Georgia Governor Performs Rain Dance

OK, not a rain dance, but Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue is going to perform a public rain prayer along with other Georgia lawmakers on the steps of the state capital. This is pathetic. Government is not supposed to be in the religion business, a constitutional point that southern conservatives have never quite understood.

If Sonny and other lawmakers believe in God, then by all means they should pray for rain. But they should do it in private. It's not just as a citizen that I say this, but as someone who grew up in a Christian church and has a fair understanding of the Bible. Try this one:

When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. Matthew 6:5.

So, are they praying in public to get God's attention, or to get voters' attention?

I might not be so sensitive except Ed Brayton's blog had a piece yesterday on how religious proselytization has gotten out of control at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Just imagine a government and a military that place God above the Constitution. That's where we're headed, folks. And in case you didn't notice, I'm not one of those bloggers with the scarlet A (for atheist) on my page.