|
Some Pray, Some Perspire
by Steven Mahone
| Today, May 2nd, happens to be the National Day of Prayer in this country and there will no doubt be numerous activities nationwide to commemorate the event. Needless to say, freethinkers around the country are not apt to join in on the festivities, but do we really have a good reason to be so incredulous about such an event? |
The national coordinator for the NDP is Colorado Springs' own Shirley Dobson (wife of Focus on the Family president James Dobson) and here is the stated vision of her NDP Task Force: "To communicate with every family the need for personal repentance and prayer … particularly on behalf of the nation and those in leadership." An innocuous enough goal, until you consider the logical problems associated with such a nebulous responsibility. |
According to Judeo/Christian doctrine, the recipient of our prayers is an omnipotent (all-powerful) and omniscient (all-knowing) being. You certainly wouldn't want your prayers to be heard by anything less than a supreme deity, but stop for a moment and consider the logical consequences of this. An omniscient being knows everything both past and future. This means that He knew what you would pray for before it ever entered your thoughts and, furthermore, He knew if your prayer would be answered before you ever asked. Think about the ramifications of this -- if you don't pray it changes nothing, and if you do pray, it changes nothing. If your prayer did alter the supreme deity's plan, then how could He be all-knowing and omnipotent? Perhaps the NDP Task Force could be persuaded to point this out in a disclaimer somewhere. |
A very smart theologian I know recently offered further clarification about prayer to me. Prayer, he explained, is intended to serve as an outlet whereby we ask for guidance in accomplishing God's will. Hmmm, but how do you know what God's will is? In a strange way, his answer was quite ingenious: "You pray for such knowledge!" So, we shouldn't actually pray for anything like world peace or a new heart for an ailing friend but instead pray for God's will to be done. I guess that even an infinite being needs all the help He can get. |
Still, I can't help but wonder about "God's will" when He heard the cries for help coming from underneath the WTC stairwells on September 11th. And how about the suicidal teenage girl in Cincinnati who has repeatedly pleaded for help to escape her abusive father? Then there is the mother in Afghanistan who is desperately praying to find her young son in the rubble -- is it simply that she is praying to the wrong god? |
Please keep in mind that a freethinker would never raise a single objection to anyone who wishes to engage in personal prayer. Quite simply, it's none of our business (or anyone else's for that matter!) That is why freethinkers find the following statement from the official NDP website so troubling: "This government-sanctioned day is offered to all Americans. However, the efforts of the NDP Task Force are executed in alignment with its Christian beliefs." I guess that Hindus, Muslims, Jews, and Native Americans will just have to wait out the day with us Infidels. But since our hands won't be tied up in prayer, perhaps we can all get together and do something productive with them. |
Send us an Email
Or write to us at:
Freethinkers of Colorado Springs
P.O. Box 62946
Colorado Springs, CO 80962-2946
Phone: 719-594-4506