Scot, did you not see that the pray for rain totally worked? We had wildfires throughout my area for two days and Perry issued the pray for rain on a friday. Only two hours later, it started raining in my area for the first time all month. Obviously, our area prayed harder than the rest of texas that was scorched.
Here's the thing about Gov. Perry. I don't object to these events like pray for rain. People have no fucking control over the rain and when your world is on fire and your entire livelihood is ablaze and the federal government is refusing to approve your request for federal aid for a weather emergency... people get crazy. People in texas have lots of guns... So let's do the math... Crazy people with lots of guns + nothing left to live for + no means to provide for their family + outrage with their government for not helping them = ?!?!?!?!? (Major problems)
So what Gov. Perry is really doing in the pray for rain incident is empathizing with those people and redirecting them to the only "person" in control of rain. "God". This takes the heat off of him and takes the anger out of the people who may be robbing or killing others to survive otherwise. I think a lot of people internalize these external issues and believe as if their personal or collective sins are the reason behind the fires or the drought... and that only if they pray hard enough, ask for forgiveness, and be better people, then everything will go back to normal.
I think most (Read: At least a lot of...) people out here know damned well and good that praying for rain isn't going to change anything. But when you have nothing else you can do and no one else you can blame, you start to do desperate things.
As for Gov. Perry himself? I think he's a very bright and savvy politician. He has been governor for 10 years now and holds his constituency pretty well. (Though I think this 4 year term will probably be his last.) He knows his constituency is largely religious and that to remain outside of the blame, he needs to redirect them to their religion to cope. Does he really believe it himself? I think he does believe that prayer may help unite people to solve the problem... but I am without a doubt that he understands what he is doing politically and is playing the game strategically very well.
As to churches/religion in texas? I live in a town of about 100,000 people. There is seriously a church on every other street corner. (Exaggeration, but there are at least 100 churches in my town.) The people in my town are very religious and conservative people... but they don't really push their religion on you around here. Most people won't ask you about your religion (they will assume you are christian. (unless you are foreign looking... then you must be one of them there muzzzz-lambs.) More rural areas do become more religious driven... urban areas are pretty secular entirely.
I personally dislike Gov. Perry and did not vote for him in the last election. The state is still doing better than nearly all of the other states in the U.S., but I do think that at times he crosses the line to appeal to the christian base that he needs.
Oh yeah... the point of the thread. The power of prayer is a real thing. I'm not saying if you pray for it to rain that it will... because it won't. (I'm going to put this in drug terms because this is simply how my brain interprets the situation and I think it aptly illustrates my point.) Prayer (with belief) is like taking a placebo for an illness. The placebo effect has been well documented... The power of the human mind to control it's own outcome is amazing. I think that prayer with the absolute belief that it will work, is in fact helpful in many cases. I know that at cancer treatment hospitals, they really push for religion and positive attitudes because the people who believe that they will be cured typically do much better than the patients without it. Do I think there is an omnipotent being micromanaging all of our lives? No. I'd imagine an omnipotent being would have better things to do than meddle in the lives of humans. But I do think that there is power behind prayer. (Even if it is just the placebo effect.)
Anyways, sort of a long post... but believe it or not, I actually had a lot more to say and cut myself short.
Sending loads of love from Texas.
Cody
P.s. I wish we had George W. Bush back as governor... He did such a great job here in texas... then he went on to be president and the United States and Texas alike got the short end of the stick.
