Remember Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue’s prayer vigil to let God know Georgians are conserving water and should be rewarded with rain? Well it worked–sort of.
While the storm clouds that formed during the vigil faded away, rain did fall the day after the vigil. This can’t be a coincidence. Sonny prayed for rain and God sent it. But the governor and chief shaman was quick to say, “We’re not gloating about it.”
That’s good, because the one-inch of rain that fell in north Georgia and the half-inch that dampened Atlanta did nothing to ease the state’s crushing drought.
So, praying for rain works–ask and ye shall receive–but it doesn’t work well enough to make a difference. What is God up to? According to the governor it “was a great affirmation for what we asked for.”
Really? I think it was an insult. God spits on Georgia and the governor is happy. How sad. So on behalf of my Georgia neighbors let me say this to the Almighty: “Quit fooling around, God! What we need is real rain; the kind of rain You sent to Tennessee’s Marion County that heavily damaged the roof of a Baptist church and sent three little kids to the hospital due to cuts they received from flying glass. Now that’s the rain we’re taking about.”
But wait, why would God send rain to Tennessee when Georgia is the state praying for it? And why would God use His rain to damage a Baptist church? Can it be that God hates Georgia and isn’t too fond of Baptists? The logic is inescapable.
Why would God hate Georgia? Following the logic of evangelical leaders such as Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell I can only conclude that God hates Georgia because it is gay-friendly. After all “GA” is only one letter away from advertising itself as the “GAY” state.
So here is my suggestion. First, Gov. Perdue should invite all Georgia’s gay and lesbian citizens to an all-expense-paid trip to Dollywood, Southern Baptist Dolly Parton’s theme park in Tennessee.
While they are out of the state, the governor should then hold a second prayer vigil and let God know he has cleansed the state of sinners, thus allowing God to reward Georgia with real rain.
As for the Baptists, I suggest they build their churches with stronger roofs.
Rabbi Rami Shapiro is director of the One River Foundation in Murfreesboro, Tenn. This column appeared originally on his blog.
