Sonny’s rain dance
November 9, 2007 at 10:10 am by Scott Freeman in NewsCall it the cynic in me. But as my old history professor used to say when he connected the historical dots, “Some people might call that a coincidence.”
Consider:
On Wednesday, Gov. Sonny Perdue announces that he’s going to hold a prayer session next Tuesday to pray for God’s intervention to end the drought. “The only solution is rain, and the only place we get that is from a higher power,†Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said.
Guess what? It so happens Atlanta’s 10-day forecast predicts there will be scattered showers next week — beginning on Wednesday — followed by a steady rain on Saturday.
Hmmm. Sonny’s prayer service Tuesday; Sonny’s prayers answered on Wednesday.
Some people might call that a coincidence.
I’ll bet Sonny calls it an act of God.
Maybe God reads Sonny’s press releases and realized, “Oh, my, they need my help; let me schedule some rain for those poor folks.” Or maybe Sonny’s people read the 10-day forecast and saw an opportunity to make it appear that God is Sonny’s wing man.
Of course, maybe that’s the cynic in me.
November 9th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Great minds think alike?
http://decaturite.wordpress.com/2007/11/07/sonnys-rain-dance/
November 9th, 2007 at 11:39 am
Okay…saying this on the CL blog is like sending an invitation to a Gay Pride event to Sadie Fields, but…
I believe strongly in the power of prayer. If everyone prays next Wednesday and it deluges for four days, maybe it’s a coincidence, but maybe it’s not. Gov. Perdue — faults aside — is a strong Christian and I doubt he would take any credit for that at all. If he did, that would be sinful.
But I’m also of the belief that God doesn’t care about our drought, nor does he care about our Presidential election or our petty little human problems. He’s too big for that. God, the Bible says, wants us to show faith and trust Him. To that extent, prayer is a way of surrendering ourselves to Him. That’s powerful. If that’s what the Governor is doing, good for him. But he shouldn’t expect the rain to fall.
My problem with this is a PR issue. The Governor of the state shouldn’t be holding prayer vigils over these types of things. If he — on his personal time — wants to lead people in prayer, great. But if he’s using his office for this (and he is), I do have a problem. Plus it looks a little kooky!
November 9th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Well said, Sellout.
The thing that struck me is that after all this time, he schedules the “pray for rain” ceremony one day before forecasters predict it “will” rain. And whether he takes credit for it, he’ll still receive credit for it. And God, too, of course.
And, yes, it does look a little kooky!
November 9th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Anothere bad thing about this is how it makes our state look to others. As the 2nd poster said I’m all for prayer and belive in it. But this was obviously done for political purposes. I also beleive that God doesn’t really care who our Govenor or President is. When people hear that the Govenor has annouced a vigil for the day before it’s scheduled to rain we will be mocked and an additionall casulty that will also be mocked is prayer itself. The Governor needs to think about how his actions affect how his actions and words affect the views of people towards a higher power.
November 9th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Murray: That’s a great point!
November 9th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
How dare you people question the wisdom and moral certitude of our governor and supreme leader Sonny Perdue! His prayin for rain will work wonders for the state and its people and it’s non-God loving hippies like ya’ll at Creative Atheism that allows this drought to continue droughting. Now, if you’ll excuse me I have to go slit the neck of a goat and perform incantations over a pile of chicken bones to ensure the survival of my landscaping business.
December 9th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
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