Governor Sonny Perdue’s Rain Dance

There is a fantastic scene in the film Apocalyptico, where the Mayan leaders are brutally sacrificing people in a steady stream of victims until a solar eclipse occurs and the spiritual leaders declare the gods are satisfied. The Mayan civilization is gripped in a terrible drought, the people are desperate, and the Mayan Spiritual leaders have an advanced understanding of Astronomy that allows them to predict the eclipse.

This scene was forefront in my mind when Sonny Perdue decided to pray for rain to alleviate Georgia’s worst drought in history. Not because prayer is in any way shape or form comparable to human sacrifice, but because, in scheduling his prayers right after climatologists predicted a 40 to 50-percent chance of rain, it appears that Perdue is using science to exploit the faithful.

This man (and other politicians), who waited until late October to acknowledge the crisis, whose years of mismanaging Georgia’s water supply has brought this upon Georgians, and whose most noticeable action before this prayer stunt was to sue the Army Corps of Engineers in an attempt to force them cut off Florida’s water supply (an action reminiscent of the Ants and the Grasshopper fable), now makes a public show of faith to deflect criticism and evade the political repercussions of his incompetence.

One of the commenters on this thread said in support of the Governor:

I believe want he did took guts. He stood for his believes and what this nation was founded on. If this nation comes alive and lives for God, then he will bless us all. God will supply our needs but we have to ask and thanks what Sonny Perdue did. God Bless!

Prayers serve an important purpose for the faithful. They comfort in times of crisis, provide an emotional crutch to lean on, and allow people to accept things that are out of their control, like the weather. Appealing to higher powers can have the side-effect of convincing people to misplace their trust in those claiming a closer connection to a higher power.

People motivated by faith can accomplish incredible feats of charity, but it’s important to remember how, in times of crisis, faith can be exploited to produce witch-burnings, inquisitions, and crusades, especially when the motivators are scape-goating, incompetent politicians.

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For the latest updates on Georgia’s efforts to manage the crisis, I recommend the Atlanta Water Shortage blog.