Georgia and the uselessness of prayer
This week, while violating the establishment clause of the United States Constitution, Governor Sonny Perdue decided to make a public spectacle of himself, praying to “God” for rain. You see, Georgia is suffering from a bad drought, and apparently, if I’m to understand ol’ Sonny, “God” won’t help you unless you get on your knees and whimper for relief. Some “God”, eh?
All snarkiness aside, why would prayer work? Does God not care about you unless you pray? Is there minimum level of prayer needed to effect change? What if people in other states decide to pray for Georgia to not have rain? Whose prayer wins out? Do you get brownie points for praying even if God ignores you? Is God up there laughing at the prospect of people in Georgia running out of water?
Now of course, at some point, it will rain in Georgia. It’s the law of averages, but there will be those who claim God’s intervention was the reason. I tend to think, though, it will just be a case of things returning to the mean. After an extended period of time without rain, people get desperate and start praying, rain dancing or maybe even giving themselves over to Satan. However, at some point, the end of the dry period and the period of panic overlap, leading some people to see a causal relationship between prayer and rain. I hope the majority of Georgian’s see how stupid praying for rain is, and maybe think about actual solutions a state could do to prevent shortages of water in the future.
November 14th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
I’ve heard more than a few fuckwits take the “what’s the harm!?1!” line of defense here. Aside from the glaringly obvious Constitutional issues, there are more productive ways Sonnyboy could have spent his time than praying to an invisible Sky Daddy - like paying a visit to this douchebag, preferably to break his kneecaps or, better yet, turn his f’in water off. Or both.
The Cobb County homeowner who guzzled his way to the top of the county residential water users list has enlisted a public relations company that made a statement Wednesday on his behalf.
Chris G. Carlos, through the Ledlie Group of Atlanta, issued a statement Wednesday in which he says in the future he will consume less than the 440,000 gallons his October bill says he used.
“I honestly didn’t realize the extent of my water use and regret I didn’t act sooner. I want to be a part of the solution to the water crisis,” Carlos said in the statement.
“I am going to take whatever steps are necessary to substantially reduce my water consumption. This includes seeking the advice and guidance of conservation professionals in exploring all possible water saving measures,” the statement said.
Carlos’ 14,000-square-foot home is on 3.8 lush acres in Atlanta Country Club and includes a pool. The 440,000 gallons he used in a month would fill the average backyard pool 58 times.
Carlos has not responded to repeated interview requests, made by telephone and at the intercom of his gated home.
If there were a God, I certainly wouldn’t blame her for smiting us. Surely we have it coming…
January 11th, 2008 at 8:41 am
So, after last night’s rain in Georgia, what do you think about the power of prayer now??
And, if you think that prayer does not work, consider that since January of 2007 I had been praying for no rain in metro Atlanta. (Rain really screws up traffic around here and it makes me have to cut grass more often.) Obviously, prayer works.
After about August when the lakes dried up and my lawn looked like a bowl of shredded wheat, I sort of laid off. Sonny just had a lot of catching up to do.