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Monday, December 8, 2008

Jesus Saves...

Posted by Dan Savage on Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 8:10 AM

...the SUV?

Pentecostal Bishop Charles H. Ellis III, who shared the sanctuary’s wide altar with three gleaming sport utility vehicles, closed his sermon by leading the choir and congregants in a boisterous rendition of the gospel singer Myrna Summers’s “We’re Gonna Make It” as hundreds of worshipers who work in the automotive industry—union assemblers, executives, car salesmen—gathered six deep around the altar to have their foreheads anointed with consecrated oil.

While Congress debated aid to the foundering Detroit automakers Sunday, many here whose future hinges on the decision turned to prayer.

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Comments (27) RSS

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1
Fundamentalist Christians don't really read their Bibles, do they?
Posted by laterite on December 8, 2008 at 8:26 AM
2
Don't these people realize they'd be happier unemployed and hungry?
Posted by Big Sven on December 8, 2008 at 8:28 AM
3
If Jesus were alive today, he'd bike or ride the bus, not unlike Mormon "Elders."
Posted by pragmatic on December 8, 2008 at 8:31 AM
4
@1 - I was just about to say that. Didn't Jesus flip out and start knocking over tables in the temple for something much less than this?
Posted by Georgia Guy on December 8, 2008 at 8:32 AM
5
This was on the front page of the NY Times this morning. The front page!!

Poor Michigan. It's going down the crapper faster than the rest of us. Look to MI, America, to see our future!
Posted by Balt-O-Matt on December 8, 2008 at 8:33 AM
6
@5 Michigan has been in the crapper since 2000. Michigan was one of the few states in the union had consistent increases in its unemployment rate over the past decade. Very few decreases.

...

The image of the SUVs on the pulpit is almost nothing new to anybody who has been in the ghettos of metro Detroit. Its where even the poorest neighborhoods are filled with gleaming SUVs...that are probably not paid for.
Posted by TheMisanthrope on December 8, 2008 at 8:53 AM
7
Isn’t this the whole purpose of religion? To provide comfort in times of uncertainty, when people are scared about their future? These people are potentially going to lose their jobs, and the ability to provide for their family… Who cares if it makes them feel a little better to pray to God/Jesus.

Sure, I think the whole thing is a bit crazy, but it’s not hurting anybody for them to pray for it to work out alright for them. As opposed to many of the other things that organized religion does (see homosexuality, birth control, the role of women) that actually are harmful and that I do get worked up about…
Posted by Julie in Chicago on December 8, 2008 at 8:54 AM
8
@6. Yes. I know. I lived in that crapper for 8 years, having left in May of this year.
Posted by Balt-O-Matt on December 8, 2008 at 9:15 AM
9

Later that day parishioners realized they had had their foreheads smeared with Castrol 10-30W.
Posted by For Today's Smaller Engines on December 8, 2008 at 9:20 AM
10
i suppose the point here is to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation...how could anyone be so stupid as to worship a god and pray to keep there jobs...and look at those suv's, how pathetic...personally, this sort of finger waving is exactly what makes them hate us so much...and i vice versa. grow up dan.
Posted by growup on December 8, 2008 at 9:29 AM
11
Did they have to use SUVs? The one type of car that was losing popularity even before the gas crisis hit? Why not sedans or compacts? That is what has me shaking my head.
Posted by schweighsr on December 8, 2008 at 9:43 AM
12
you cannot petition the lord with prayer.
Posted by Max Solomon on December 8, 2008 at 9:48 AM
13
"Consecrated oil." 10W-40, I assume.
Posted by abel on December 8, 2008 at 9:50 AM
14
Sanity FAIL.
Posted by Andy Niable on December 8, 2008 at 9:59 AM
15
Golden cows, shiny SUVs.
Posted by Simac on December 8, 2008 at 10:04 AM
16
Oh those wacky "Christians". I don't know why they don't just put up a dollar bill portrait over their altars.
Posted by Vince on December 8, 2008 at 10:15 AM
17
Just as long as they know praying doesn't always work, they'll be fine and think up a Plan B. Never hurts to have a backup, right? Look at all the people who tried so hard to keep Obama and abortion from happening on Nov 4th. Ooooops.
Posted by fuckwitIntolerant on December 8, 2008 at 10:35 AM
18
Last time I checked, Christ did not die for your greed.

Worshipping Mammon is always wrong.
Posted by Will in Seattle on December 8, 2008 at 11:20 AM
19
African-style voodoo/Jeebus ritual ceremony.
Posted by Here Cum Da Preecha Mang on December 8, 2008 at 11:30 AM
20
@11 You've obviously never been to Detroit.
Posted by TheMisanthrope on December 8, 2008 at 11:30 AM
21
Hey, say what you will about Michigan, but cities all over our grand state are making it legal to keep chickens in the backyard. And no, it's not because they're chic, it's because we're all about to starve.
Posted by Ah, Michigan! on December 8, 2008 at 11:30 AM
22
Yeah, but we can keep goats ...
Posted by Will in Seattle on December 8, 2008 at 2:31 PM
23
Everyone knows God drives a Prius.
Posted by elswinger on December 8, 2008 at 3:09 PM
24
Michigan never makes news, so reading this and realizing I know where these churches are is insane.

No one thinks the auto industry is doing a good job, but it's like your heroin-addicted brother who needs money for food-- you don't agree with what he's doing, but you're not going to let him die.
Posted by The Impaler on December 8, 2008 at 7:29 PM
25
There is video at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=f6buWoO_0m…

The SUVs were gas-electric hybrids.
Posted by Paul H on December 9, 2008 at 6:10 AM
26
These be thy gods, O Israel, that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt with a mighty four-wheel drive into the suburbs of milk and honey!
Posted by janderso on December 9, 2008 at 9:09 AM
27
Please Pray for financial miracle Blessing From Heaven ... For Work & Good pay For each Family Live on Same road I Live on. I pray God will over flow Blessing from Heaven. For each familys. The Ones who are not saved In The Blood of Jesus will get save. I Pray For Peace, Love & Joy For each Family on same rode I live on. & Please Heal Each ones Health. Pray for Each Family Salvation. For each Familys In The Name Of Jesus Christ I Pray... Amen... I Do Pray for Anger Kids Will Reach to God Hands For Peace, Love, & Joy That Jesus Christ Can Give to Kids.... I Have Faith God will provide People For Jobs. Heaven is not in no depressing. Pray In The Name Of Jesus Christ. Seek Kingdom Of Heaven Micah 5:3-4 He will stand and feed his flock with the power of the Lord, with the majesty of the name of his God. They will live secure, for from then on he will extend his power to the ends of the land. He himself will be peace.... John 16:33
33 I... Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Posted by prayerwarrior on January 12, 2009 at 3:25 PM

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