Monday, November 8, 2010

God is not your co-pilot

As an atheist, I have a really big problem with religious groups who have the opinion that their chosen deity will protect them no matter what. Worse, they believe that when it's "their time", then that's just the way it is. This is especially true when driving, and living in Utah as I do right now - it's a really big problem. Actually, it's compounded by the criminally easy driving test, but the local religion here I'm sure has a lot to do with the appalling standard of driving. People drive around in a daze, believing with all their being that their God will protect them from harm. "God Is My Co-Pilot" is a bumper sticker you see a lot around here and I don't think they're joking. That is what makes them a danger to every other road user, because in a car it translates to "I can drive however I like and it doesn't matter". Drifting through red lights whilst texting. Stopping at green lights. Turning left from the right turn lane. They do this under some misplaced sense of self security and if they die as a result of their criminally lax driving, they just assume it was their destiny. The rest of us? We don't count - even as an atheist, if I die because some Mor(m)on sideswipes me in a truck whilst he's texting, in his opinion, his God determined it was my time to tie.
Blindly following these sorts of lifestyles puts everyone else in danger and there's no way to redress the balance.
So if you see a religious bumper sticker, steer well clear of the vehicle because their chosen deity might have decided your time is up.