where our obsession with low prices might lead. We laughed at their notion of a coming, “Shopacalypse.” Now, unfortunately, the Church of Stop Shopping has a martyr to bolster their protest. Reverend Billy recently weighed in on the death of Jdimytai Damour. He simply asked us to “slow down” this season. Surely, Advent is meant to be a season of anticipation, waiting for a savior to be born. Unfortunately, we began this Christmas with a tragic death, a black Friday in word and deed. Jdimytai’s blood has spilled all over my shopping list.