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At ExxonMobil headquarters, in Houston, management
refers to the executive suite as “the god pod.” But even though
the honchos of the world’s biggest and richest oil corporation might
think of themselves as holy omnipotents, most Americans have more demonic
thoughts about them — and they definitely consider today’s gas
prices ungodly.
So I was not totally surprised to learn recently that
a group of church folks have been holding a series of
“pray-ins” at gas stations across the country. They gather in
front of the pumps, clasp hands, and reverently beseech God to deliver us
from these high prices.
“God is the only one we can turn to at this
point,” says pray-in organizer Rocky Twyman. “Our leaders
don’t seem to be able to do anything about it. The prices keep
soaring and soaring.”
A public-interest group called Consumer Watchdog says it sympathizes with the prayerful. “Given the complete inertia and silence of this White House on a crisis that has people feeling just hopeless, prayer is probably as good as anything,” one member of the group says. Actually, Twyman and other pray-in participants are not simply hoping for a miracle. They believe that God helps those who help themselves, so they’re calling for people to do more walking, biking, and carpooling and take other actions to cut back on gasoline use. They also hope that praying at the pumps will finally cause politicians of all stripes to take notice of the public’s desperation, perhaps even prompting them to do something about the rip-off prices that are squeezing so many working families. To learn about some concrete steps that Washington could be taking on both price gouging and oil dependency, contact Consumer Watchdog at 310-392-0522, ext. 305, or go to www.consumerwatchdog.org.
Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, columnist, and author.
A public-interest group called Consumer Watchdog says it sympathizes with the prayerful. “Given the complete inertia and silence of this White House on a crisis that has people feeling just hopeless, prayer is probably as good as anything,” one member of the group says. Actually, Twyman and other pray-in participants are not simply hoping for a miracle. They believe that God helps those who help themselves, so they’re calling for people to do more walking, biking, and carpooling and take other actions to cut back on gasoline use. They also hope that praying at the pumps will finally cause politicians of all stripes to take notice of the public’s desperation, perhaps even prompting them to do something about the rip-off prices that are squeezing so many working families. To learn about some concrete steps that Washington could be taking on both price gouging and oil dependency, contact Consumer Watchdog at 310-392-0522, ext. 305, or go to www.consumerwatchdog.org.
Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, columnist, and author.
