Praying at the Pump

AFP: Tired of paying through the nose, Americans try praying at the pump

The half-dozen activists -- Twyman, a former Miss Washington DC, the owner of a small construction company and two volunteers at a local soup kitchen -- joined hands, bowed their heads and intoned a heartfelt prayer.

"Lord, come down in a mighty way and strengthen us so that we can bring down these high gas prices," Twyman said to a chorus of "amens".

"Prayer is the answer to every problem in life... We call on God to intervene in the lives of the selfish, greedy people who are keeping these prices high," Twyman said on the gas station forecourt in a neighborhood of Washington that, like many of its residents, has seen better days.

"Lord, the prices at this pump have gone up since last week. We know that you are able, that you have all the power in the world," he prayed, before former beauty queen Rashida Jolley led the group in a modified version of the spiritual, "We Shall Overcome".

"We'll have lower gas prices, we'll have lower gas prices..." they sang.


I'm not making this up. This is real. There are people out there who do this. These are citizens - people who are entrusted with drivers' licenses and voting and jury duty and the rearing of children. And they believe that the best way to bring down gas prices is not to educate oneself about macroeconomics and elect leaders who will effect appropriate change, but to stand at a gas station and ask God for cheaper super unleaded. Given the choice, they would sooner act like a neolithic vilager begging the gods for rain than an informed citizen of the 21st century who could watch a meteorological report.

I find this terrifying.