"What Would Jesus Drive?"

November 25, 2002

Source: The National Council of Churches

http://www.ncccusa.org/news/02news99.html

On November 25, 2002 The National Council of Churches reported that "a delegation of American religious leaders - carrying an open letter from over 100 heads of denominations and senior religious leaders from 21 states to automobile executives - is in Detroit today to launch a major national effort to get Ford, GM, and Chrysler to build cleaner, more efficient cars. Against a backdrop of controversy about Chevrolet's sponsorship of a Christian music tour, evangelical Christians are announcing a new, 'What Would Jesus Drive?' advertising and outreach campaign. The delegation is meeting with auto executives and leadership at the United Auto Workers. The interfaith campaign, which began in pews in 20 states on November 10th, represents an unprecedented effort in the religious community to push automakers to manufacture cleaner cars and members of tens of thousands of congregations to buy them. The campaign and open letter argue that polluting cars are 'warming the planet, contributing to causes of war, and increasing the burden on the poor... Because automobiles are having such extraordinary global impact, choices about what cars to build raise fundamental moral issues.'"