Drive Like A Christian

I've been doing a lot of driving, so you know what that means! -- I'm going to have another post engendered by really, really bad drivers. A bit more interesting, this time, I hope.

We all know the bumper stickers, or the fish symbols-- by the "Darwin walking fish" if nothing else-- and I'm sure we've all heard jokes about how driving skill is inversely proportional to the number of bumper stickers. (I don't think so, it just grabs your attention when the SOB that cut you off has the entire back end plastered with stickers that promote feel good causes. Ditto for Road Princess vehicles, although there does seem to be a pattern of the Pavement Royalty suddenly remembering where their accelerator is when passed by a minivan....)

Anyways. You know how a lot of Christians (mostly evangelicals...duh....) start fads? Such as WWJD bracelets?

Well, how about this for a new movement: Drive Like A Christian.

Think: what makes you mad in traffic?

Being cut off, folks failing to merge, tailgating? Failure to signal, poorly adjusted headlines?

Could that not be boiled down to folks being rude for no good reason? Sometimes dangerously rude, just acting thoughtlessly.

To rephrase, could that not be considered acting without love?

If you act in love, would you not try to avoid endangering others?

Weren't we told that love your neighbor as yourself is the root of the whole shibang?

Well... when we think of others, we act out of love, right? Try to behave safely, try to help folks out if it won't mess up others, do those little things that just make someone's day?

When you see someone trying to change lanes safely, let them in. When you're coming up to a red light and there's someone trying to pull onto the road, let them in. Signal and look before you change lanes. Make sure you get around someone quickly when you're passing, and give them a safe distance before you come back in. Be careful not to speed up when you're being passed. (it's a psychological response-- someone did a study, and you speed up some five-ten miles per hour when you can see another car; read about it in driver's ed when I was a kid)

If someone wants to grab this and run with it, go for it; I grant non-exclusive use rights to anyone who wants to use it. No attribution needed, just don't try to force others not to use it.

Of course, if it somehow does take off, I'm sure to be cut off by someone with a bumpersticker that says "drive like a Christian"....