Hummer Holiness

What would Jesus drive? He’d probably hop into a Hummer H2 Adventure Series SUV to help him get to the rugged, remote corners of the world. We should catch a ride with him.

"What Would Mohammed Drive?”

This was the caption for a recent political cartoon showing a man in Middle Eastern garb driving a Ryder truck. In the back of the truck was a big fat nuclear weapon.

Ouch.

As you might imagine, the cartoon touched off a firestorm of controversy. Its author Doug Marlette received more than 4,500 e-mails, all saying more or less the same thing: Blasphemy. Ignorant. Bigoted. Disrespectful to our Prophet Mohammed. Hateful. The writers all demanded an apology. Quite a few threatened him with mutilation and death.

But Marlette claims he was not criticizing Islam or its founder Mohammed, but arguing instead that Islam had been hijacked by Islamic extremists.

In any event, the cartoon itself was an allusion to the question eco-Christians had been asking, namely, “What Would Jesus Drive?” Should Christians get behind the wheel of a gas-guzzling sport utility vehicle? Surely, some argue, Jesus would never have driven an SUV because car pollution causes illness and...