Seeing Red and Feeling so Blue

Rain, rain go away. Please come back some other day. There are a lot of us here in the South who have been singing this little ditty over the past couple of days. Powerful storms and torrential rain has caused severe flooding in several southern states including my own, Georgia. My prayers are with each and every person who may have lost their home, car, possessions, and worst yet, possibly loved ones. I was fortunate and blessed not to be adversely affected by the storms and flooding, but I do live only a few miles from some of the worst hit areas in Atlanta.

As I was watching the news coverage of the flooding here in Georgia, I couldn't help thinking about how we were in a severe drought this time last year and actually the year before as well. A drought so severe that their were some predictions that the city of Atlanta could possibly be without drinking water given the low level of area lakes, rivers, etc. Due to these water shortages, our esteemed governor (and I use this term loosely), Sonny Perdue, decided to pray for rain on the steps of the capital. Now, I am a Christian, and I most certainly believe in the power of prayer. I also don't necessarily believe that government and religion are mutually exclusive in this country (the question of whether they should be is a topic for another blog). However, as a Christian, I also believe that God allows things to happen for a reason. Moreover, not everyone in this state is Christian (although it could be argued that a strong majority of the population here is walking with the Lord). Given these issues, I believe that the governor's prayer could have been done publicly in a more appropriate venue, and it should have consisted more of how he could fall within God's will so that the Lord would show favor on his state not just a prayer request for rain. I always say that if we ask the Lord for something long enough, He will give it to us if only to show us that it wasn't worth our time in the first place. You see, He generally has something so much better in store if we can just exercise a little patience and faith. And so here we are with floods all over the place in Georgia. Well, Gov. Perdue, as you are declaring a state of emergency in 17 counties, cheer up, because your prayers have most certainly been answered.

Moving on, I started thinking about all of the natural disasters that we have experienced in this country over the past few years. It seems like there have been quite a few hurricanes and storms that have completely destroyed entire communities ( I don't think anyone has to be reminded of the devastation left in the wake of Katrina). Even more interesting is that a majority of these catastrophic events have occurred in the so called "red" states of America. It all started with the hijacking of the 2000 election by Dubya and company (ironic that this would be the same group to initiate the war on terrorism). Not a good year after the election, we are presented with 9/11 ( in all fairness, this was an attack orchestrated by man) which was the impetus for us going to war. Ultimately, The problem wasn't so much the 2000 election, but more the 2004 election. It was in this election that Republicans cleverly decided to utilize Christian conservatives to get re-elected to the white house. They branded themselves as the party of God and the Christian movement. It almost seemed like you were voting against God and Christianity if you chose to vote for the democratic candidate, John Kerry. Well, we all know how that election ended with John Kerry basically only carrying the states out West and in the Northeast. It was also in this year that at least 4 hurricanes made landfall in Florida costing the state billions of dollars and unfortunately human lives. Florida coincidentally voted for George W. Bush in 2004. The following year, Katrina makes landfall causing widespread damage and loss of life in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. These states also voted for George W. Bush in 2004 (of course, there is that school of thought that New Orleans was going to feel the wrath of God at some point, but that too is another blog). Following closely behind Katrina in 2005, was hurricane Rita which affected Galveston and Houston, TX. I think we all know how Texas voted in 2004. There have been countless floods that have affected people in the plain states and middle America over the past few years, and all of these states went "red" in 2004.

I want to fast forward to today. In the 2008 election, TN, SC, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, ND, SD, NE, KS, OK, MO, AR, WY, MT, ID, UT, and AZ all voted for McCain. If you will notice, Florida is not on this list. Florida voted for Barack Obama in the last election ( this is going to be important in a moment). Furthermore, the governors of Georgia and South Carolina both declared that they didn't want no stinkin' stimulus money for their states when the president got the stimulus package passed through Congress. Now, let's see, South Carolina's governor is just barely holding on to his position, and I think Georgia's situation is pretty self explanatory. Now some people say that due to where these states lie geographically, they are more prone to natural disasters than others. I do tend to agree with this statement. However, I find it interesting that Florida has had no real issues this year (not even one false evacuation). Every time a storm is predicted to hit the state, it some how drifts out to sea. Let me just say that I am not trying to label the Republican party or "red" states as being aligned with the devil. I am merely pointing out some interesting observations about our "weather patterns". There has to be something said about viewing God and Christian values as a tool to gain political advantage. As Christians, we should utilize our faith to guide us in voting for candidates who are concerned with feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, providing jobs for the jobless, etc. My prayer is that those who are of other faiths or none at all would consider these issues when in the voting booth as well. At the end of the day, there has to be an understanding that no one party has a patent on Christianity or values. As president Obama stated in his 2004 DNC speech (I'm paraphrasing here): we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states, and we serve an awesome God in the blue states.