Yes….I believe we can pray potholes away. Moses prayed and a sea opened up. #iseeya #itrustHim #prayerworks
— Tony Yarber (@TonyYarber) August 21, 2015Usually, when someone in Mississippi says prayer will fix a problem, it’s easy for me (an atheist who doesn’t live there) to shrug it off. It’s the South, after all. Hardly a surprise…. Everyone take a moment to facepalm at Tony Yarber, who thinks prayer can fix potholes. Now be afraid. Be very afraid. Because Tony Yarber is the Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi. And he continued to stand by his tweet when questioned about it. Because asking city workers to take care of the potholes would be too hard, I guess.
Yes, this is Mississippi were talking about, where the constitutional separation of Church and State (Don’t believe me? Check the 1st Amendment’s Exclusion Clause.) is often ignored as a mere inconvenience. Not that a pastor like Tony Yarber can’t be the mayor of a large city like Jackson, but you’d think a politician would be cognizant of the Constitution he’s sworn to uphold…or at the very least recognize the absurdity of using prayer to fill potholes instead of the conventionally accepted method: tax dollars and public works employees.
Not surprisingly, the Internet was not amused by Pastor/Mayor Yarber’s apparently inability to recognize that his God doesn’t get to be our government. He’s certainly free to his religious beliefs, but using his role as Mayor to push them is beyond the pale and not reflective of someone who understands and respects how American governance is supposed to work. Never mind that it’s a ridiculously cavalier and irresponsible approach to his official duties…and ensuring potholes are filled is one of the most basic day-to-day responsibilities a Mayor is charged with.
@TonyYarber is this how things are taken care of in Jackson, Mississippi?
— Cassidy. (@TweetsMcGee) August 21, 2015Faith in God isn’t a bad thing if that’s what helps you live a good life and treat people with decency and respect. The problem comes in when one believes that faith shouldn’t be separate from government. This belief displays not only a disturbing ignorance of our Constitution and history, but the failure to recognize and acknowledge the contemporary examples of what can happen when religion and government become indistinguishable (e.g.- Iran and Saudi Arabia). Using one’s faith as an instrument of governance is at the very least a recipe for tyranny…and religion has proven to be an astonishingly ineffective means of conducting affairs of state.
@TonyYarber @TweetsMcGee Yeah, you let us know when those potholes magically seal up there, Mayor.
— Jachra (@Jachra) August 22, 2015The author points out that when Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) was mayor of Newark, someone tweeted him about a pothole in need of repair. Instead of praying and turning it over to the Lord (who, when last I checked, doesn’t do infrastructure), Booker got on it posthaste and ensured the problem was resolved. Pastor/Mayor Yarber could learn a thing or two from Booker.
Whatever you may believe, prayer doesn’t fill potholes…especially when you consider that Scripture tells us God helps those who help themselves. Praying for potholes to magically fill themselves is not unlike using tax dollars to buy lottery tickets in an effort to plug holes in a government’s budget- it doesn’t work, it isn’t going to work…though it’s a great way to camouflage a leader’s irresponsible approach to the duties he was elected to fulfill.
If Pastor/Mayor Yarber’s official conduct isn’t the very definition of irresponsibility and official misconduct, I don’t know what would be. Jesus doesn’t fill potholes; city public works employees and tax dollars do.
