Well, gas prices have dipped... did praying help?
Photo by Maveric2003. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.
It wasn't too long ago that the Good Lord came out against sinful gas guzzlers. But, if people like Rocky Twyman are to be believed, then perhaps God is rethinking His policies. Twyman is a choir director who leads the "Pray at the Pump" movement, which goes to gas stations and prays for lower fuel prices. Twyman has been touring the country trying to get God's attention these past few months. Back in April, he was in San Francisco, in June he was in Seattle, and this past Wednesday, he and a group of supporters were in D.C. for a "victory celebration" over the recent dip in gas prices, according to the AP. He said that if the whole country prayed, we could bring gas down to under $2 a gallon. The logical question I have to Twyman, then, is does God favor all the people in those countries where gas prices are like 12 cents a gallon over Americans?
Our green car buddy Jay Leno called Twyman's movement George Bush's energy plan, which promoted Twyman to pray for Leno. Leno isn't the only one poking fun.
Also, there's a short news video about Twyman after the jump.
[Source: AP]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
TX CHL Instructor 2:01PM (8/15/2008)
"... did praying help?"
Sure, about as much as any other form of wishful thinking.
What actually helped was a small but relatively sharp drop in demand. Of course, the suppliers are taking drastic steps to reduce the supply to match, which means that we will see some see-sawing of the supply/demand/price over the next few months.
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Scott 3:23PM (8/15/2008)
I believe in the power of prayer.
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Brandon 4:47PM (8/15/2008)
These people are sad.
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JM Palacios 5:37PM (8/15/2008)
OK then. I'm praying that gas prices will go up so we get more bicycles on the road in this country. I grow tired of putting my life in danger every day next to innumerable automobiles.
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Chris M 7:02PM (8/15/2008)
Sounds rather materialistic to "pray for low prices".
The drop in prices is caused by a drop in demand, and it was easy to predict. Traffic slowed down and grew much lighter, and efficient cars replaced guzzlers so demand must be dropping, and lower prices were sure to follow. Of course, this wily preacher fellow decided to cash in on this and started "praying at the pump" since he already knew that gas prices would drop.
I'm gonna test my own "prophetic powers". Gas prices will dip a bit just before the November election, as the oil companies try to help their friends in the Republican party, then go up again soon afterwards to boost the oil company profits. It happened in 2004, it is bound to happen again.
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Sean 10:26AM (8/16/2008)
Those dumb monkeys...
I'm a Christian conservative and love reading this blog multiple times daily and appreciate the level-headed comments of the posters (especially Jeremy.)
This is indeed an interesting post and makes me shake my head. "Christians" like this just give a bad name to the rest of us normal Christians. While prayer is powerful, it is a bit materialistic to pray for lower gas prices. I can see doing so on the part of the poor who are likely having to choose between gas and food, but then again, that's what food stamps are for.
I, like many readers here, am more happy for gas prices to increase since it's a visible, constant reminder to spur development of EVs and such which we should have had years ago. (Of course, owning only an NEV and a Prius, gas prices don't affect me as much as many others, so it's easy for me to talk. ;) )
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bill 10:09AM (8/18/2008)
I believe in the power of prayer, but I do not believe in the U.S. Congress. We still need to stand on their necks until they get the message - drill here, drill now.
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