THE SCENARIO:
You are in your vehicle, stopped at a stop sign. You see some traffic approaching in the distance and you play it safe and wait for it to pass before pulling out. The person in the vehicle behind you is “all over
their horn” because you did not take an opportunity to move out and away from the stop sign.
This
is just one (relatively less extreme) example of “road rage;” we could
list many others, indeed where violence is involved as well. And no doubt you can call to mind your own experiences. So let us put forth some points for consideration not only with respect to this stop sign
example, but for road rage in general.
-
First
one may ask, why road rage—what motivates this behavior in people, and
how, precisely, is it antiChristian—is it rage alone, or is there more
to it. -
Is
road rage a manifestation of the sin nature, or is it simply a
condition peculiar to a modern society (is this a sin problem, or not).
If you think it is the former, how precisely is it such a
manifestation—prove Scripturally, and show the connectedness between
biblical sin and this particular manifestation of the sin nature. If you
think it is the latter, prove your stance with argumentation relative
to the connectedness/non-connectedness between biblical sin and this
particular manifestation of human nature (an argument of unbelief is out
of bounds here—the point is we do not believe the latter can make a
logically consistent as also empirically viable case for their stance
while the former can, almost without effort). -
Can
you find biblical precedents of “road rage” from Scripture (e.g., was
Cain’s spirit a spirit of road rage; is murder like unto road rage). -
Is
road rage indicative of a general decline in the valuation of human
personhood. If yes, can you find biblical precedents as to the proper
valuation of human personhood in general, not just on the road.
Moreover, if yes, what motivates this devaluation—is there a connection here to a devaluation of Jehovah God that
then possibly spills over into human valuation mechanics in
general—please support your answer with biblical precedents and
examples. -
Do
you think that there is a correlation (statistically, spiritually)
between abortion and road rage—is the spirit that undergirds the two the
same. -
Can
you find three biblical precedents and/or guidelines that help one to
cope with road rage; can you find three biblical precedents and/or
guidelines as to a Christian’s reaction to road rage—can you thus show that the Spirit of God anticipated road rage and provided guidelines for coping, as also reacting to it. -
We
mean this last point quite seriously and certainly with reverence.
Suppose Jesus was the driver of the vehicle that stopped at the stop
sign of our opening example. Now, reflecting on His Sermon on the Mount (Mat 5:1 ff; “The Beatitudes”),
in any of the words of those verses, what would He say to the road
enraged driver honking at Him (that is, perpetrators of road rage per
se). We have just supposed Jesus to be the stopped driver, but let’s
remove Him from the diver’s seat (bad idea in general) and ask again, in
any of the words of His Sermon on the Mount, what would He say to the
driver being honked at (that is, victims of road rage per se).