Word: Human ego and apostasy
November 17, 2007 at 10:00 am by Andisheh Nouraee in NewsGov. Sonny Perdue’s Nov. 13 “Prayer Service for Rain†at the Capitol provoked nationwide criticism and mockery from sources both predictable and surprising.
I guess praying is better than having actual ideas about conservation and sustainable living…
– Kos at DailyKos
Soak me, Jesus: Georgia’s new water management program: prayer.
– Headline of Slate.com’s story about the prayer event
It is simply human ego and superstition to imagine that assembled wishful thinking can affect the natural laws of the universe.
– Annie Laurie Gaynor of Madison, Wisconsin’s Freedom From Religion Foundation, in a letter to Gov. Perdue.
Governor leads prayer for rain. Handling snakes for full employment on Sunday.
– A headline on the blog Dvorak Uncensored, which appears above a black and white photo of snake handlers.
I guess they just need something to wash all those pickup trucks.
– Political humor blog Banana Slug, Dammit mocks Perdue with a fake news story titled “Governor of Georgia: God F*cking Hates Us”
Will Sonny Perdue’s church home, First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia, take any action regarding his calling and presiding over a religious apostasy meeting?
– Blogger healtheland at blog Jesus Christology is upset at Perdue for presiding over an interfaith prayer to a “higher power†instead of a Christian prayer to “the One True God in the Name of Jesus Christ.â€
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November 17th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Allow me to clarify something. I am not attacking anyone’s beliefs per se. Jews, Hindus, Muslims, etc. have a right to their beliefs and I zealously defend and respect their rights. I am an adamant believer in the separation of church and state and oppose the religious right, whose agenda has nothing to do with what is actually in the Bible. And I am aware that there are a lot of religious systems out there, including the liberal Christians with whom I very much disagree, that believe in universalism. So had it been anyone else, I would not have cared.
But Sonny Perdue is a card carrying member of the religious right who wears his faith on his sleeve. He makes craven use of it not only to lure evangelical and fundamentalist Christian supporters, but as a blunt instrument to bash his foes and push his agenda. And I do not see where his agenda correlates to the Jesus Christ of the Bible. Perdue is just another Republican that favors the rich, the powerful, and big business, and what is more is also just as pro - government as virtually any Democrat. He does not take risks or make sacrifices to help or identify with the poor, voiceless, or oppressed. He acts more like the Sadducees, the corrupt wealthy elite collaborators with the rich and the oppressive pagan Roman Empire and opponents of Jesus Christ who sent Jesus Christ to the Romans to be crucified after an illegitimate legal proceeding on charges that they knew were false, than Jesus Christ or any of his followers.
So Perdue’s prayer vigil was nothing more than a political stunt to increase his popularity among his Christian base, and to deflect attention away from the fact that this water crisis has been building in Georgia for years, and he did absolutely nothing as a Georgia legislator or governor to deal with it. He has shown none of the foresight of King Hezekiah, who knowing that the Assyrians would one day lay siege to Jerusalem built an aqueduct so that he would be able to get water into the city. Perdue is not an example of Christian leadership, but of anti - Christian leadership: irresponsible, selfish, reckless, indulgent, timid, populist, and pandering to the public and to the powerful.
I find it interesting that you omitted this portion of my post: “These are strange times indeed. Incidentally, there were two groups protesting during the meeting. One was a group of atheists, who suggested that legitimate believers in God 1. should pray in private or in church instead of making spectacles of themselves for public consumption and influence and 2. ought to be offended at Sonny Perdue’s publicity show. I cannot say that I disagree with the people.” The reason why I cannot disagree with them is because Jesus Christ said in the Bible that we are not to make a public show of piety for our own gain, but rather to express our piety in private. It is sad commentary indeed that atheists are more knowledgeable of this Biblical principle than the many religious right Christians who were so happy to have a powerful leader publicly endorse their faith for them - when our assurance of the legitimacy of our faith SHOULD come from the Holy Spirit and be evidenced by the effects of our good works to the poor and disenfranchised according to the BIBLE - that they willfully allowed themselves to be a party of Perdue’s cynical manipulation of Christianity.
By the way, my little Weather.com applet had been predicting that it would rain that day or the next day for over a week. Don’t think that Perude’s staff doesn’t have Internet access. Some would say that man’s taking credit for what God does is called blasphemy, but I will leave such a judgment for one more righteous than myself.
December 29th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
I think praying for rain was an excellent idea. I sometimes pray about the weather. After all, who can change it but God? .