Makes a Chrisitan want to cuss…
Filed Under Category: Political & Social CommentaryI was driving home from church yesterday and it was like the further I drove, the more it seemed like my day was going by faster and faster. What propelled me into this “twilight zone” of sorts? With every passing light, the gas prices seemed to rise by leaps and bounds. It could not be a reality that the price of gas was simultaneously rising with each mile I drove! Right? But unfortunately, this was not a scene out of a Stephen King or a Wes Craven novel, it was reality. Gas prices may not be rising every mile, but they are rising everyday.
The Bush administration has failed the American people in relation to the ever increasing price of gas. It is putting a tremendous strain on small business owners, entrepreneurs, the American consumer and especially the poor. What are the causes? The Iraq war, the greedy pursuit to control natural resources, and the chase of the “almighty” dollar. Who is getting caught in the middle? An entrepreneur that just wants to fill his tank up so he can go to church, visit his customers, and travel to an occasional get-away. There is a formula that does not take logic to understand….as gas prices increase, the value of the dollar decreases. The more we spend at the pump, the less we can spend on our needs and some of our wants.
While greedy gas executives sit at home and make themselves richer and members of the Bush administration benefit from their wealth in the form of kickbacks and financial contributions, the average American is driving into a gas station wondering how they can fill their tank up to go to work and pay their car note at the same time. The average American is wondering why their children have to sacrifice certain things because the budget at home has to now be “tighter.” The average American is wondering why they are going to work everyday and the value of that work is being slowly reduced because of the rising cost of living in America to survive.
We need relief! We need the value of our dollar and our work to count. We need some relief on the gas prices. When I am driving home and the cost of gas has gone up from the time I went to church on a Sunday morning to the time I am on my way home that afternoon…it makes a Christian want to cuss!!!
Disclaimer: This is in no way, shape form or fashion an endorsement of such reaction to rising gas prices from Christians. We all know Christians do not cuss right?
DID YOU SAY GAS PRICES ARE GOING UP? GET OUT OF HERE, I AM A PROFESSIONAL DRIVER AND I SEE NO EASING OF TRAFFIC ANYWHERE. SO I CAN’T TELL THAT PEOPLE ARE BEING HIT THAT HARD BY GAS PRICES. THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS OUR CONSUMER APPETITES FOR CONVENIENCE HAS PUT US IN A POSITION OF PSEUDO DEPENDENCE. WE DON’T WANT TO CHANGE OR ADJUST OUR LIFESTYLES,THAT HAVE BECOME COMFORTABLE IN,BECAUSE OUR PROSPERITY MAKES US FEEL INTITLED. INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING ABOUT GAS PRICES WHY NOT CUT BACK ON SOME OF THE DRIVING YOU DO? JUST A THOUGHT. AND ABOUT THOSE CUSSING CHURCH FOLK IT’S NOT JUST GAS PRICES SOME OF THEM JUST LIKE TO CUSS!
While I believe there are many reasons for the rise in the price of gas, it doesn’t help that much of America has been lulled into a need (and sometimes false) to drive. Our lifestyles force us to drive. For example, commuting to work from distant suburbs that we have moved to for safe,comfortable living with good schools. Or what about the size of the burbs–you HAVE to drive around to do simple things.
The funny thing is that most of America does not live in dense cities like New York, Chicago, or San Francisco. Most of us live where driving is necessary. So cutting back on the amount of driving you do isn’t always feasible. Oil companies have a captive market that they will continue to exploit. The sad thing is that even with record profits, they don’t ban together to provide some kind of at least temporary relief from from the rise of crude oil prices. Can’t a brother get just a .20 break for a month or so?
While we haven’t seen gas prices that will truely change driving habits, I don’t know if that will be a good thing if we do. Much of the American economy will come to a crawl or standstill. Something has to give. Will we continue to pay more? Will the oil giants figure out how to provide relief? Or will the economy get crushed?