Another Theological Posting

Jim Downey over at Unscrewing the Inscrutable appears amused by a little squib he found in the Hartford Advocate; it's one of those non-bylined filler pieces that appear in the front pages of the print edition, before the big articles and features. Guess which staff writer was responsible for this blasphemy?

Get Off Your Lazy Omnipotent Ass And Help Us
Alabama Governor declares a pray-for-rain week for his state.

The drought parching the Southeast has been particularly devastating for Alabama, whose primary industry is agriculture. So Governor Bob Riley has adopted a take-charge, proactive solution to the problem, and issued a proclamation declaring June 30 through July 7 as "Days of Prayer for Rain" week in the state. "I encourage all Alabamians to pray individually and within their houses of worship for sufficient rain," said the press release given by the governor's office.

So how did it work? The good news: last week scattered showers dropped nearly a half-inch of rain on some parts of the state. The bad news: it'll take at least 14 inches to get water levels back to normal. Theological speculation as to why the prayer week failed: Riley asked all Alabamians to pray. That means Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and probably a few Pastafarians too. So you know at least one person in the state prayed to a false and non-existent God, thus annoying he real one enough to negate any brownie points the statewide prayer vigil might otherwise have racked up.

I'm of the impression that Downey views this as some sort of joke, but I think it holds actual theological water (albeit not the kind that can help Alabama).