Another Evil of the Automobile - Glenn Conjurske

Another Evil of the Automobile

by Glenn Conjurske

We have spoken from time to time in these pages of the various evils of the automobile, but we have not touched what may in fact be the greatest evil of all. The automobile gives to man a sense of power and independence, which necessarily works directly against his spiritual good.

Let it be understood that weakness and dependence belong to man by creation. Weakness did not come to man by his sin, but by his creation. It belongs to his very existence on the earth, and this by the obvious design of God. God might have created man with the strength and speed of an angel—-or an airplane—-but he did no such thing. His design was that man should be weak and limited, unable to move about freely or rapidly—-much more limited, in fact, than the birds of the air, and than many of the beasts of the earth, and the very insects. If God had designed that man should be otherwise, he certainly would have created him otherwise. As God created him, he is as limited as a barnyard fowl, or a swallow bereft of its wings.

And in the design of God, we surely see the wisdom of God. It is good for man to be weak. His weakness tends directly to keep him in his proper place of dependence upon God, precisely as the weakness of “the weaker vessel” makes her dependent upon a man, as her protector and bread-winner. This is by the design of God. Years ago I spoke with a young school teacher, who was proud, liberal, and a practical atheist. I spoke to him of God, and his immediate response was, “Do we need him?” Such thinking is the direct result of the fruits of modern technology and invention, which eliminate man’s weakness and dependence, so far as it can be done by human ingenuity. The effect of this on the souls of men is anything but good. The automobile gives to man that power and freedom which God denied him by nature and by creation. In so doing it eliminates his sense of weakness, and replaces it with a sense of strength. This naturally, and we suppose inevitably, contributes to his pride, and to his independence of God. So long as man feels his weakness, he feels his dependence upon God. This is one part of the spirit of a little child—-and without this no man can be saved, for “Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.” (Mark 10:15). To give to man a sense of strength and of independence is to remove him farther from God than ever he was before, and the automobile has given this sense of strength to most of the race. Modern technology has done this in a thousand other ways besides, but perhaps none of the rest of it ministers this sense to us so directly and personally as the automobile.

It is evident that some, especially young men, are quite carried away with this sense of power and freedom, and practically worship the automobile which gives it to them. We suppose, however, that some measure of the same consciousness of power and freedom must exist in all who use an automobile. Such feelings are harmful to the soul.

We know that God never created anything resembling an automobile. Man was placed on the earth with no such powers. We know too that there will be nothing of such machinery when Christ reigns on the earth, and the will of God is done on earth as it is in heaven. The world has created such things, in entire independence of the will and the wisdom of its Creator, and in order to increase its own strength and independence.

But understand, we do not condemn the use of an automobile. We may use the world without loving it. An automobile is a practical necessity for most of us today, especially if we are poor, and cannot afford to own a farm or keep a horse. And the fact is, such automobiles as I am usually obliged to drive will actually contribute to a sense of dependence upon God. Yet I suppose it to be healthy to our souls to recognize the evils of the thing as such. Such a recognition will at any rate tend to keep us in our proper place of weakness and dependence before God.

Glenn Conjurske