Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Minding Your Business: Taking Religion on the Road
Aired November 20, 2002 - 09:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: A religious group today is rolling out a plan urging Americans to stop driving SUVs, because they are gas guzzling and because of dependence on foreign oil. We have a statement from this group. Let's see if we can get it up where they talk about -- there we go. "Pollution resulting in ill health is -- or harm to the rest of creation is counter to Christ's reconciliation of all things, dependence on foreign oil from unstable regions heightens the potential for armed conflict. Both work against the Prince of Peace."
Now this is a multidenominational group, Paula, that is going to be meeting with the leaders of the auto industry in Detroit, including Bill Ford of Ford today. What's so interesting to me about this, as a CEO, you have to worry about things over the horizon you never would have anticipated, because these things have been criticized by environmentalists over SUVs and the low mileage. But to be criticized by religious conservatives, religious fundamentalists was something they never anticipated, and this thing is rolling out today, and these guys probably don't know what to do when they meet with the leaders of this group.
ZAHN: How are they likely to be received?
SERWER: I think very carefully, don't you? These people are going to be rolling out an ad campaign in states across the country. They have a tremendous amount of clout. It's obviously something that really resonates with Americans, in terms of the dependence on foreign oil. So I think they're going to be handling this issue with kid gloves. If you have the environmentalists on the one hand and religious fundamentalists on the other, all of a sudden, who's going to be driving your SUVs. This could be a huge problem.
ZAHN: When the ads roll out, will they really make specific references to what would Jesus have driven or more -- less obvious than that?
SERWER: My understanding is the campaign is, what would Jesus drive? Which is sort of an interesting way to phrase it, I guess. We're going to find out later in the day. We'll be covering this today. I think the press conference is at 10:30.
ZAHN: Thank you, Andy, for the preview. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 20, 2002 - 09:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: A religious group today is rolling out a plan urging Americans to stop driving SUVs, because they are gas guzzling and because of dependence on foreign oil. We have a statement from this group. Let's see if we can get it up where they talk about -- there we go. "Pollution resulting in ill health is -- or harm to the rest of creation is counter to Christ's reconciliation of all things, dependence on foreign oil from unstable regions heightens the potential for armed conflict. Both work against the Prince of Peace."
Now this is a multidenominational group, Paula, that is going to be meeting with the leaders of the auto industry in Detroit, including Bill Ford of Ford today. What's so interesting to me about this, as a CEO, you have to worry about things over the horizon you never would have anticipated, because these things have been criticized by environmentalists over SUVs and the low mileage. But to be criticized by religious conservatives, religious fundamentalists was something they never anticipated, and this thing is rolling out today, and these guys probably don't know what to do when they meet with the leaders of this group.
ZAHN: How are they likely to be received?
SERWER: I think very carefully, don't you? These people are going to be rolling out an ad campaign in states across the country. They have a tremendous amount of clout. It's obviously something that really resonates with Americans, in terms of the dependence on foreign oil. So I think they're going to be handling this issue with kid gloves. If you have the environmentalists on the one hand and religious fundamentalists on the other, all of a sudden, who's going to be driving your SUVs. This could be a huge problem.
ZAHN: When the ads roll out, will they really make specific references to what would Jesus have driven or more -- less obvious than that?
SERWER: My understanding is the campaign is, what would Jesus drive? Which is sort of an interesting way to phrase it, I guess. We're going to find out later in the day. We'll be covering this today. I think the press conference is at 10:30.
ZAHN: Thank you, Andy, for the preview. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
