The people who drive SUV's as a demographic are too selfish to be a part of a church community, christian fundamentalist or otherwise. More likely to own a minivan for carpooling church events. Generally most fundy christians are poor and aren't in pursuit of status symbol vehicles, even if their stance on the environment is far from progressive. I have my problems with them and their effect on policy, but I won't blame SUV's on them, apples and oranges.

No, it's more like that the people who worship money and status can't be reasoned with.

Not from a moral standpoint,

Not from an environmental standpoint,

I'd wager from the large number of SUV drivers I see gabbing on cellphones and driving like morons while talking in towns and states where handheld cellphone uses is illegal... even a legal standpoint won't work on the blindly selfish status oriented... not until they've been burned a few times with heavy fines.

Think of it this way Lynne, you probably read "The Wind in the Willows" you remember Frog. We all remember Frog.

Frog wanted things just because he wanted them, because he could imagine himself in some kind of vehicle where others would admire and envy him. He couldn't drive a motor car responsibly, but he still had to have one, beg, buy, borrow, or steal one but had to have it. If Frog had maxed out credit he'd put a second equity loan on his mansion by the river to get an SUV.

The SUV was made for people who are like Frog.

What was the only thing that could get Frog off of anything once he had his heart set on it? Could his freinds dissuade him from his stupidity? Could he be reasoned with?

No, pointless, just as all of your talk about environmental education with people like that will mean nothing. People who will listen to your environmental stuff won't be driving a status car to begin with. They might go from a used delta 88 boat sized * cylander covered with rust from 1985 to a honda to save the environment, or if they ever become richer perhaps one of those new hybrids.

Not the status seeker. Nope, all the education could be there, you could tie them up in chairs, wire their eyes open to force them to watch the instructional information like out of "A clockwork Orange" you can tap them with electric cattle prods for emphasis. It won't matter, if they think only about themselvs and their own status you are using the wrong arguement.

Just as I remember a cereal commercial where a parent was speaking in hushed tones about a tasty breakfast cereal because they don't want their kids to know the cereal is good for them (it's implied that if the kids knew they wouldn't want it)... the same psychology goes with such a demographic. A car needs to be made that is environmentally good for the world, and then that fact has to be left out as it's sold and marketed as a decadent status vehicle. The moment anyone says "oh and it's good for the environment" that kind of person would no longer be interested.

It's sad, pathetic, it makes me wonder about Eugenics and how the world might be a better place without people who have such a mentality... but alas, we have to work with people as they are and not assume that everyone's modus operandi is the same as ours. A reasonable arguement to us might seem pointlessly boring and irrelevant to someone looking for a thrill ride or for a grand entrance.