I saw my parish priest pulling into the parking lot at church the other day with his new Toyota Prius when I had a startling revelation. His car is orthodox. That is, the Toyota Prius (just about any hybrid car for that matter) crosses the gap that separates the liberal Catholics from the conservative Catholics and bridges them together. It is too liberal of a car for conservative and too capitalistic for liberals. What I mean is that the Prius isn’t just for hippie tree huggers who wear Birkenstocks and want to save the whales. Likewise, the Prius isn’t just for papal loving conservative capitalistic papists. It is a car for the universe (uhh catholics).Don’t believe me? Take this for a short example:
When a conservative buys a hybrid Prius, he or she can easily say that they purchased the car because he or she is following in the Pope’s footsteps. This is especially true since the Pope now drives an electric pope-mobile and is slowing getting the Vatican to go ‘green’. Yet, by purchasing such a car the conservative in turn becomes a better steward of the earth and a better Catholic. Who knew following the Pope could be so green and liberal?This is why I think the hybrid car is an orthodox car that all Catholics can agree upon because you both follow the Pope and take care of the environment. It is both liberal and conservative. I guess that is why it is orthodox. It takes the best from both sides and gets rid of the worse from each side. It is certainly the hybrid car that Bill Donahue and Father McBrien can shake hands upon and agree that a hybrid is most certainly a catholic vehicle.
When a liberal buys a hybrid Prius, he or she can easily say they purchased the car because they want to reduce carbon emissions and save the planet and combat global warming. Yet, by purchasing such a car the liberal in turn is follows the Pope and becomes a better Catholic. Who knew that going green could be so capitalistic and conservative?
Wait a second, does this mean that the Pope himself is orthodox; I mean that he cares about the Catholic faith and church as well as the environment; that he doesn't fit into any ideology?
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Even better if they called it a "Pius" instead.
Though stewardship also includes your own resources and the financial trade off on the Prius isn't quite there yet.
"In June, the car-buying Web site, Edmunds.com, estimated a driver would have to average 37,000 miles a year or gas would have to cost $5.60 a gallon for a Ford Escape Hybrid to pay off over five years, the average amount of time a consumer owns a new car. For a Honda Civic Hybrid, the figures were 63,000 miles or $9.60 a gallon."
It will be much better when the price comes down.
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