The bible states that prayer somehow works better when you get a bunch of like-minded people together. You'd think that with the invention of the internet and therefore the ability for billions of believers to sync up their communication channels to God and send requests en mass, we could easily change things. Things like, oh I don't know, world peace, the end of hunger, cancer, and other needless suffering. After millennia of just a spattering of people here and there asking for a global change, we have now within our means a way to systematically connect all the conduits of faith, and with a glorious roar reminiscent of Horton Hears a Who, simultaneously unleash a massive prayer toward the heavens.
But still nothing happens. Either everyone isn't synced up just right, or not enough people care about the state of things, or too many people are talking to too many different Gods, or -- the more likely answer -- prayer just doesn't work.
-STA
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Paying for Prayer
Are you sitting down? Good. Here's a couple news items from this week.
An All-Christian Prison
Oklahoma plans to build a Christian-run prison to give Christian inmates special privileges. So where's the all-atheist prison, or the all-Muslim prison? Sure, that's exactly what they need. Pray to an invisible friend that will take away all the bad things you've done in your life so that you can feel better about yourself, and read your bibles that tell stories of unicorns, dragons, satyrs, and talking donkeys. "Ninety-eight percent of offenders are going to get out of prison," says the project's leader. "What kind of offender do you want living next door?"
Priest Same As Doctor
Congressional members are again kowtowing to Christian Science by sponsoring a provision in the health care reform bill to allow prayer to be considered medicine. The Christian Science Church has pushed throughout its history to secure official recognition for its paid prayer practitioners. That's right, I said paid prayer practitioners. Their job is to pray for healing and charge for treatment at rates similar to those of medical doctors. Imagine having a job where you just pray for someone to get better all the while earning doctor's wages! I guess if you don't have a conscience or care at all about people, that's the best job in the world. If praying for someone to get better counts as medicine, shouldn't praying for someone to die be considered an attempt at murder? Does praying to win the lottery amount to fraud?
-STA
An All-Christian Prison
Oklahoma plans to build a Christian-run prison to give Christian inmates special privileges. So where's the all-atheist prison, or the all-Muslim prison? Sure, that's exactly what they need. Pray to an invisible friend that will take away all the bad things you've done in your life so that you can feel better about yourself, and read your bibles that tell stories of unicorns, dragons, satyrs, and talking donkeys. "Ninety-eight percent of offenders are going to get out of prison," says the project's leader. "What kind of offender do you want living next door?"
Priest Same As Doctor
Congressional members are again kowtowing to Christian Science by sponsoring a provision in the health care reform bill to allow prayer to be considered medicine. The Christian Science Church has pushed throughout its history to secure official recognition for its paid prayer practitioners. That's right, I said paid prayer practitioners. Their job is to pray for healing and charge for treatment at rates similar to those of medical doctors. Imagine having a job where you just pray for someone to get better all the while earning doctor's wages! I guess if you don't have a conscience or care at all about people, that's the best job in the world. If praying for someone to get better counts as medicine, shouldn't praying for someone to die be considered an attempt at murder? Does praying to win the lottery amount to fraud?
-STA
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Obama Not Concerned with Praying
It seems that this year's annual trampling of church-state separation known as the "National Day of Prayer" was basically skipped by the nation's current President. The Obamas opted to observe the "holiday" in private (as he should according to his religion). For the first time in nearly two decades the White House declined to participate in the Congressionally-authorized mental jerkfest beyond issuing the standard proclamation.
Yay.
Obama's toned-down stance earned him big points with us secularists. Along with his measures to stop federally funded abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education for teens and replace it with funding for “scientifically accurate” teen pregnancy approaches, and his stance on placing stronger a emphasis on science, not to mention lifting the ban on stem-cell research -- he's shaping up to undo a lot of the evils of the previous eight years.
Of course, President Obama did sign a proclamation recognizing the National Day of Prayer, as presidents before him have done for over half a century.
Small steps, I guess.
-STA
Yay.
Obama's toned-down stance earned him big points with us secularists. Along with his measures to stop federally funded abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education for teens and replace it with funding for “scientifically accurate” teen pregnancy approaches, and his stance on placing stronger a emphasis on science, not to mention lifting the ban on stem-cell research -- he's shaping up to undo a lot of the evils of the previous eight years.
Of course, President Obama did sign a proclamation recognizing the National Day of Prayer, as presidents before him have done for over half a century.
Small steps, I guess.
-STA
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
What to Give Up for Lent
The season of Lent begins tomorrow, and even if you're not a Catholic I challenge you to give up one (or all) of the following for the next forty days (or for as long as you live).
-STA
- Superstitious thinking - Maybe you're the sort of person that thinks walking under ladders or breaking mirrors is "bad", or maybe you own a lucky sock, penny, shirt, or animal foot. Perhaps you're afraid of certain numbers, or think something will happen on a given day just because of the numbers in the date. Maybe you think crackers can become human flesh, or that talking to yourself can help you find your car keys or cure your cold. For the next few days, attempt to willfully break yourself of whatever mental habit you have that can be labeled superstitious. Put away belief in magic and learn about the laws of nature.
- Credulity - If you're the kind of person who accepts things you're told without checking into the details, try for the next month to instead check into what you hear. Think about something you feel you know and actively check it out. For many faith is a virtue, but for these next few days, let it be a defect. Instead seek to back up claims you hear or ideas you come up with. The key point here is that you learn the what a reputable source is. The best sources are backed up by evidence. Gullibility won't get you as far as you think in this world.
- Apathy (especially towards the "god question") - If you'd rather not ponder on the existence of a Supreme Being, over the coming days I urge you to do so. A lot of people are apatheists; they don't care or just don't ever think about their position on theism. For this season of Lent, take some time and gather your thoughts on this matter. It's important to understand what you think about theology, because if there is no such thing that could be called "God", millions of people are wasting their lives (and hurting the lives of others). But if there is a god, it's the most important thing for us all. If you've already made up your mind on the matter, again toss aside apathy and speak out about it. If you haven't approached the question before, take the next few days and just think about how you feel. Do you really believe in God?
-STA
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Help Us Rain Man
A man clenches his hands together and squeezes his eyes shut, deep in thought. Another lifts his hands toward the sky and weeps, while a woman kneels and gently rocks.
"You visit the earth and you water it," says a man. "The River of God is full!" he declares.
This might sound like something out of weird occult ritual or maybe an early pagan ceremony, but in fact it happened in the year 2007. Today, Georgia's top officials -- that's right, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS -- officially prayed for rain on the steps of the Capitol building to end the devastating drought that's lasted over a year.
And if you need water, Yahweh knows fuckin' water.
Wash Us In Your Watery Wetness
Georgia Governor, Sonny Perdue, teamed up with lawmakers, ministers and supporters to pray for rain at the State Capitol. THE STATE CAPITOL!!! There's a church, mosque, synagogue, or tabernacle on just about every corner of Georgia, and these are the places where religious rituals and practices should be held.
Since this drought's been around for a year or more, I'm sure God's inbox has several prayers with "Need Rain Now" as the subject. Are those not working? Apparently not. Rocky Twyman, the guy who organized a concert two weeks ago at an Atlanta church (where shit like this NEEDS to be) said: “We need a different approach. We need to call on God, because what we’re doing isn’t working.”
So, exactly how long is it supposed to take for God to make it rain? How long will rain for? And if it rains, you've proven what...that it rains sometimes? Can you make Him do it again???
Don't for get that back in July the Governor of Alabama declared a full week to “Days of Prayer for Rain”. And back in 1986, Georgina's prayed for rain and God came through!
Look, it rains sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't. But it isn't some magical Sky Daddy that's "makin' it wet", it's natural processes -- some of which we understand and some of which we don't yet -- that control our weather patters. Things like the Jet Stream, atmospheric radiation, snow, tornadoes, even lightening are things that we've discovered scientifically. Remember way back when people thought that lightening was thrown down by Zeus because he was pissed? Do the hicks in Georgia or Alabama still think that?
I'm not trying to be divisive or insulting here. But just wanting rain or anything else isn't going to make it happen. There's some things you can do to conserve water (take shorter showers, turn off the tap while you brush your teeth, etc.) but there isn't a lot you can do to make it rain.
And that's the issue here. The people of Georgia are at a loss. They got nothing left, what could it hurt?
Hey, Get Away From My Wall!
Well, I've covered this before not three posts ago, but our government was founded on secularism. State politics are not to get involved with Church matters. Yes, Governor Perdue declared this to be a "non-denominational" event, though I'm not sure exactly how many Muslims, Hindus, or Jains attended. It was mostly Southern Baptist with a couple of Protestants thrown in for extra spiritual spice.
This is a violation of the U.S. Constitution, the Georgia State Constitution, and a public mockery of the government. Was public money used to fund this, or any religious event?
And when it doesn't rain, will you people stop this bullshit?
-STA
"You visit the earth and you water it," says a man. "The River of God is full!" he declares.
This might sound like something out of weird occult ritual or maybe an early pagan ceremony, but in fact it happened in the year 2007. Today, Georgia's top officials -- that's right, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS -- officially prayed for rain on the steps of the Capitol building to end the devastating drought that's lasted over a year.
And if you need water, Yahweh knows fuckin' water.
Wash Us In Your Watery Wetness
Georgia Governor, Sonny Perdue, teamed up with lawmakers, ministers and supporters to pray for rain at the State Capitol. THE STATE CAPITOL!!! There's a church, mosque, synagogue, or tabernacle on just about every corner of Georgia, and these are the places where religious rituals and practices should be held.
Since this drought's been around for a year or more, I'm sure God's inbox has several prayers with "Need Rain Now" as the subject. Are those not working? Apparently not. Rocky Twyman, the guy who organized a concert two weeks ago at an Atlanta church (where shit like this NEEDS to be) said: “We need a different approach. We need to call on God, because what we’re doing isn’t working.”
So, exactly how long is it supposed to take for God to make it rain? How long will rain for? And if it rains, you've proven what...that it rains sometimes? Can you make Him do it again???
Don't for get that back in July the Governor of Alabama declared a full week to “Days of Prayer for Rain”. And back in 1986, Georgina's prayed for rain and God came through!
Look, it rains sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't. But it isn't some magical Sky Daddy that's "makin' it wet", it's natural processes -- some of which we understand and some of which we don't yet -- that control our weather patters. Things like the Jet Stream, atmospheric radiation, snow, tornadoes, even lightening are things that we've discovered scientifically. Remember way back when people thought that lightening was thrown down by Zeus because he was pissed? Do the hicks in Georgia or Alabama still think that?
I'm not trying to be divisive or insulting here. But just wanting rain or anything else isn't going to make it happen. There's some things you can do to conserve water (take shorter showers, turn off the tap while you brush your teeth, etc.) but there isn't a lot you can do to make it rain.
And that's the issue here. The people of Georgia are at a loss. They got nothing left, what could it hurt?
Hey, Get Away From My Wall!
Well, I've covered this before not three posts ago, but our government was founded on secularism. State politics are not to get involved with Church matters. Yes, Governor Perdue declared this to be a "non-denominational" event, though I'm not sure exactly how many Muslims, Hindus, or Jains attended. It was mostly Southern Baptist with a couple of Protestants thrown in for extra spiritual spice.
This is a violation of the U.S. Constitution, the Georgia State Constitution, and a public mockery of the government. Was public money used to fund this, or any religious event?
And when it doesn't rain, will you people stop this bullshit?
-STA
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Thanks for the Grub
Greetings. You may have noticed that things have slowed down around here. I missed last week's Fallacy Friday, and I believe we'll skip the coming one as well. No, I'm not going away...the theists haven't won yet! Things have gotten a little off-balance around home and work, but I will try to post at least every week or so. As I alluded to in my first post, I can't always be certain when I'll get the time to rant about the idiocies and atrocities of religion, but I'll do my best.
Tis the season for the "holy-days" (Halloween having past, Thanksgiving and Christmas coming soon), and while I'll be taking more time off for friends and family, I will attempt to provide appropriate posts on these and other festivities as the need arises. If I can't, be sure to check my friends on the blogroll to the right. I'm sure they'll have some great things for the holiday season.
With all that out of the way, let's get down to business. As usual, something in my personal life will spur the need to rant, and so is the case for this post. Time to bitch about the efficacy of prayer!
Better authors (and scientific researchers) than I have refuted the idea, process, and need for prayer, and I'm almost not sure how to best go about it. But this isn't a book or a news article; it's a weblog about what it's like being the one fish in the pond who does not believe as the other fish do. So I won't spend time rehashing their books; I'll focus this blurb on family prayer, particularly that which arises around holiday gatherings and the saying of "grace".
Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Cornbread
If you've ever gone over to a relative's house and gotten into a situation where you had to hold hands in a circle while someone said a prayer, what did you do? If you're a nonbeliever like me, you might agree to hold the hands of the people next to you, depending on how close you are with your kinfolks and the level of "outness" you may have with them. I'm often respectful of my kin and elders--not necessarily their ideas--but just placating for the time.
I don't close my eyes or pray. Instead, I usually find myself looking around at the other people in the circle, their eyes squeezed shut as they nod in agreement with the redundant utterings of the group leader. My thoughts are concentrated on the goings on at the present time; I could chose to think of whatever I want (focus on the food we're about to eat, think about the last episode of Heroes I watched, or ponder the thought processes of the ant scurrying across the floor). But I find myself being respectful in thought as well. That doesn't mean I think about how wonderful Jesus is for letting us buy a ham, or praise the Great Spirit of the pig that gave up its life so that we may eat of it.
No, I think about the people in the circle. I study their actions, the language of their body, and the words they use as they talk to themselves. It's more of a people-watching exercise; I get to study humans in the act of worship. Of course I'll often think of something amusing, and I'll have to try to keep from laughing out loud. Sometimes it's because of what the leader says, sometimes it's the blatant fallacy they use, or the general idea of it. I don't say 'Amen' after the sweaty cousin finally lets go of my left hand, and I don't feel a sense of pride of being part of a family that prays together.
So why do I even do it? Why don't I just speak up and call out the ridiculousness of the whole thing, or just refuse to participate in the first place? My answer can only be: family. I'm at someone else's house, at a private gathering that I was invited to, someone whom I care about to some degree or another, someone who is taking their time to spend with me, wish me well, and feed me. I'm not petty enough to get tied down by a recitation of grace before I eat the meal that this person spent money and hours on. It frankly doesn't mean that much to me. Sure it pains me to hear this person whom I love say such mind-numbingly stupid things, and if the situation warrants it, I may make my thoughts known. But this person is doing what they believe to be something good and wholesome for the ones they love, and that includes me. It's almost like visiting a native tribe in a far-off jungle, and joining in their rituals of celebration. I also think of it as just a tradition. True, a bad one, but one that I grew up with, and most likely the relative I'm visiting did too. It's like when we carve pumpkins or color eggs. It doesn't "mean" anything, it's just a family thing. I don't think its doing anything supernatural, its the natural things I focus on.
Still, it would be nice not to have to put up with such bullshit. It'd make more time for family.
-STA
Tis the season for the "holy-days" (Halloween having past, Thanksgiving and Christmas coming soon), and while I'll be taking more time off for friends and family, I will attempt to provide appropriate posts on these and other festivities as the need arises. If I can't, be sure to check my friends on the blogroll to the right. I'm sure they'll have some great things for the holiday season.
With all that out of the way, let's get down to business. As usual, something in my personal life will spur the need to rant, and so is the case for this post. Time to bitch about the efficacy of prayer!
Better authors (and scientific researchers) than I have refuted the idea, process, and need for prayer, and I'm almost not sure how to best go about it. But this isn't a book or a news article; it's a weblog about what it's like being the one fish in the pond who does not believe as the other fish do. So I won't spend time rehashing their books; I'll focus this blurb on family prayer, particularly that which arises around holiday gatherings and the saying of "grace".
Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Cornbread
If you've ever gone over to a relative's house and gotten into a situation where you had to hold hands in a circle while someone said a prayer, what did you do? If you're a nonbeliever like me, you might agree to hold the hands of the people next to you, depending on how close you are with your kinfolks and the level of "outness" you may have with them. I'm often respectful of my kin and elders--not necessarily their ideas--but just placating for the time.
I don't close my eyes or pray. Instead, I usually find myself looking around at the other people in the circle, their eyes squeezed shut as they nod in agreement with the redundant utterings of the group leader. My thoughts are concentrated on the goings on at the present time; I could chose to think of whatever I want (focus on the food we're about to eat, think about the last episode of Heroes I watched, or ponder the thought processes of the ant scurrying across the floor). But I find myself being respectful in thought as well. That doesn't mean I think about how wonderful Jesus is for letting us buy a ham, or praise the Great Spirit of the pig that gave up its life so that we may eat of it.
No, I think about the people in the circle. I study their actions, the language of their body, and the words they use as they talk to themselves. It's more of a people-watching exercise; I get to study humans in the act of worship. Of course I'll often think of something amusing, and I'll have to try to keep from laughing out loud. Sometimes it's because of what the leader says, sometimes it's the blatant fallacy they use, or the general idea of it. I don't say 'Amen' after the sweaty cousin finally lets go of my left hand, and I don't feel a sense of pride of being part of a family that prays together.
So why do I even do it? Why don't I just speak up and call out the ridiculousness of the whole thing, or just refuse to participate in the first place? My answer can only be: family. I'm at someone else's house, at a private gathering that I was invited to, someone whom I care about to some degree or another, someone who is taking their time to spend with me, wish me well, and feed me. I'm not petty enough to get tied down by a recitation of grace before I eat the meal that this person spent money and hours on. It frankly doesn't mean that much to me. Sure it pains me to hear this person whom I love say such mind-numbingly stupid things, and if the situation warrants it, I may make my thoughts known. But this person is doing what they believe to be something good and wholesome for the ones they love, and that includes me. It's almost like visiting a native tribe in a far-off jungle, and joining in their rituals of celebration. I also think of it as just a tradition. True, a bad one, but one that I grew up with, and most likely the relative I'm visiting did too. It's like when we carve pumpkins or color eggs. It doesn't "mean" anything, it's just a family thing. I don't think its doing anything supernatural, its the natural things I focus on.
Still, it would be nice not to have to put up with such bullshit. It'd make more time for family.
-STA
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