Hey, it's not the fault of the Carroll County Commissioners that they're all Christians and prefer to pray to Jesus

Two Carroll County Maryland residents are suing the county's Board of Commissioners for regularly opening its public meetings with Christian prayers invoking "Jesus" and "the Savior."

The two residents, who say that the five commissioners opened their official meetings with Christian prayers at least 54 times in the last two years, and during that time never prayed to non-Christian deities, have asked a federal judge to end the sectarian prayers by ruling they are unconstitutional under the First Amendment.

However, board members, who take turns offering the pre-meeting prayer, have a really good reason for only praying to Jesus--they're all Christians.

According to The Baltimore Sun, board president Doug Howard explained, "It is simply that commissioner's individual thoughts. I am totally comfortable with what we are doing."

See? It's not the commissioners' fault that they all believe in Jesus and are comfortable with their Christian-only prayers.

I mean, do you expect them to pray to a god they don't believe in? Or some generic "god" or "creator" who either Jesus or those at the meetings might mistake for *gasp* a non-Christian god?!

It's also not the commissioners' fault if some of their constituents are not Christians and uncomfortable with Christian prayers or feel excluded and/or demeaned when only Christian prayers are offered.

The commissioners did not explain in The Sun's article why it's important for them to pray aloud to Jesus at their public meetings rather than silently, or perhaps pray among themselves before opening the meetings to the public.

Maybe Jesus is more impressed, and thus more likely to bless the board's work, its members, and the county, if the commissioners pray out loud at their public meetings, where everyone--in addition to Jesus--can see and hear them pray.

And starting the board meetings without any prayers is apparently not an option because...the commissioners want to pray, so, by golly, they're gonna?

Or they need to pray, because Jesus will be sad or angry if no one prays to him before the meeting?

County commisioner to employees: No pressure, but come pray with me, monthly, in the County Office Building

The Baltimore Sun reports that Robin Frazier, a Carroll County Maryland commissioner, recently "emailed an invitation to about 850 government employees to attend a monthly prayer session, which she will lead." Frazier's "time for prayer" will be held in the County Office Building beginning June 7.

Since Frazier has the right to privately pray, anytime, and anyplace, there must be a reason that she feels the need to ask 850 county employees to join her.

Some possible reasons:

• Frazier is really lonely talking to herself--which is really what praying to a mythological invisible superbeing is.
• Frasier is trying to promote religion as a leader of Carroll County government and pressure employees into participating in a religious practice in contravention of the First Amendment. But Frazier says there is "no pressure," even though the best way to show that she's not attempting to pressure employees to pray with her would be to not invite the county's employees to pray with her every month in the County Office Building. But really, rest assured, Frasier has no intention whatsoever in violating the principle of separation of church and state. She is quoted in The Sun as saying,"The Bible directs us to pray for our country." See? Nothing religious about that, right?
• Frasier wants everyone to admire what a good, pious Christian she is. "Read my email in which I talk about my plan to lead employees in a group prayer. Admire what a good, pious Christian I am. Come witness me praying and setting a good example for you all."
• Frasier is offering to share her special expertise in praying: "Let me lead you in prayer because you don't know how to pray on your own so I have to show you how to do it."
• Frasier is concerned that Carroll County employees no longer have churches or other places of worship to pray in and believes that they cannot pray in their homes or anywhere else outside of the County Office Building. The County Office Building is the only possible venue for prayer.

Frasier contends that she has the right to use the County Office Building for religious purposes because "[o]ther groups use this same building for noncounty business." So, I'm sure local Muslims, Wiccans, Pagans, Rastafarians, and Pastafarians could start meeting in the building every month, and Frasier would have no problem with that. Some non-Christian religious group needs to test that. Soon. Really. And don't forget to request the use of the County's email system to invite 850 County employees to attend!

Or better yet, since "other groups" can and do meet in the Carroll County Office Building according to Frasier, local atheist groups, humanists, skeptics, pro-choice and gay-rights groups, and organizations like Americans United for Separation of Church and State should start meeting there every month. Because that would be an awesome way for Frazier and the other county commissioners to show that the County Office Building space really is a forum open to all, and that they aren't mixing their personal religious beliefs in with every resident's government.

Silly support for NFL Ravens

On Monday, January 9, The Baltimore Sun published several letters written by fans to NFL Ravens players as the team prepares for the playoff game on Sunday. The Sun didn't say what criteria, if any, it had used in selecting the 14 letters it published out of the "about 100 received" at the time the article about the letters was written.

One letter struck me as very silly.

No, not the letter with the photo of the bunny wearing a tiny Raven's shirt. I thought that was pretty adorable and sure to encourage any Ravens player.

The silly letter was the one that said, "Do your best and God will do the rest," meaning, I'm guessing, that the writer thinks a mythological magical being with awesome superpowers who seems to have a fixation with sports, allegedly intervening during sports events and dictating the outcome of games, is going to help the Ravens in "the year of divine order." The letter advises, "Pray often." Stroking the bunny's chin is more likely to have an effect on the outcome of the game than praying to a made-up being. At least the bunny is real.

Praying for better local government

I had mixed feelings about the article Praying in Public when I saw it on the front page of the May 14 Baltimore Sun.

In the article, The Sun describes the current practice of several Maryland local government bodies of praying during public meetings. And if that weren't bad enough, in several cases, the prayer is sectarian, offered to the Christian God, not a prayer to a non-denominational generic one-size-fits-most(-if-you-ignore-atheists) god.

I was delighted that The Sun recognized there was an issue worthy of front page coverage.

But I was also appalled that the people we trust to run local governments still apparently see nothing inappropriate about beginning government meetings with any type of prayer, let alone one to "Jesus."

Not only is sectarian prayer insensitive to their constituents who practice a non-Christian religion, but also to non-believers. Yes, Salisbury and Carroll County, you have *gasp* atheists living among you! (But heck, who cares about atheists and how they feel about...well...anything? I mean, atheists should just shut up and be grateful that they're allowed to live in Salisbury and Carroll County and stop persecuting Christians by complaining about prayers being offered at their government's meetings, right?)

But my most basic concern is that we have elected officials who believe things for which there is no evidence and ask for help and guidance from a magical, invisible sky-spirit based on ancient Middle-Eastern mythology. And they're damn proud of it. That's worrisome.

I want my government to be led by people who are critical thinkers, who make decisions based on evidence--and who are aware that, even if some prayers offered at public government meetings may be legal under court decisions, they are still always inappropriate. Always.

Facebook Follies: What Would Happen If We Didn't Pray

One of my evangelical friends is raving on Facebook about a video promoting the National Day of Prayer on May 5. And not raving how inane it is, but raving how lovely and powerful it is. "It will give you chills!"

The video asks will tell us What Would Happen If We Didn't Pray to God?.

Well, of course, I had to watch that!  Because knowing what would happen if we didn't pray seems to be something I should know for sure. My own thoughts were along the lines of, "Well, if people didn't pray, they'd have more time to do things that were actually effective. And they'd have more money to spend on more practical things than churches dedicated to an invisible magic man." But, being a skeptic, I wanted to see what the evidence showed. Maybe there is something more. And there is!

SPOILER ALERT

First of all, I'd never considered that if we didn't pray, people would end up sitting in their church pews doing nothing. And that the minister wouldn't have a blessed thing to do but stand in front of his congregation holding an invisible book and looking befuddled. Well, duh! What's wrong with me that I didn't think of that?! Clearly, we'd still need to build churches to do nothing in.

In addition, if you don't pray, God then has some kind of hissy fit which He demonstrates by sending big masses of dark storm clouds.

And you know this isn't your ordinary storm with big masses of dark storm clouds, because this time, God also provides a soundtrack of melodramatic background music. That's something that you don't get to hear every storm.

I was on the edge of my seat at this point and didn't know how much more of the suspense, ("Oh my, what will happen?!") I could take.

Thank goodness, we're shown the evidence of the power of prayer!

And what happens after you grab your Bible and rush to a church to start praying because you're worried about all those dark clouds, not to mention the epic-battle music?:  A massive thunderstorm develops over the U.S. Capitol and those masses of dark clouds cover the sky over the Golden Gate bridge. Wow! And...a big sunny hole opens up in the clouds over your church.

There's more! If you scrunch up your face and look really seriously sincere when you pray, blue skies and sunshine eventually appear over your church and over Golden Gate.

Then, you get to see swirly snow over a big mountain!!!

But meanwhile, back in Washington, while the clouds have lifted a bit, there are still black clouds and lots of lightning high above the Capitol. Oh, no! Are people ever able to pray away the storm there?

Alas, the video keeps you hanging and ends without showing the Capitol's fate. And, oh dear, the soundtrack doesn't change to nice, peaceful, "all-is-well" music. Uh-oh. That can't be good.

Maybe the video makers are planning a sequel.

Praying for better test scores

According to a March 14 article in The Baltimore Sun, "Prayers at city school before tests criticized" by Erica L. Green, the principal of a Baltimore City public school used prayer to help prepare students for standardized testing. Because, you know, students' praying to God for help on tests has been a well-tested (heh) and highly successful strategy. The better you pray, the better the scores. Right?

Here's a copy of the flier that the school distributed:

According to The Sun, "Local officials said they will use the incident as an opportunity to emphasize to school leaders appropriate school-sponsored events." Which is good.

What is not good was the response of Jimmy Gittings, president of the city principals' union. 

According to The Sun, Gittings said:

"The only individuals I hold accountable for these injustices for Ms. Yon [the school principal] are the narrow-minded politicians from some 50 years ago, for removing prayer from our schools. Once prayer was removed from our schools, the respect for our teachers and administrators has been increasingly out of control."

The Sun added:

Gittings, a proponent of prayer in schools, said he fully supported Yon's actions. He said he was aware that it wasn't constitutional, but he still believed in the message.

So the head of Baltimore's principals' union not only believes in the power of prayer, but he also believes in public school-sanctioned prayer, and he doesn't believe in the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution. Nor apparently does he understand why school-sanctioned prayer is unconstitutional, or if he does, he doesn't care. And he thinks school prayer was removed by "narrow-minded politicians." Wonderful. Just the person we should want representing those in charge of educating our children.  

Help Japan, Donate and..., Part 3

More suggestions on ways to help Japan as it would be to "donate and pray":

From Rey Fox:

• Donate and rearrange the pictures on your wall.
• Donate and ride your bicycle to the cell phone store.
• Donate and eat a hard-boiled egg.
• Donate and recite Marc Antony's soliloquy from Julius Ceasar in Basque.
• Donate and do fourteen somersaults.
• Donate and contemplate the sound of one hand clapping.

From SteveV, Death's Haberdasher:

• Donate and join a Morris Dancing Team
• Donate and chase a cheese

Help Japan, Donate and..., Part 2

Since my post yesterday, listing some of my ideas as to how people could help Japan as effectively as "donating and praying," some others have made suggestions:

From Caine, Fleur du mal:

• Donate and down a shot. Down a shot for every donation. Drinking game!
• Donate and make love.
• Donate and bake chocolate bacon cookies.
• Donate and hug your pet.
• Donate and look at a pretty picture of a rainbow.
• Donate and dress up.
• Donate and go out on the town.
• Donate and take deep, cleansing breaths.
• Donate and cry huge crocodile tears.
• Donate and rub iodine on your belly.

From Part-Time Insomniac, Death's Zombie Pet Porcupine:

• Donate and wear silk panties.
• Donate and ride a unicycle naked.
• Donate and sing "I Feel Pretty" while hopping on one foot.
• Donate and twirl a hula-hoop on each arm while gargling.

If you have other good ideas on way to help Japan as effectively as "donating and praying," please consider adding them to the comments. Then, after considering, add them.

Help Japan. Donate and....

I see quite a bit of complaining on Facebook and Twitter about atheists daring to post that they don't think prayer will help Japan. The objections are that by saying "Your prayers aren't helping Japan," atheists are pushing their beliefs on believers, they're insensitive to believers, they're attacking believers, and/or they're proselytizing for atheism.

Surprisingly, not one of the complaining "Pray for Japan" posters/tweeters ever considered that by telling atheists in thousands of posts and tweets, "Pray for Japan," that they were doing exactly what they are accusing atheists of doing. Were any of you "Pray for Japan" posters/tweeters concerned about how I'd feel receiving all those "Pray for Japan" posts and tweets?

And, yeah, saying "Prayer isn't going to help" is so much more mean-spirited than your tweets saying, "God is going to burn you for eternity in hell." (Ooo, your mythology really scares me. [That's sarcasm.] The fact that a rational, thinking person believes in mythology and acts accordingly, now that scares me. [That's not sarcasm.]

How is stating that I think prayer isn't going to help Japan attacking you or persecuting you?

I've also heard some whining comments asking "What's wrong with donating and praying?" If it makes you feel better than donating alone, have at it. Because the praying is ultimately all about you and how it makes you feel, not Japan.

But you could also:

• Donate and dance naked in the moonlight, or
• Donate and wear socks that don't match, or
• Donate and read Green Eggs and Ham to your pet, or
• Donate and rub a lucky rabbit's foot, or
• Donate and consult with Punxsutawney Phil, or
• Donate and sacrifice sausages to Offler, or
• Donate and talk to the pixies in your garden, or
• Donate and toss pennies in a wishing well, or
• Donate and tweet how awful atheists are, or...any number of things that won't help Japan more than donating alone would.

Next, you'll be posting and tweeting how awful I am for ridiculing you.

Help Japan, don't pray

I heard the first news report of the Japanese quake shortly after it happened around 1 AM EST today.

I knew what would follow that report, and it was exactly what, in fact, followed: On Facebook, lots of posts saying, "Pray for Japan!" and on Twitter, tweet after tweet, "#PrayforJapan."

I want to ask my friends who sent those, why would I pray? Why would you pray?

Every one of you who encouraged me to "pray for Japan" believes in a God who is all-knowing and all-powerful.

So, your God knew before the beginning of time that the earthquake and resulting tsunami would occur and unleash devastation and massive suffering. If you deny that, then your God isn't all-knowing, is he?

And since he is all-powerful, he could have stopped it. He could have planned a scenario other than the disaster that unfolded earlier today. If you deny that, then your God isn't all-powerful now, is he?

But your God either caused the earthquake and tsunami, or at best, simply let it happen. Your God, by his action and/or inaction, is ultimately responsible for the disaster. That makes your God a sadist. An abuser. A cruel, immoral monster. And this is the God you pray to? This is the God you're always describing as "loving"? (Perhaps you and/or your God have a definition of "loving" that is completely incomprehensible to me.)

And what is it you hope to accomplish by praying?

Doesn't your God already know people are suffering? Doesn't your God also already know that your hearts have been touched and saddened by the tragedy? Why do you have to tell him in prayer?

Does he like to hear his "special creation" beg for his help before he'll provide it?

Or does he, like an abusive parent, just prefer to hear you beg for mercy, "Please, stop!"?

Or are your prayers in thanks for your God's not killing more people or causing more suffering? Are you actually saying, "Thank you for not hurting more people or not hurting them worse than you already have"? or "Thank you for sparing me and those that I love"? or perhaps, "Please don't hurt me like you hurt the people in Japan"?

And when you pray for Japan, you'd like your God to do what? Help? Why would your God help now? If your God hadn't wanted the suffering and devastation to occur, he wouldn't have allowed it to happen in the first place.

Which brings up back to: if God has always had a plan, can you change it by praying? Isn't the course of history already set? What good do your prayers do?

Those of you praying for miracles, let me know when one occurs. And, no, anything that can be explained by science, or math, or as sheer random coincidence is not a miracle. Unexpectedly finding survivors isn't a miracle. Finding one house still standing, while all the neighboring homes were destroyed, is not a miracle. Someone finding their beloved pet still alive, or their wedding photos in the rubble, is not a miracle.

You know what might be a miracle? If, after you prayed, your God reversed all the damage in Japan. Brought all the dead (human, other animals, and plants) back to life. Healed all the injured. Repaired all the damage done to the environment. Replaced all the buildings and fixed all the other objects that were ruined or damaged. Do you think he will? Do you think he can't? Or isn't your God powerful enough to do big, noticeable, meaningful miracles?

Yes, I understand your sense of helplessness in the wake of such a horrific disaster. Totally. And I understand that you take comfort in prayer. But using prayer to make you feel like you're doing something to help, and your being comforted by prayer, doesn't do a darn practical thing to help those in Japan.

At first, not one of the early Facebook posts or tweets from you "Pray for Japan" posters mentioned doing anything but praying. Some of you still haven't.

Only the atheists who I follow on Twitter, or who are my Facebook friends, immediately suggested doing something that might actually help the people of Japan—making a donation to disaster relief organizations—providing evidence, once, again, of atheist immorality, inability to be compassionate, and shocking lack of ethics.

I know that all of the help that will aid Japan will come from humans. Humans who care. Humans who risk their lives. Humans who give their time and their money. Humans who will find the survivors and dig them out. Humans who will shelter those without homes, who will feed those who can no longer feed themselves. Humans who will give medical care to the injured. Humans who will bury the dead and mourn them. Humans who will provide comfort and support to the suffering. Humans who, using science and technology, will rebuild and repair the damage as much as possible.

Your God won't have a damn thing to do with any of it.

If you actually want to really help Japan, here are some places you can make a donation:

Non-Believers Giving Aid

American Red Cross

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders

And if you can't donate, please encourage others to do so and pass on those links.

Facebook Follies: If God has ever answered...

Today's Facebook Folly:

"If God has ever answered a prayer for you, press like!!!!!!! on ♥."

Because if you prayed for something, and it later happened, there's no other possible explanation except "God did it."

And if God ever didn't answer a prayer, I guess you should "press like" for that too, because God's decision not to answer your prayer is God using his mysterious, unfathomable, and seemingly whimsical God-wisdom to do what He knows is best. In his way, He is answering your prayer, just not the way you'd hoped. But you like that too, right?

Facebook Follies: Praying for Egyptians

Today's Facebook Folly: "I am praying for the anti-government protesters in Egypt."

And if everything goes right for the protesters, "Yay, God answered my prayers!" And if they don't, "God has mysterious plans." 

Doesn't God already know which side He's rooting for?

Facebook Follies: US would be better if...

Today's Facebook Folly:

If you think the country would be in better shape if we all started asking for God's help, press like on ♥.

But what do I press if I think the country would be in better shape if we all learned critical thinking skills and became better educated in the sciences?

Facebook Follies: With God all things are possible

Today's Facebook Folly (weird formatting and punctuation--or lack thereof--in original, I assure you):

Keep this going!!!Heavenly Father, walk through my home and take away all my worries andany illnesses, and please watch over and heal my family, in Jesus name,Amen. This prayer is so powerful. Stop what you're doing & set thisto your status. Watch what He'll do...With God all things are possible

I did not keep this ^^^ going. The irrationality stops with me.

Facebook Follies: Daily Prayer/Reflective Time for the Gulf of Mexico

The Facebook group Daily Prayer/Reflective Time for the Gulf of Mexico has only 31 members, and one of them is a Facebook friend--a dear, valued friend, both on Facebook and in real life.

This group is "dedicated to the idea that daily prayer and/or reflection can help bring about a solution to the environmental disasters this beautiful region faces."
 
My friend is kind, gentle, caring, tolerant, intelligent, and funny. Generally, she's a rational person. 

She's a good mother and politically liberal. She's environmentally conscious. She supports gay rights. We share a love of dogs, cats, art, travel, and gardening. Our tastes in books, music, TV, and movies are pretty much identical. We support many of the same causes.

In fact, the only area of our lives where we seem to have a major disagreement is religion. She embraces it; I reject it. Her belief in God is deep and unshakable; mine is so shallow as to be virtually nonexistent and extremely skeptical.

And, yet, we like each other. A lot.

We don't talk much about her belief and my disbelief. Although I've often wondered how someone so smart, so reflective, and typically much more rational than so many of my other friends, could believe something as irrational as Christianity, albeit a liberal, "my God is a loving God," Cafeteria Christian who picks-and-chooses which Bible verses she sees as allegorical, historical, or God's actual instructions on how to live her life (which, surprisingly, almost always coincide perfectly with her own personal, non-religious convictions and philosophy).

But I never ask the question. Nor do I ask what kind of solutions for the Gulf environmental disaster have resulted from her daily prayers. And I probably never will ask either question. Because this friend is one friend not easily dismissed and defriended on Facebook.

Cancer did not make me lose my ability to reason

I wrote this as a comment in the Pharyngula thread "Jerk of the Day," which is about George Berkin's disgusting Christian joy over Christopher Hitchen's cancer diagnosis. Since I haven't had time to write anything new for a few days, I thought I'd repost my comments here:

When I found out I had breast cancer, I did not suddenly reject reason and start believing in an invisible sky guy who had a mysterious plan for me that included cancer.

The only faith I had was in the expertise of my doctors.

I was really, really provoked when friends and relatives kept assuring me that they were "praying for" me.

I let my husband and kids know that if I were in the hospital and a chaplain (or anyone else who wanted to comfort me with prayer or "good news" about god) ever attempted to enter my room while they were there, they needed to push that person back into the hallway (and yell blasphemous remarks as they did so), because if they didn't, I'd be forced to crawl out of my bed, and beat the god-shill with my bedpan. 

I also made clear that I want no prayer, hymns, and any other god-mentioning at my funeral, but I also noted that the funeral was for them, not for me, because I would be--you know--dead, so wouldn't know and couldn't care what happened at the funeral. Still, I hope that they would tell funny stories about me and drink a lot of margaritas. And I believe that that's more likely to happen than mass and recitation of the rosary, given that I have raised two godless children and am married to the most apathetic Protestant ever.

It looks like I'm going to be fine, and my doctors tell me I am unlikely to die of breast cancer (which only leaves everything else I can possibly die from.)

And while all my friends are patting themselves on the back that their "prayers were answered" and god cured me, I only praise my doctors and the other health care providers who used their skills and knowledge to obtain a good result for me.

Facebook Follies: God killed you because He wanted me to suffer to make a point

God saw you getting tired and a cure was not to be. So He put his arms around you and whispered "come with me". With tearful eyes I watched you, and saw you pass away. Although I loved you dearly I could not make you stay. A golden heart stopped beating, hard working hands at rest...God broke my heart to prove to me He... only takes the...BEST. (Repost if you have a loved one in Heaven) 

I didn't blog about this vapid, inane, saccharine poem the first time a Facebook friend posted it as his/her status. Nor the second. Nor the third. But now that I've gotten this same status update from a half dozen friends, I've had enough!

Really, do you people even think about the things you write and profess to believe? 

God saw..."a cure was not to be"? Wait! What? Aren't you the same people who were praying to God to cure me? Who ask me to pray for you when you are sick, or your family members when they're seriously ill? Are you now saying that God doesn't have the power to cure?

And don't you believe that God is all-knowing and has an eternal plan--you know that secret, mysterious one--for all of us since before the beginning of time? So wasn't it always God's plan that your loved one die at exactly the moment and in exactly the same way as her/his death happened? 

"God broke my heart to prove to me He... only takes the...BEST"? Aren't you always going on about how loving God is? What the heck kind of loving God kills someone you love to hurt you to prove a point? Yes, I've heard other Christians claim that God killed someone to "make a point," although that point is usually "you did something that made me mad, so now I'm going to show you that's a bad idea, and kill someone you love. So there!" But I thought you didn't believe in that mean, vengeful God, but the nice, loving one.

And, let me get this straight, your loved one's death is really all about you?

Finally, I assure you I will not be posting this as my status, because while I've had good, wonderful people--most of whom believed in your God--that I loved die, they're not in "Heaven." There is no Heaven, no life after death, as comforting as that fairy tale might be to you.

Facebook Follies: Sioux Prayer Request for Gulf Oil Spill

One of my Facebook friends posted that she'll be "attending" the "Sioux Prayer Request for Gulf Oil Spill" on Monday, June 21, 2010. That can't be any less effective than BP's oil leak containment box, and undoubtedly will be much less expensive. But if there's expectation that praying's actually going to help, why wait a month?

Facebook Follies: National Day of World Prayer

In my post "Facebook Follies: Praying for a Cancer Cure," I wrote, "One of the downsides to Facebook, in my opinion, is that through some of my friends' Facebook posts, I've started to learn more about their religious and political views, and beliefs in woo, than I knew before."

But recently I've begun to reconsider that position, even if my friends' Facebook updates and comments too often make me truly wonder about my ability to pick friends.

More and more, I've begun to see Facebook as a rather fascinating sociological and psychological resource, giving me hitherto unprecedented access to my Facebook friends' often irrational beliefs, thoughts, and actions, which currently tend to intrigue, bemuse, and frequently amuse me more often than frighten or irritate me.

Today's example: Through Facebook, I've learned that my very religious Catholic friend Jeannie is "attending" the National Day of World Prayer on-line event. (Which, by the way, according to its Facebook page is scheduled to begin on "Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 12:00am" and end on "Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 11:30pm". Is that some kind of special God-day that lasts more than 24-hours? Just askin'.)
(And, am I the only one who is both confounded and concerned by the fact that this "national" prayer day is now being touted as a "world" event?)

I don't get the whole concept of prayer to begin with, why God is supposed to care, what effect it's supposed to have, and how and why it's supposed to work, and the idea of many people praying on a special prayer day only adds to the inanity of the pursuit.

The god Jeannie prays to is the Abrahamic God, Yahweh, the same god probably on the receiving end of most of the prayers being sent today.

Yahweh receives, I'm guessing, on a normal day, millions of individual and small-group prayers. He's routinely inundated with prayers, some praising Him, and others making requests from urgent pleas to spare the life of a dying child, to divine assistance on a math quiz, or holy help picking the winning numbers in the Mega Millions lottery--most of which He chooses to ignore, seemingly at whim, but really, He's just sticking with His incredibly mysterious, frequently incomprehensible-to-humans, eternal Plan.

So: Is God going to actually receive more prayers on National Prayer Day than His daily average? And if so, how does He feel about getting prayers today from infrequent prayers, who, much like thoughtless or indifferent children who only call their father on Fathers Day, only pray one special day a year--or when they need money or bailed out of a jam? Is He glad to finally hear from them, or irritated that it takes a specially designated day to get them to call? And how does His reaction to the prayers of those who pray infrequently compare to those who pray all the time? Are there frequent-prayer benefits? Or does God, like a TV-cable company, give special deals only to new or returning customers?

Does God pay more attention to prayers when lots of people are praising Him or sending Him requests at the same time? Are group prayers more effective because they're louder? Or because God is impressed when He receives a large number of prayers on the same day, much like a Congressman who, on a designated day, receives thousands of constituent calls and emails on pending health care legislation (but then, votes whatever way he had previously decided to anyway)? Or is it just that God prefers to get one big prayer, rather than lots of smaller, individual ones?

Is God more impressed by prayers if they're sent on a day when prayer is declared to be a "national" and/or "world," activity or, most awesomely, is a Facebook event with its own Facebook page and as of today, has over 4,000 Facebook users who "like" it?

And if God has a Plan, can God decide to change it in response to prayers? And if He can and does, wouldn't that have been His Plan all along?

The rational mind reels.

Facebook Follies: Praying for a cancer cure

One of the downsides to Facebook, in my opinion, is that through some of my friends' Facebook posts, I've started to learn more about their religious and political views, and beliefs in woo, than I knew before. That makes me question my ability to select compatible friends. And it tends to make me like these friends less, sometimes, much less, than I did before.

I tend not to post the comments in response that I'd like to, because these mostly are people that I value as friends, and have redeeming values that cancel out our areas of disagreement, but I do respond in my head.

The latest status update from my very religious Catholic friend Jeannie ends: "Dear God, I pray for the cure of cancer." She then asked me and her other friends to copy and paste her update and post it as mine.

In my head: If God didn't want people to have cancer, he wouldn't give it to them. In fact, he wouldn't have created cancer or allow it to exist if he were a truly almighty and loving God. But he is either not almighty or not loving, or both, because he allows people to suffer terribly and die because of cancer.

Yeah, I know, "God works in mysterious ways, and his plan isn't easy for us to understand, and we suffer because of original sin (committed by two--or possibly more than two, as explained to me by a self-described 'theologically sophisticated' Catholic believer not long ago--people thousands of years ago. A sin, by the way, that the all-knowing God always knew these sinners would commit, yet let them commit it. Yeah, loving guy, that God.)"

And, if God has an eternal plan, is he going to change his plan with regard to cancer just because you and other people ask him to?

Don't you think other people have prayed before for a cancer cure? God didn't answer their prayers. What makes your prayers so special God's going to answer yours?

And as far as repeating your status update as mine: "Uh, no."

P.S. I don't believe in any God, but if I did, I wouldn't choose to believe in your sadistic one.