Rachel Held Evans

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Dear Focus on the Family

​Dear Focus on the Family,

It has come to my attention that a representative from your organization has encouraged Christians to pray for rain—not rain in Ethiopia, where more than 10 million people are short of food because of drought—but rain in Denver, Colorado, where a few thousand democrats plan to hold their convention in an outdoor stadium.

You say that good Christians should pray for rain in Denver because good Christians are pro-life—not pro-Iraqi-civilian life, of course—but pro-unborn-child-life.

I guess that in a world where 39,000 children die each day from preventable disease, where around 90,000 civilians have been killed in Iraq, where the current global food crisis causes a child to die every seven seconds, where 47 million Americans cannot afford basic healthcare, and where women and children continue to be murdered in Darfur—nothing says “God is pro-life” better than a bunch of wet democrats.

You say that good Christians should pray for rain in Denver because good Christians support the sanctity of marriage—not the sanctity of their own marriages,  of course, which are plagued by higher divorce rates than those of atheists and agnostics—but the sanctity of the idea of marriage, which is being threatened by gays and democrats.

I guess that in a world where more than 15-million children have been orphaned by AIDS,  where thousands of American foster kids are waiting for adoption, where the UN estimates there are around 34 million refugees and internally displaced people, where girls continue to be sold as sex slaves, where thousands of Americans are losing their homes and their jobs, and where almost 5 million Iraqis have been displaced by America’s invasion—nothing threatens what Focus on the Family calls “the nuclear family” more than gay people getting married.

You say that good Christians will ask God to bend the rules for this very important occasion, that Jesus didn’t really mean it when He said God causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

I guess that in a world where war criminals continue to commit genocide in Sudan, where dictators suppress religion freedom in China, where people suffer from extreme poverty under the corrupt government of Zimbabwe,  where sovereign nations are getting invaded by power-hungry Russian leaders, and where our own government exaggerated intelligence in order to occupy Iraq—Barack Obama is God’s biggest concern, worthy of a little extra attention.

You say that good Christians will pray for rain because of their Christian values—not those concerning care for the poor, love for enemies, or hospitality to foreigners, of course—but those concerning national security, immigration reform, and tax breaks for the wealthy.

I guess that in a world where 1.3 billion people live on less than a dollar a day, nothing threatens Christian values more than a man who wants to take our tax breaks back.

Dear Focus on the Family -  I’m a good Christian, but I will not pray for rain in Denver.

I will pray for rain in Ethiopia.

[Click here to see the praying for rain video.]