The proverbial “day late and an umbrella short”. The Gov. ought to wise up and start working to ease global warming. Praying with cronies and colleagues is simply a photo op and a chance to look pious. Why not look productive instead. Go plant some trees, Gov. Go fish some of the trash and gunk out of the rivers. If nothing else turn off some lights and turn on your mind – think creatively and don;t just make a public display of intention.

Well I know I feel better about the drought in Georgia, since Sonny has called upon his god to make it rain! Does this mean we can stop worrying now?
This praying couldn’t be done in a church, without cameras present?
I agree with jestrfyl…. he should start doing something constructive to help the overall environment. It’ll rain sometime, but until then, teach folks how to conserve water.

This has been coming on for a long time; I wonder why they haven’t tried public prayer earlier. Perhaps their actual confidence in the power of such prayers is quite low but they hate to see it publicly fail. Maybe they figure if they are seen to pray for rain and it doesn’t work people will decide “God” isn’t favoring them.
And how do you measure success or failure of a prayer for rain? Since he said he wanted them to pray up a storm, would a shower be considered success or failure?
As others have pointed out, there are a lot of practical things they could have and should be doing. But I hope that, after a convincingly long time period, they get a lot of rain.

If they could have found a large enough closet to crown into they might have gotten what they prayed for. Follow directions if you want results.

What a bunch of cynics gather here!

If they had any brains and truly wanted to try for rain than they should have called in shamans, pastors, clergy from every denomination to work together for a change. But oh no that would be admitting that their own god might not be able to handle the problem.
They don’t learn that this isn’t the answer to everything, just as you all have said, they need to solve the problems that cause the droughts if possible.

“What a bunch of cynics gather here!”
Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Oral Roberts U., Child-abusing priests protected by high-level prelates, etc. etc. How can you not be cynical?
But I certainly feel sorry for the people in the drought areas and I certainly feel worried about the water wars that are likely to take place soon around the world and a legal version of which we saw between Georgia and Florida a few days ago.

Hey whats wrong with praying? You guys act like there’s no God or something. Truth is there is a God. (Who is infinite in all attributes) And you will discover this out sooner or later. (Ever hear of the Human Natural Law?) God is very real But I ask what’s wrong with prayer? Acknowledgement and worship of our God? Nothing unless your a atheist!

Droughts happen. They are as much a part of the natural order as hurricanes and blizzards. So praying it away seems like a hollow gesture.
But theologically speaking, this guy has put himself in a conundrum. What does it mean if the drought continues? If he believes that drought is a sign of God’s disfavor, does he, as the front man for the state, assume the fault lies with himself? Or does God simply not care about Georgia – or maybe just the government? If it does not rain, will the people recall the gov because he has lost favor with God?
By the way, was this not the same area that was so badly flooded not so long ago? What does this say – other than that there is no pleasing some people? Maybe it is simply a function of choosing to live inthat location. When the hurricanes come to our region I pray for the people around me, not that the mindless storm choose another path – threatening others, but not me.
I think that if he were really focused on the situation and not the photo opportunity he might have prayed for the people effected by the drought. Would he not have been better of praying that the golf courses and country clubs see fit to join with the whole population and turn off their sprinklers? He could have asked God to speak to the hearts of people everywhere whose lawns require more water than is necessary, and asked that they learn to zero-scape. He might have prayed that polluters and despoilers of the rivers might repent and begn to clean their own messes.
Instead he offered a public pose and pious posture that in the long run will likely make him look foolish. I am reminded of Jesus’ lesson about those folks who like to look to heaven and beat their chests in public anguish – especially compared to people who quietly pray, usually while thy are actually trying to accomplish something beneficial.

There’s the governor of Georgia and there’s jesterfyl. And the difference in wisdom is astounding. Excellent post, j.

I wish that the gov’s heart was in the right place for prayer, but I have to agree that this was likely a publicity stunt. Surely he knew to coverage that the media and debate forums would give to it if he prayed in public. However, can we blame him for wanting more people to be aware of the problems that the state is having? I imagine it would be frightening to know the water is running out and that you are forced to send much needed water down the lines to another state. I pray that God sends life giving water to all people.

“Hey, whats wrong with praying? You guys act like there is no God or something etc.”
Nothing is wrong with praying, George, if a person believes in a god. But does that person have to do so in public for a photo opportunity?
I personally think the praying is going to do any good as there isn’t anyone there to do anything about it. And if a divine being exists, she/he has given humans the ability to either destroy earth or take care of earth. I’m not relying on a superior being, but am hoping that we humans take global warming seriously, and start to cool things down. It’ll rain when the forces are ready for it to, meanwhile, teaching conservation to the folks of Georgia (and other states) is an urgent need.

Correction: “I personally think the praying ISN’T going to do any good as there isn’t anyone there todo anything about it”

jestrfyl:
Well said!

“Hey, whats wrong with praying? You guys act like there is no God or something etc.”
Actually almost everyone acts as if there is no point to praying for some kind of event. If Georgians thought praying would work, why didn’t they pray for rain months ago before all those crops were damaged/ruined? If Westerners thought praying would work why didn’t they pray for those fires to be rained on? And most telling, surely millions, maybe billions of people of various religions watching the twin towers burn did pray the people in them would get out ok, but 3,000 died.
That kind of praying doesn’t work and people know it, whether they will admit it to themselves or not.

There’s an AP article on the struggle between Atlanta and some Georgia farmers for water.
Here’s a short quote from it.
“Between 1990 and 2000, Atlanta added more than 1 million people and its water use climbed 30 percent to about 420 million gallons a day. Now metropolitan Atlanta boasts roughly 5 million people and projects more than 2 million more by 2030, when water could climb past 700 million gallons a day.”
It looks like this was irresponsible growth; surely some folks warned what could happen but probably development interests shouted and spent them down. I’d say Atlanta, and the Georgia power structure is getting what it deserves; unfortunately a lot of innocent people are getting what they don’t deserve. And it will hurt them a lot more than those in the power structure.

All but the most naive would fail to see that what Gov. Purdue did was motivated, at least in part, by a desire to be seen in public doing something positive. All but the most jaded would fail to grant the governor a modicum of concern for his constituents. One does not preclude the other. Just because there was a publicly held prayer doesn’t mean that the State of Georgia isn’t doing other things to conserve water.
Before we start pointing fingers at others for the way they use the resources on God’s good earth we need to take a look at our own use. In other words, take the log out of my own eye before I try to remove the speck in someone elses. (Gee, I wonder who said that) Oh, wait, that would mean actually taking responsibility for our actions. Sorry I suggested it.

It’s “Perdue”.

Everyone is so serious about this article. People pray, and Gov. Perdue led his group of people in a prayer for rain, it shows people he cares about their worry due to the lack of rain. Whether it rains soon, or not, it is what their hearts told them to do. No big plot, no mystery, and why even have this article, except to debate about prayer?

I posted the post above. Now I can see how you can leave your name off. Write your name first, etc, so you don’t forget after you post.

“Perhaps their actual confidence in the power of such prayers is quite low but they hate to see it publicly fail. Maybe they figure if they are seen to pray for rain and it doesn’t work people will decide “God” isn’t favoring them.”
And THEN how long will it be before some ‘preacher’ decides that the ‘reason’ God isn’t favoring them is because of Amurica’s ‘tolerant’ attitude to, um, let’s say the f@gz.
Why doesn’t some other ‘preacher’ decide that God no longer favors a nation that renegs on its ‘promise’ of equality for all???
Just askin’.

Hey George,
“Hey whats wrong with praying?”
Nothing. Except we were told to do it in private, and to not make a show of it.
“You guys act like there’s no God or something. Truth is there is a God.”
And your proof would be … ?
“And you will discover this out sooner or later.”
sounds like the typical ‘christian’ threat of damnation.
“(Ever hear of the Human Natural Law?)”
Nope, but it sounds kinda catholic to me.
“God is very real But I ask what’s wrong with prayer? Acknowledgement and worship of our God? Nothing unless your a atheist!”
Ah, there’s that ‘loving’ inclusive ‘christian’ attitude we’ve come to know but not love. And Windsor’s Child wonders why so many are so cynical.

“I think that if he were really focused on the situation and not the photo opportunity he might have prayed for the people effected by the drought. Would he not have been better of praying that the golf courses and country clubs see fit to join with the whole population and turn off their sprinklers? He could have asked God to speak to the hearts of people everywhere whose lawns require more water than is necessary, and asked that they learn to zero-scape. He might have prayed that polluters and despoilers of the rivers might repent and begn to clean their own messes.
Instead he offered a public pose and pious posture that in the long run will likely make him look foolish. I am reminded of Jesus’ lesson about those folks who like to look to heaven and beat their chests in public anguish – especially compared to people who quietly pray, usually while thy are actually trying to accomplish something beneficial.”
Bore repeating, so I repeated it. Thanks jestrfyl.
And sorry, henrietta, but I gotta disagree with you: “Perdue led his group of people in a prayer for rain, it shows people he cares about their worry due to the lack of rain.” If he truly cared, he would take some or most or all of jestrfyl’s advice and redirect his prayers to concrete actions that citizens both corporate and private can and should take.

A lesson to be learned.
Well, according the weather report Gov Perdue (like the Chicken company) got is prayer answered. My lesson is that I guess some things happen – though I still wonder if it was coincidental (or he had an advaned weather report – ever the cynic am I)
But the other lesson is – be careful for what you pray. Apparently the storm was torrential and most of the water ran off – and a child was killed. Some clarity in prayers is important. I hope Gov Perdue does not go out again and ask for the clestial faucet to be turned off!
I stand by my thoughts on prayer – and on what I think the Gov should be focusing its efforts. But I am still scratching my head in wondrous mystery!

I LIKE WHAT THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF GORGIA DID “PRAY FOR RAIN”I AGREE WITH HIM 100%.I WISH EVERY GOVERNOR OF THE USA WILL BE LIKE THAT FOR THE GASOLINE PRICES CAN COME DOWN.WE CAN PRAY OR STOP DRIVING OUR CARS FOR AT LEASE 2 DAYS.WE GOING TO SEE “O P E C” DROPING THE PRICES OF GASOLINE DOWN.IS GOING TO WORK IF WE PUT OUR FAITH TOGETHER LIKE THE GOVERNOR OF GORGIA.GOD BLESS HIM.OUR PRAYERS ARE WITH HIM AND FOR THIS BAUTIFUL NATION.GOD BLESS.

exPent, how do we know he hasn’t ?

I don’t knnow “that he hasn’t”, but if he has, it sure wasn’t as public as his prayer show.