The American Spectator

The Nation's Pulse

p> em>The Georgia rain br> On the Jasper County clay br> Couldn't wash away br> The way I loved you to this day br> The ol' dirt road's paved over now br> Nothin' here's the same br> Except for the Georgia rain. /em> br> --Tricia Yearwood, Georgia Rain /p>

One of the most time-dishonored methods for cultists to entrap their acolytes is by building a logical loop into their thinking. The formula goes something like this: B is a system independent of A, and only things recognized by B are considered, so A must not matter. Today's scientists are adept at this. They "prove" that God does not exist by defining existence as things identifiable by science and defining science as the identification of all things tangible.

A second group that mimics this strategy is the collective of modern journalists. They operate within a matrix that presumes the following: Our job is to report news. Reporting is conveying in words what was seen. Things not seeable are not reportable; ergo, they are not news. God cannot be seen; ergo, God cannot be news. On the other hand, foolish statements and behavior about God can be seen and heard, thus newsworthy. By this system, only articles mocking religion are worth doing. When the mockers get a comeuppance, that is censored.

The most glaring example of this, though a regrettable story from any viewpoint, came in a scornful article by the Jerusalem Report some years ago. Some Sephardic Jews had placed a mystical curse on Prime Minister Rabin that was said to kill him within thirty days. That was taken as obvious cause for hilarity. The outcome was that not only was he dead within thirty days, he was dead before the cover date on that issue of the magazine! Could the next issue then report that the power of the imprecation had been proven? Of course not. Thus the trap: if it doesn't come true, that is proof of falseness, but if it does come true, that is not proof of truth.

Which brings us to the great state of Georgia, Governor Sonny Perdue, and the prayer service he initiated for rain last week. The scoffers were out in force, reviling this rube for thinking that humanity could appeal to divinity for relief from drought. They stood by afterwards, ribald pens sharpened, ready to describe in minute loving detail the arid night that followed, the wilting leaves, the dashed hopes, the crestfallen naifs. Except… oops! It rained.

topics:
Religion, Law