Honk if bumper stickers bug you

Religious bumper stickers, license plate frames and even licenses are popular ways to announce one’s faith. You’ve probably seen them: “God is Awesome.” Darwin or anti-Darwin. The little praying boy. Is this a good way to profess or announce one’s faith?

I can barely tolerate the boastful “My child is an honor student at ? “ sticker. I never understood the “Baby on board” announcement. The “My other car is a ? “ declaration is annoying. Should I “Visualize world peace” or focus on handling two tons of steel traveling at a high rate of speed? Most of all, transforming a car into a soapbox for belittling those who are outside the circle of one’s faith is offensive. “Turn or burn” is not appealing; it is appalling.

Many cars are emblazoned with messages testifying that its occupants enjoy exceptional knowledge of the path to salvation and that I, my family, my congregation, my people, are excluded from their vision of redemption. Then there is a sticker reading: “Pray the rosary.” When? Right now? Here in the carpool lane? The sticker reading, “My boss is a Jewish carpenter” is confusing. Is it meant to be philo-Semitic, a positive statement about Jews then and now? The most frightening is “In case of rapture, this vehicle will be unmanned.” Isn’t it enough to cope with drivers who concentrate on cellphone conversations rather than the road? Do we have to contemplate cars that are unmanned because their drivers are now suspended between heaven and earth? Talk about road rage when people are left behind!

I can report anecdotally that some who display expressions of religious fervor on their cars can be among the rudest drivers. How is it that the operator of a vehicle bearing a WWJD sticker can wave a finger at me in what is anything but a friendly greeting? Why do people who are so far to the right in their religious fundamentalism not allow me to enter the far right lane so that I can exit the freeway? If a driver affirms that “God is my co-pilot,” has God truly led him to park in the space reserved for the disabled though he has no license to do so? If “Jesus is lord,” will he dispose of the litter that the driver has just thrown out of his car? Unfortunately, those driving cannot read their own bumper stickers and be reminded of their ideals. And what would Jesus think of his name associated with automobiles that scream “Notice me! I am a person of status!” and that cost more than a poor person would ever see in his lifetime?

There are some lighthearted antidotes to the self-righteous and ominous messages of those who blare their contempt for others: “What schools need: A moment of science.” Another: “Agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.” The parody of the fish symbol with small walking feet and “Darwin” in the middle is thought-provoking, and uniting the word “Gefilte” with the fish is amusing, at least to some.

Instead of self-righteous moralisms, mini-harangues and proclamations of sectarian creed, here is a good thought for a bumper sticker: “Your truth may not be my truth.”

After all, is it really their way or the highway?

RABBI MARK S. MILLER

Temple Bat Yahm

Newport Beach

We announce our faith in causes and candidates and, increasingly, businesses on our cars. Why not our soulful commitments? For me, the question is not “Is this a good way ? ?” but “What is good to profess?”

I have put two stickers on my car’s bumpers over the years: a blue-and-green on white globe and “Think” (which I got by cutting a “Think Tennis!” bumper sticker in half). The only “vanity plate” I’ve every wanted is “Eleison,” “Have mercy” in Greek, but a friend got that one 30 years ago. I content myself announcing loyalty to school (Cal) and teams (Golden Bears and Angels) with license plate frames.

I like frames promoting institutions and faith communities to which the driver’s allegiance belongs, causes and candidates that I already support, and messages that make me ? “Think!” I find frustrating ones in such small print that I’d have to follow the car to its parking, then put on my reading glasses to learn what is being advocated.

Such messages can get us in trouble. Remember the old “Honk if you love Jesus”? I once found myself at a stop light behind a car with such a bumper sticker, waved and honked (because I do “love Jesus”), and was greeted with a one-finger salute in response (and not a finger that could have meant “Jesus is the one!”). I recently learned of a bumper sticker that I think would be cute but know to be theologically untrue; it proclaims: “Jesus loves you. But I am his favorite!”

We affect others significantly not by such vanities, but, ultimately, as Albert Schweitzer said when asked how a person can be changed, “In three ways: by example, by example and by example.”

(THE VERY REV’D CANON)

PETER D. HAYNES

Saint Michael & All Angels

Episcopal Church

Corona del Mar

Like most people, I enjoy a good bumper sticker from time to time. A couple of my current favorites are “What would Jesus bomb?” and “When Jesus said love your enemies, he probably didn’t mean kill them.” The few times I have seen Zen bumper-stickers though, I found them to be off the mark. Maybe something like “Honk if you meditate” would be OK. But my immediate response to most Zen advertising is that the person involved doesn’t know the flavor of Zen.

Zen is a practice of action. It’s not about claiming devotion or evangelizing. Testifying to the efficacy of Zen means I regularly meditate, study with a teacher and participate in my local Zen community. It doesn’t mean that I talk about how wonderful Zen is.

I think that most people seriously committed to any spiritual practice would agree with the cliche, “Talk is cheap.” The true fruits of practice ? liberation, wisdom and compassion ? are hard-won.

Religious identity can become just another way to satisfy the demands of the ego, to distinguish ourselves and be important. This was famously termed “spiritual materialism” by the late Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.

So, even though I may enjoy and be entertained with religious bumper-stickers when tackling the demands of the road, I don’t think this “medium is the message.”

REV. CAROL AGUILAR

Zen Center of Orange County

Costa Mesa

The other day I was at the market in the produce section and I heard a voice talking to me about another product. When I looked up, I saw a TV screen suspended over the produce playing commercials while I shopped. Bumper stickers are not the problem; they are a symptom of a much larger issue. Every day, each of us is assaulted with a media blitz. There is hardly a place you can go where someone isn’t trying to get your attention. If there is a free moment in your life, some advertising agency is going to try to occupy it with a message. I’m not sure what to do about it, but one colleague of mine suggested that if I saw every message as a prayer request, I could practice prayer unceasingly. I have no problem with bumper stickers; I’m glad that people have opinions and want to express them. It’s better than apathy.

SENIOR PASTOR

JAMES TURRELL

Center for Spiritual Discovery

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