Monday, August 11, 2003

Oh, for Christ's sake...

This is the kind of superstitious baloney I can't stand about religion, whether it's praying for someone's cancer to get better, praying for your favorite sports team's victory, praying for Arnold to win the recall election, or praying for rain in Europe. Got a dry throat, Holy Father?

Yeesh. You see this stuff in Buddhism here, too: it's common practice for Buddhist parents to pray for their children's success on exams. (On the flip side, I imagine certain Western Buddhists on Beliefnet might want to disown this sort of Buddhism as "not real Buddhism." Heh.)

Heads up, folks: petitionary prayer doesn't work. Give me a so-called example, and I'll give you a hundred counterexamples. Let's start with nearly 200 crisped subway passengers in Taegu a few months ago. I bet a lot of them were praying to get out safely. I bet a lot of their families were watching the news and praying for their safe return. And God let 'em down! Why? Because there's no literal God.

On a more Heinleinian note, Prince William demonstrates his harmony with all God's creatures. Maybe this should be titled "Prince William Uses Phallic Symbol On Dik-Dik."
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