Herbert’s call for ‘snow prayers’ sparks controversy among Utahns

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Utah Gov. Gary Herbert. File photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, March 3, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — One of Utah Governor Gary Herbert’s Facebook posts — revealing he asked Utah’s religious leaders to pray for snow — is sparking social media controversy.

“This week, I issued a letter to interfaith leaders in our state, calling for a collective prayer of thanksgiving and a special prayer that the elements be tempered on our behalf,” says the post.

“This weekend, I hope that you will join me in praying that the storm passing through the northern part of our state will bring snow to our mountains and that storm systems will soon arrive in the central and southern portions of our state.

“Much of the Wasatch Front is expecting a winter storm to roll in this evening, hopefully delivering much-needed precipitation. It has been an unusually dry winter and our snowpack dangerously low, with some snowpack totals as low as 41 percent.”

The post, illustrated by an image of the letter he sent out, drew about 1,700 mixed emoji responses in its first 20 hour.

Herbert’s message had drawn 1,100 generic “like” responses by noon on Saturday, and in 254 emoji voters professed their “love.” It also earned 219 people who clicked the shut-eyed, laughing emoji informally known as “haha,” 56 votes for “angry,” with 32 weighing in as “surprised” and five as “sad.”

Some of the post’s 670 comments were from people who said they were offended by the lack of separation of church and state, or by the state’s inaction on water issues.

Here are a few that popped up automatically after a click of “top comments”:

● “Prayer isn’t going to cut it,” a Weber State University professor said. “Wish in one hand and do something in the other. Squeeze each and see which one comes true. We can do something about this. Or we can pray.”

● “C’mon Gary Herbert … this is why people look at us like a joke,” a West Jordan man said. “You do the churches bidding and this just confirms the bias … I don’t have a problem with Mormons or the LDS teachings but … why does everybody else have separation of church and state but we don’t?”

● “What tangible thing are you doing to influence climate change? Praying to the Easter Bunny, although comforting, will have no impact on weather,” a woman wrote. “A call to prayer makes you sound ridiculous and not fit to lead. How about you support electric vehicles, stop selling oil and gas leases, and think of the future of our state and country.”

● “I believe in prayers and I will continue to pray for snow and rain, but I also firmly believe that ‘Faith without works in dead,’ a Lehi woman said. “We need to adopt scientifically sound measures in Utah and do our part to alleviate the damage we have all done to our environment.”

● “I suspect that thoughts and prayers will have the same influence on precipitation patterns as they do on gun violence,” a U of U student wrote.

● “Nope nope nope,” a Salt Lake City teacher said. “Offensive on so many levels.”

● “Prayer won’t save us,” an Ogden man said. “Your party’s pathological disregard of climate science is a major reason why hope is running out. We need climate adaptation solutions and mitigation strategies rooted in evidence. Not the calls of a politician who has confused running a state with running a church.”

● “Boy, you guys get right down hateful,” a Salt Lake City woman wrote. “Is it going to hurt you to pray that this storm that is coming will not be so severe that it causes great harm to any of Utah’s residents? I’m always so surprised to see such hostile reactions to such simple things. I know there are issues that need to be solved in Utah, but he was just asking for prayer for the storm to pass and drop the rain and snow and pass on by. Good grief, lighten up.”

● “Prayers are well and good, but as the state’s chief executive you could actually take action to work on addressing climate change instead of making it de-facto policy to pray for things to get better,” a man wrote.

To see more or new top or chronological comments on the post, click here.

Read Herbert’s letter to interfaith leaders below.

FacebookGovernor Gary Herbert

2 COMMENTS

  1. I don’t see anything wrong with it, and I’m not religious at all. It is the people who find it a problem that are the problem.

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