What Would Jesus Drive?

TheReasoner · Jan 12, 2007

We are facing global warming - as you know. Within a 30 year period, we will have reached a point where we will have damaged this globe beyond repair. We are facing droughts in Africa, floods in Europe, Hurricanes in the US... In general, more extreme weather all over the globe. Why, experts say the pollen season may start here within a matter of weeks. At this time of year not many years ago we would have temperatures down to 30 degrees below zero F, or C (same number, -30 is where they cross...). Or at least pretty close to it. Yet two days ago I was outside for 10 minutes in a t-shirt after dark, and I was still far from cold. The weather now is the same as it should be in April. Certainly not January.
Fact is; We have damaged our world. The damage is evident. And I fear in 2007, it will be worse than in 2006, which was bad.
Yet at the same time, while we all (or most of us, save those hermits who avoid contact with civilization) know that this is happening, we still consume like there was no tomorrow.
I seem to remember research shows that over half the American Christian population believes God wants them to be rich - which is a belief which is in sharp contrast to what the bible actually says on the subject.
We have - I say - turned our back on God and the bible. Our new religion is mammonism. Money is our god, and instant gratification is our goal. How deceived we are. How vain.

So what does this have to do with the title, "what would Jesus drive"... Well, of course I want to clarify that while this is the title, it is supposed to point to more than what vehicle he would use, but to the entire consumerist - comfort focused line of thought. Our Lord taught us to love our neighbor. He taught us to take care of one another. We, in so many ways, fail. We have not taken care of the world we were given. We have not taken care of eachother. And us abusing this world, basically equals us beating the crap out of our children and grandchildren. Not very Godly. I believe we are supposed to, in fact we need to sacrifice some comfort and materialism for a sound Godly lifestyle. Start using lightbulbs that conserve electricity. Make do with one car instead of two. Have a small car instead of an SUV. Turn stuff off when you leave it. Don't buy more than you need. As the Lord old us; [BIBLE]Matthew 6:19-21[/BIBLE]

For the record, I believe the answer to the question in the title is FBPT; Feet, Bike or Public Transportation.
Fact is, as Christians we have a large responsibility to be examples for the rest of the world. If we seek worldly riches and comfort at the cost of the environment (which also means our children) what example are we offering the world? Nay, we need to be better examples for the world.

Emmy · Jan 12, 2007

Dear faithguardian, your message should be taken serious, in fact, very serious. I do believe though, many men and women do take notice, but sadly it needs much more effort. Yet what can we do? keep praying, trust the Lord, and do our very best. I say this humbly and lovingly, faith guardian, and send greetings. Emmy, your sister in Christ.

KarateCowboy · Jan 12, 2007

Well, Jesus rode a mule into town, so he was obviously not against personal modes of transportation. I'm sorry, but this is along the lines of "Would Jesus shop at Wal-Mart?", which is bordering along the lines of blasphemy. It's a silly topic altogether. And besides, don't you know the words to the song?

"If there's a God up in Heaven he drives a silver Thunderbird"

faithgaurdian, can you a prove a direct relationship between SUVs and the whopping 1.2 degree temperature increase we have experienced? Also, what percent of wooly mammoths drove SUVs that caused the Ice Age to end?

BTW- God does want us to be rich --in the Spirit.

fanatiquefou · Jan 12, 2007

I do own a car (a tiny little Ford Escort), but right now I'm in a situation where I can usually take the bus to work and classes, so I don't drive a lot. My car gets decent gas mileage right now, but I'd really like my next car to be a hybrid if I can afford it. I do try to walk and bike a lot too - I think it is important to use our resources wisely.

Robbie_James_Francis · Jan 12, 2007

A bike.

peace

ebia · Jan 12, 2007

For the record, I believe the answer to the question in the title is FBPT; Feet, Bike or Public Transportation,

Feet, Public Transport or hitchhiking. I suspect, like St Aiden, he would want to travel in ways that allowed him to meet and speak to people along the way.

Of course, Christians (like anyone else) will always find excuses to avoid their calling and responsibilities as we have already seen in this thread.

flicka · Jan 12, 2007

Jerusha_Girl is correct. It might sound pure and noble to say "Feet, Bike or Public Transportation" but that won't always work in modern society.

alphatronics · Jan 13, 2007

I'd say bike. Good exercise.

Maybe some jogging? Even better exercise.

flicka said:
Jerusha_Girl is correct. It might sound pure and noble to say "Feet, Bike or Public Transportation" but that won't always work in modern society.

Depends on where you live. If you're in some white-flight suburb without even sidewalks, then you're probably de-facto required to have a car to go anywhere. If you're a few hundred feet from a bus or subway station, then you've got options.

Aside: I think that people occasionally opting to bike to work/school/store (assuming a reasonable distance) would end up help lowering the rate of obesity in the country.

KarateCowboy said:
faithgaurdian, can you a prove a direct relationship between SUVs and the whopping 1.2 degree temperature increase we have experienced?

Here's the idea:

- Carbon dioxide is opaque to infrared light, meaning it absorbs infrared light and converts it to heat.
- Your car emits some amount of carbon dioxide when you drive it. This amount varies upon the efficiency of your car, and how recently you've changed your filters.
- Combining these facts, your car ends up contributing some amount of light-absorbing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which then allows the atmosphere to trap more heat.
- The sum of all sources of carbon dioxide, methane (which is several times more absorbant than CO2), and other such gases leads to an atmosphere which traps more heat.
- This results in uncharacteristic increases in atmospheric temperature, and leads to, well, THIS!

Hopefully that connected the dots enough for you. If you're interested, there are many places elsewhere which go into more detail. Your descendants will be glad you did.

Archivist · Jan 13, 2007

We know that Jesus drove a Honda, because in John 12:49 He tells us that "I did not speak of my own Accord."

Seriously, we have a duty to care for this world that he has given us. Certainly that means that we should avoid polluting the air and water, and should conserve our natural resources.

I drive a Hyundai Santa Fe, which is a small SUV. I could drive something more fuel efficient although for an SUV it still gives me good gas milage (about 23 miles per gallon). I used to own s small Pontiac Sunfire but decided to get something bigger after a tractor trailor hit me from behind and pushed me through a guardrail and over an embankment (note: Pontiac builds a tough little car; the Sunfire was totaled but I walked away with five stitches and a few bruises). The good thing is that I live two miles away from where I work so during nice weather I ride my bike.

scraparcs · Jan 13, 2007

Don't forget the carpool -- that's what I do. Take my little 10-year-old compact sedan and carpool, it works pretty well that way.

JGG · Jan 13, 2007

I thought He preferred mules.

WhiteMageGirl · Jan 14, 2007

For the record, I believe the answer to the question in the title is FBPT; Feet, Bike or Public Transportation.

What about the people who drive 60+ miles to work? We can't walk or bike that lenght and buses don't run south of Nowhere.

ebia · Jan 14, 2007

I don't remember Jesus commuting.

I suspect we are soon going to be living in a world where driving 60+ miles to work is not viable.

ebia · Jan 14, 2007

Tropical Wilds said:
Actually, numerous studies have shown the opposite is true... As modes of transportation increase and some methods, like flying, are getting cheaper and cheaper, people are living further and further from where they work.

That may well be the trend to date, but that doesn't mean it will extrapolate into the future as the real cost of using fossil fuels is taken into consideration, as (hopefully) the distribution of resources becomes more just, etc.

ebia · Jan 14, 2007

That's the trend that's been going on since the settling of the US, actually. The easier travel becomes, the farther people move. Forgive me if I don't think a 200 year trend is going to reverse anytime soon.

There are lots of trends that have been going on for much longer than 200 years that will have to change soon.

ebia · Jan 14, 2007

Our use of fossil fuels - because if we don't choose to do something climate change will do it for us.

Our injust use of world resources - because if we don't do something about it the growing economic power of China and India, and growing fundamentalism in the rest of the 3rd world, will do it for us.

TheReasoner · Jan 15, 2007

KarateCowboy said:
Well, Jesus rode a mule into town, so he was obviously not against personal modes of transportation. I'm sorry, but this is along the lines of "Would Jesus shop at Wal-Mart?", which is bordering along the lines of blasphemy.

Is it? Consider it, many of the products we have today are made by children in extremely poor conditions. Conditions so poor in many cases our farmers would be facing legal action. Jesus taught us to love our neighbors. He taught us to love those whom others would not. Our enemies, those who persecute us. Society's rejects including prostitutes and tax collectors, who in his days were crooks.
Our neighbors include those who live in other countries. Their children are worth the same as our children in God's eyes. So I do believe the question, if rhethorical, should be asked; Considering what Jesus taught us, would He endorse/support this producer? Would he buy this product considering how it is made?
Blasphemical? No.
Relevant? Yes. I believe it is. After all, we are to mirror Christ in every aspect of our lives. To apply His teachings to everything that surrounds and affects us and others. So I believe it is highly relevant in today's dilemmas. Dilemmas which were not present then. But that does not mean they are not worth thinking about, just because they were not around when Jesus was.

It's a silly topic altogether. And besides, don't you know the words to the song?

"If there's a God up in Heaven he drives a silver Thunderbird"

faithgaurdian, can you a prove a direct relationship between SUVs and the whopping 1.2 degree temperature increase we have experienced? Also, what percent of wooly mammoths drove SUVs that caused the Ice Age to end?

We are not talking a 1.2 degree increase. Maybe on average it is... Ice Ages are and have been part of the natural cyclus on this planet. Nothing wrong with them. Lest we manage to trigger one of course. I can prove a direct relationship with our current level of air pollution and the temperature increase as much as anyone else. Equally, when you consider the fact that global warming and extreme weather is attributed to our pollution, and a large part of this comes from mindless motorists driving over-dimentioned vehicles with equally bad and unnecessary pollution.

BTW- God does want us to be rich --in the Spirit.

Ah, but yuo do agree that a belief in a God who wants us to be rich materialistically speaking is in conflict with the bible?

My main point is; As Christians we have an obligation to the rest of the world. We are not called to be consumers and senseless selfish polluters. We are called to make a change fopr the better in all fields. We have neglected this, and thought of ourselves, and ourselves exclusively for far too long. t is time the bride of Christ started acting like who we are supposed to be!!!

DLaurier · Jan 24, 2007

It would depend on which jesus you are talking about.

The jesus of the religious right would drive a gas guzzling armored SUV with a built in .50cal roof turret, and homeless people chained to his bumpers to protect his paintjob from bone chips when he rams the blind.

The jesus of the agnostic would drive a honda hatchback

The jesus of the mainstream christianity would drive a sensible car with good economy.

The jesus of the muslims would drive a bicycle.

ebia · Jan 24, 2007

DLaurier said:
The jesus of the muslims would drive a bicycle.

Explain?

Savage78 · Jan 24, 2007

ebia said:
Our use of fossil fuels - because if we don't choose to do something climate change will do it for us.

Our injust use of world resources - because if we don't do something about it the growing economic power of China and India, and growing fundamentalism in the rest of the 3rd world, will do it for us.

Don't gimme no Buick Son you must take my word If there's a God in heaven He's got a Silver Thunderbird

What Would Jesus Drive?

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