Friday, November 16, 2007 | Reason : Wingnut News | print version

Georgia gets rain, but it may not help

by Yahoo, AP

This is just too terribly ironic. 2 days after they pray for rain in Georgia, a storm comes in, damages a church and injures children. If it weren't so sad it would be funny. This has to be up there with lighting hitting the Jesus statue and breaking of its arm.

Reposted from:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071115/ap_on_re_us/southern_drought_1

ATLANTA - A storm crashed through the Southeast and brought up to an inch of rain in parts of drought-stricken Georgia, but forecasters said the storm likely did little to ease the state's historic drought.

"The ground probably sucked it all up," said Vaughn Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City. "The ground is so dry, I seriously doubt if any of the lakes rose any."

The Wednesday storm packed lashing rain and powerful gusts, injuring at least nine in Tennessee.

The roof of a Baptist church in Tennessee's Marion County was heavily damaged, said Jeremy Heidt of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. Three children were hurt by flying glass and were taken to hospitals, said Heidt.

City Hall across the street from the church suffered minor damage, Heidt said, and an ambulance business next to it had heavy damage. A house also collapsed, but the residents went to the hospital themselves.

"I couldn't get the door open because the outside pressure and wind was so strong," said Justin Lawhorne, manager of Wendy's restaurant in Kimball.

County schools were closed Thursday due to the storm.

More than a quarter of the Southeast is covered by an "exceptional" drought — the National Weather Service's worst drought category. With water levels low, many Georgia residents are under conservation orders — such as a ban on watering lawns.

The rainfall came two days after Gov. Sonny Perdue led a prayer service on the steps of the state Capitol to beg the heavens for an end to the drought.

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1. Comment #88446 by John Done on November 16, 2007 at 5:43 pm

Clearly, this is divine intervention! Only the God of Abraham would mock humanity's plea for help and smite innocent children. Glory be to his outrageous, self-absorbed, overtly destructive, child-endangering ways!

I still say that Ra and Thor should be given equal time when considering alternative theories, along with all of the other hundreds if not thousands of rain/storm/sky gods throughout history.

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2. Comment #88447 by eric.malitz on November 16, 2007 at 5:46 pm

that'll teach em.

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3. Comment #88450 by savagemickey on November 16, 2007 at 5:55 pm

Ever since god subscribed to The Onion he's been a little too ironic with his prayer answering.

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4. Comment #88455 by room101 on November 16, 2007 at 6:28 pm

Huh...well, I'll be darned. Didn't know this prayer s*** worked.

Excuse me for a moment while I pray for a new Porsche...

Other Comments by room101

5. Comment #88458 by octopus on November 16, 2007 at 7:09 pm

The roof of a Baptist church in Tennessee's Marion County was heavily damaged

Hmmm...perhaps Baptists are in the wrong team?

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6. Comment #88460 by DNAtheist on November 16, 2007 at 7:55 pm

It should be noted that the governor announced that they would be praying for rain after the weather service had issued its forecast predicting rain. Using science to make sure your prayers are "answered" hardly seems like a meaningful test of faith, but I suppose they know that their mythology would fail any real test if it had to stand on its own.

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7. Comment #88463 by Mister_X on November 16, 2007 at 8:10 pm

It should be noted that the governor announced that they would be praying for rain after the weather service had issued its forecast predicting rain.

I KNEW IT! It makes so much more sense than believing rain can spontaneously appear after prayer. To be honest, I got spooked when rain was in the local forecast just two days (I think) after the prayer. I could not know for certain that was rain in the forecast before the prayer.

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8. Comment #88472 by TheCelestialTeapot on November 16, 2007 at 11:43 pm

According to the last book in the New Testament the seasons will run together during End Times and be nearly indistinguishable. I just hope the apocalypse can postpone itself for a little while longer! :P

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9. Comment #88482 by Haymoon on November 17, 2007 at 2:14 am

When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers - Oscar Wilde

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10. Comment #88487 by JFHalsey on November 17, 2007 at 3:37 am

Excuse me for a moment while I pray for a new Porsche...

Better be careful or a new Porsche will crash through your living room and injure your children ;)

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11. Comment #88502 by PrimeNumbers on November 17, 2007 at 6:37 am

What a bunch of blithering idiots.

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12. Comment #88543 by liberalartist on November 17, 2007 at 4:03 pm

I live in southern Alabama and haven't seen rain in weeks, but at least my water is still running. Not as bad here as in Georgia. I'm thinking I will hold off on the praying for now - I need my roof! :)

Perhaps that was Zues - expressing his displeasure at their inability to know which god controls the big sky.

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13. Comment #88639 by sgr79 on November 18, 2007 at 6:34 am

Hmmmm...

I think this one fits the definition of "mixed blessings."

Or are the people of Georgia going to say that this simply means the people of Tennessee didn't pray enough as compared to them, and the deity got miffed?

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14. Comment #88759 by MutantXPhilip1978 on November 19, 2007 at 12:19 am

Perhaps their prayer was just soooo strong then God had no choice but to send a magnificent storm!

The big problem is that I'll bet that some of them were sitting there during the storm thinking "Praise be, for He has sent us rain!"

If anyone is confused by the fact that some parts didn't get any rain, think about it, He is in some people's eyes the God of Gaps, so there were gaps in where the rain fell, simple :)

Mutant Philip

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15. Comment #88788 by irate_atheist on November 19, 2007 at 2:04 am

If it weren't so sad it would be funny.

Perhaps these dunderheads will realise that the old myth of Noah's Ark is not such a nice story.

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16. Comment #88961 by room101 on November 19, 2007 at 9:21 am

Hold on a second...

This was last Wednesday? That just happended to be the day after I sacrificed one of my kids to the Aztec Rain God, Tlaloc (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlaloc)

I've been tracking the drought in that region of the country for months, and decided that I'd better do something about it.

So. Hey, Georgia: You're welcome.

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17. Comment #88970 by Tyler Durden on November 19, 2007 at 10:06 am

No rain due for the great state of Georgia until early next week according to accuWeather.com and weather.com - perhaps *shock* *horror* their God is busy elsewhere, doing something more important??

Say it ain't so, I thought he answered all prayers instantaneously. Pah, some god, gimme Ra anyday :-)

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18. Comment #88982 by arogop on November 19, 2007 at 11:56 am

I knew they should have gone with the Native American rain dance instead! Powerfull JuJu with those ancient spirits.

Andrew

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19. Comment #89095 by black wolf on November 19, 2007 at 5:44 pm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patrick-waldo-/pat-robertson-attributes-_b_72848.html

As you can read above in the article and the attached video, Pat Robertson Attributes Georgia Rain To Prayers and God, they're steadfast in their inanity. One may also comment on that site.

"The scientific community tends to think rain is a product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that is deposited on the earth's surface, forming when separate drops of water fall to the Earth's surface from clouds. But hey, what do they know? It's just as plausible that a mythical creature high in the skies shoots rain from his fingertips."

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20. Comment #89195 by Tyler Durden on November 20, 2007 at 1:56 am

If this magical, omnipotent (and gracious?) God can provide rain on demand for those who pray hard enough, then why not food for the hungry, money for the poor and shelter for the homeless?

I'm still waiting for that damn bike I asked for when I was 8 years old... no, wait, that was Santa :-)

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21. Comment #89198 by Philip1978 on November 20, 2007 at 2:01 am

Tyler Durden
You went about it all wrong, according to Peter Kay, comedian, you don't pray for bikes, you go steal them then pray for forgiveness afterwards! :)

Philip

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