A.P. Lawrence Home

Rather than discouraging those idiots who go around claiming miracle cures from prayers, I think we should encourage them, because if poor young Angela, tragically smitten with XYZ at the tender age of whatever, was indeed saved by the intercessory prayers of a bunch of empty headed fools, while dearest Bobby, who unfortunately was not prayed for, died of that same terrible ailment, that says some very interesting things about their beloved god:

o Can't he see that Bobby has a tumor the size of a golf ball in his tender young head? Does he really need to be told that the poor kid is knocking at death's door? What happened to noting every sparrow's fall and all that? Is the Dude effing blind or what?

o Or is it a popularity contest? If some good gawd-fearing Christians care enough about Angela to sit up all night and pray, does that score more points with the Big Guy than Bobby's distraught, un-born-again parents who just sat around weeping and feeling desperate?

o Or- heaven forbid- is it that the people themselves actually do the healing, that the Fabulous One is an impotent farce? Does the Big Booper need his faithful flock to create his miracles? Maybe-shudder- they don't really need him at all. The fact that all the religions, from tree hugging Druids to the dull-eyed morons you see at Billy Graham gatherings, all seem to believe that this prayer gig works certainly seems to support that idea.

Geez. Tough choices. Let's see, is there any way to explain this stuff that fits at all with any Christian theology? Hmm- Jeezuz and his Dad need to be sucked up to before they'll interfere? Mmmmm, no, that doesn't seem to work. How about "God will save you if you have lots of friends" ? Nooo, that really isn't Christianity's message, is it? It's more important what people think and do than anything from Heavenly sources? Oooh, that doesn't sound good either.

Any of the god-soaked reading this like to take a stab at it? Please explain how the supposed power of intercessory prayer (*very* popular with the faithful of late- really quite the rage) fits into the Christian concept of Big Daddy and his Mildly Inconvenienced For Your Sins Son.