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Show THE ZEPHYR/DECEMBER 2005-JANUARY this publication. It was called, “When Jesus Spoke to the Burning Bush,” and was about an otherworldly meeting between President Bush and Jesus Christ in the Oval Office, a few days before the Iraq War began. (You can still read it online-it’s at the top of the home page.) How can we be anything but proud to defend the notion that killing is wrong, that war is immoral and that greed and opulent wealth are gold-plated obscenities? To Gospels English religion. research the story I went back and read the Four of the New Testament. I still struggle with King James but the message was clear. Christianity is a pacifist He allowed no exceptions. His disciples would push him, trying to find an exception to the rule, but Jesus was firm. He even went so far as to refute the message of the Old Testament, the passage that gives the vengeance-prone so much comfort. In the New Testament, Jesus says, “You have been told an eye for an eye. I say to you now, if they take one eye give them the other.” Not exactly fire and brimstone stuff. The other quotation that stuck with me since childhood was the verse that refers to the wealthy. “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” That one had to be explained to me by my elders and with all kinds of qualifications as well. broader view of energy wracked with guilt and something. 2006 consumption in America, I am indecision. I knew I had to do 1986 GMC pickup which sports 226,000 miles on the odometer and which has faithfully hauled Zephyrs from printer to public for more than a decade, slurps up gasoline faster than an elephant eats peanuts. It might get 15 mpg on a good day, moving mostly downhill, which means I can “hope for about 180 miles on $35 of fuel. It now costs about $170 in gas, just to drive to Tooele fora press run. So I’ve forced myself to moth ball the Brown Bomber, firing it up only to keep the battery charged and the fluids circulating and to get the Z printed. I rely on my 1999 Subaru Forester on a daily basis and although I’ve never really developed the personal bond with this vehicle that I’ve experienced with other cars in my automotive past, I can say nothing but good things about her perfor d efficiency It always starts, has never broken down (knock on my pointy head) and even at above freeway speeds manages to get 30 miles per gallon. But I knew the Subaru and I could do better and I knew it would require a sacrifice on my part. In previous editions of “Stiles’ Road Rules,” J offered nothing but scorn and contempt for those of you who fail to maintain the posted speed limit. My motto has always been, “Stay with the Traffic Flow or Get the Hell Out of MY Way.” I could move from tranquility to road rage faster than you can say, “slow moving Winnebago,” and some of my friends, experiencing my rage for the first’ time seriously suggested counseling. intended, is unassailable. I recently listened to a Catholic nun motoring public and required a major readjustment. Imagine driving across the Cisco Desert from Green River to Grand | ~ Junction at 55 mph...it was excruciating at first. It had never occurred to most Americans that driving at a slower speed | had anything to do with fuel economy. When Nixon first announced the speed limit reduction, I was skeptical and decided to put his proposal to the test. So I drove from Louisville to Cincinnati one weekend to visit my parents and _ scrupulously monitored my speed both ways. I became a | believer when my gas mileage improved by 15%... there, she said. From those words, the message is indeed simple: Always help those who have less than you and never hurt anybody. Period. This kind of interpretation troubles conservative Christians who prefer to accept the divinity of Jesus than follow his teachings. They believe he is the Son of God but reject the most fundamental aspects of his beliefs. This is also an interpretation of Christianity that liberals should embrace, whether they’re Jimmy Carter Christians or dyed-in-the-wool Atheists. How is it possible that warmongering greedheads have become the spokespersons for Christianity? After the 2004 election, Democrats found themselves doing the “agonizing re-appraisal introspection Thing.” Many of them are searching for a way to embrace the “family values” issue by moving farther to the right, when in fact they should be moving farther toward the Truth. What have they got to lose? People are hungry for something new and 17 NUMBER 5 5...POINTBLANK: "Border Town" By Michael Wolcott 7...CLINGING HOPELESSLY to the MAPS A glimpse at the CONOCO "Touraide" 1940 edition... 8...LOSING SOLITUDE ...By Martin Murie "Sauntering" 12...WESTWARD HO! ‘CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS'...1848-1890 How Christianity "Won the West" & Destroyed a Way of Life By Jim Stiles Economic necessity and a nagging and annoying need to that in 1973, President Nixon ordered a reduction in speed interviewed on public television. She said that to understand the message of Christianity, as it was laid down by Jesus, all one had to do was read the Sermon on the Mount. It’s all VOLUME DECEMBER 2005/JANUARY 2006 “do the right thing” changed all that. I slowed down. If you’re under 40 years old, you probably don’t remember But clearly, Jesus Christ did not think much of the material world then and I doubt he'd be very impressed in 2005 either. For me, whether you believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ or not, the philosophy of Christianity as it was originally IN THIS ISSUE OF THE ZEPHYR First I gave up my beloved Zephyr transportation fleet vehicle for anything but the absolutely necessary journeys. My limits on all federal highways to 55 mph as a means of conserving energy. For a country accustomed to speed, the double nickel national speed limit caused severe shock to the ." THE OPEN ROAD" with HERB RINGER (A Photographic Journey) ook oD decade, as I've watched the Christian Right Wing of the Republican Party assume the role of spokesperson for Jesus Christ, it seemed like a good time to review his words and see if perhaps I’d missed something. . eS I didn’t. Two years ago I wrote a piece of fiction for TA Zephyr, the first and only work of fiction to make the pages of ..ABOUT HERB RINGER By Jim Stiles 17...FINDING PEACE IN HOPE VALLEY 18... THE SOUTH RIM & BRIGHT ANGEL LODGE | KNOW IT'S WRONG TO ADMIT | ~ LOVE TO DRIVE & | KNOW | CANNOT JUSTIFY MY ADDICTION, BUT THERE IT IS, FOR ALL OF YOU ECO-PURISTS OUT THERE, WHO WANT TO CALL ME A HYPOCRITE. | am guilty as charged. different...something with meaning and with heart. We should all have the courage to defend érue Christian values Still the national speed limit was opposed by many and the right to express them, even if we’re not Christians. How can we be anything but proud to defend the notion Americans, particularly the trucking industry. In 1987, that killing is wrong, that war is immoral and that greed and lobbyists convinced Congress to raise the speed limit on rural interstate freeways to 65 mph, but it wasn’t until 1995, 21 opulent wealth are gold-plated obscenities? Right Wing Christians should be held accountable for both years after its inception, that the 55 mph speed limit was. their actions and their rhetoric—if they want to openly reject finally abolished by Congress. Now in 2005, I have imposed my own national speed limit , the teachings of Jesus Christ as impractical, silly and . upon myself. I keep my speed under 60 on two lane roads unworkable, I can at least respect them for their honesty. But they can’t have it both ways. “Praise the Lord and pass and under 65 mph on the interstates. I try not to make a the ammunition” never sounded like anything that came from nuisance of myself by creating logjams for faster moving vehicles. If there’s no opportunity for cars and trucks to pass, the heart and soul of The Prince of Peace. .-HERB REMEMBERS the CAMERON TRADING POST 20...THE RHYOLITE CASINO - 21... A LETTER FROM HERB 22...SHORTY YARBERRY of the GRAND CANYON 23... A CLOSE ENCOUNTER in a GHOST TOWN I'll pull over and let them go by, but if timid drivers who lack STILES’ ROAD RULES #3 passing skills miss clear opportunities to get by me, they’re These are difficult times for people like me. I love to drive. going to save fuel whether they like it or not. Nothing soothes me more than a long empty stretch of road . Keep in mind that I live in the Rural West and don’t fight and a full tank of gas and no known destination. While I heavy freeway traffic on a daily basis, where trying to drive at loathe the crowded freeway, finding that deserted highway is something I always long for and often seek. I love the rumble of the road. I love spotting a little café in a town I never knew existed until the moment I drove into it and stopping for pie and coffee and listening to locals talk about last Friday’s high school football game and the price of cattle. I love hearing the singing meadowlarks as I slowly rattle by their perches on fence posts and power lines. “I like to roll down my window and moo at the standing cattle and wonder if “bovolexia,” the irresistible urge to moo at cows in a field is really an affliction that will someday produce its own special medication. I love 55 is a suicidal gesture. But out here, when the road is relatively empty and I know my vehicle’s capabilities and my own driving skills, I've even begun coasting on the long grades. Did you know that northbound between Monticello — and Moab, you can coast for nine miles? That’s over 15% of the 54 mile journey.(I’m sure I'll get calls from the Utah Highway Patrol on this one, so please don’t try it yourself.) The bottom line for all my energy saving efforts has been an increase in my fuel economy from 30 mpg to 36 mpg ora 20% improvement. Ona 15 gallon tank, that means I travel 90 miles farther than I did before. That’s like a free trip to Grand driving into a thunderstorm and listening to the rhythm of my Jct. (if not back again). wipers. Beyond that, I feel calmer. With some notable exceptions (those damn mega-motorhomes!), my road rage has gone into hibernation. Life seems just a /itt/le bit easier to cope with, I know it’s wrong to admit I love to drive and I know I| cannot begin to justify my addiction, but there it is, for all of you eco-purists out there, who want to call me a hypocrite. lam guilty as charged. Now with the price of gasoline stuck in the vicinity of $3, double what it was a year or so ago, and knowing that to wish the price would fall dramatically runs counter to my now that I’ve removed myself from the fast lane. se 27...THE ZEPHYR BACKBONE 28... THE DIMFORMATION AGE notes from the crawlspace of history _ BY NED MUDD And I have more time to moo at the cows. 30...FEEDBACK: |