Comments on: A Church Passes Gas

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:50:16 +0000

[...] My friend Hemant from FriendlyAtheist.com also posted about this story on his site. Click here to read the post/comments. [...]

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:28:45 +0000

Yes. I demand payment for what I give and insist on paying for what I recieve.

Capitalism FTW(for the win).

By: jen

jen — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:12:55 +0000

I wonder if they’d have turned someone away if they knew they were an atheist.

The one here in central Ohio made a point of saying that they welcomed everyone, and hoped that some portion of those they’d helped would join them at church (I think they timed this for right before their Easter service) – but that even if there was no church visit, it was worth something to have those helped know who had helped them.

I bet most of the people getting the gas were from the church’s congregation anyways, and the reason they needed the discount on the gas was because they were poor from giving the church all their money so the church can turn around and give it back to them as gas after taking their cut.

Actually, while I’d bet this church does collect a hefty share of these people’s money, I’d bet the local “prosperity gospel” church that really fleeces the flock is NOT the church subsidizing gas prices.

By: Chaim

Chaim — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:50:35 +0000

I bet most of the people getting the gas were from the church’s congregation anyways, and the reason they needed the discount on the gas was because they were poor from giving the church all their money so the church can turn around and give it back to them as gas after taking their cut.

By: Hemant Mehta

Hemant Mehta — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:55:34 +0000

How about you, Hemant? Would you have filled up?

Probably. It’s free money, and I have a 45 minute commute to work each day. I’d thank the church folk for being very generous, ignore them (or respond back) if they started preaching, and drive off.

I’m surprised how many people are saying they wouldn’t take the offer…

By: julie marie

julie marie — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:29:04 +0000

I think we cross posted, Mike

By: julie marie

julie marie — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:27:44 +0000

my guess is they would have been happy to know they were showing, in a small way, the love of Christ to a non-Christian of any stripe. The seeker church I attended (parent church of Mosaic, mentioned above) was very earnest in their desire to reach “unchurched Charlies”.

By: MikeClawson

MikeClawson — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:26:54 +0000

I wonder if they’d have turned someone away if they knew they were an atheist.

I highly, highly doubt it. The whole point of these kind of stunts is to attract “unchurched” people typically.

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:15:25 +0000

I wonder if they’d have turned someone away if they knew they were an atheist. Anyway, I wouldn’t have a problem with leeching subsidized gas from them, but like another poster said, I hate waiting in line for gas.

By: MikeClawson

MikeClawson — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:13:52 +0000

Anyway, I wouldn’t buy anything from a church because I don’t trust them with my money.

Huh? As Bruce also pointed out, this wasn’t giving money to the church, this was them giving money to you.

But yes, it was purely a marketing stunt. It’s a nice gesture, and I would have gladly accepted it personally, but it’s not the same as helping people in real need. That doesn’t make it bad of course, but there’s a difference between giving $15 to someone who isn’t hard up for cash in the first place, and giving $15 who can’t afford to get to work otherwise. They might have been better off figuring out some way to buy gas directly for low income families or something like that.