The monster tornado that mauled Moore, Oklahoma a month or so ago was on everyone’s mind for a week or two after it happened, then newer tragedies took its place in our collective conscious; but it’s not completely gone. Occasionally articles will pop up in the media about rebuilding and recovering there. (check out media coverage here).
Right afterwards, I saw a bunch of “prayer requests” from religious leaders, government officials at all levels, and even celebrities, and it got me thinking about Divine Intervention in human activities. So let’s put these prayer requests in the context of some of my recent posts about critical thinking.
What are these prayer requests actually asking for? All down through history, prayers were for one of two main purposes: asking for God to intercede, or thanking God for having done so. Praying for rain, praying for rain to stop, thanking God for the rain, or for making the rain stop, praying to have God make the volcano stop erupting; you get the idea. In the benighted past, people actually believed that God either sent rain or caused a drought, or if He was really peeved, smiting a village with a massive tornado. Of course today we know that tornadoes are caused by a confluence of weather systems and events that, while not always exactly predictable, are at the very least completely explainable by an understanding of the physics of temperature and air flow. So not too many people outside of a few nut jobs today think that bad weather is an indication of God’s wrath.
Let’s assume for the moment that the people who are praying on behalf of the Oklahoma victims are genuinely asking for God to do something here (rather than grandstanding for the publicity, for example). Praying for God to intercede? Aside from that raising somewhat awkward questions (if He’s willing to intercede now, why didn’t He do it just a little bit ago and prevent the tornado in the first place?), exactly what is He being asked to intercede in? Not letting people die? Miraculously healing peoples’ injuries? Even more miraculously rebuilding houses and hospitals? Or maybe planting the notion in the minds of people around the word to send cash to the tornado victims? Assuming that their prayers do something, asking God to intercede is the same as asking God to change His mind. Said differently, if everything is in God’s hands, then the tornado is God’s will, and asking Him to intercede here is asking Him not to do what He has determined to do (His will). If He’s all-knowing (one of the basic attributes given to God), then the pain and suffering (not to mention death and destruction) caused by the tornado would be explicitly and exactly foreseen, so He would have had to have not only known about it, but been willing to go ahead anyway. Asking Him to “change His mind” now seems disingenuous, or just plain silly.
Let’s say the prayers are thanking God for sparing those He did. That’s very close to thanking God for not killing more people (assuming he’s in control of natural forces). If He’s in control and chooses to let it happen anyway, that’s pretty cruel and capricious. If He’s not in control, then the weather is not “God’s will,” but we would then have to assume He’s allowing it to happen. And this seems to be supported by scriptures such as Matthew 5:45 (paraphrasing: God causes rain to fall on the righteous as well as the unrighteous). But wouldn’t that mean two of the primary attributes (all-powerful and all-loving) are not true? By the way, this is simply a re-stating of Greek philosopher Epicurus’ famous statement: “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
I love Ricky Gervais’ tweet: “Beyonce, Rihanna & Katy Perry send prayers to #Oklahoma #PrayForOklahoma. I feel like an idiot now… I only sent money.” Seems like sending some cash would be a lot more beneficial. And tangible.
So praying either to thank God or to ask for Him to intercede seems a good example of muddled thinking. Or whistling in the dark.
There’s another possibility; one that may be more palatable (and, as I think about it, sums up what I believed as a JW): maybe they’re just asking God for strength. I’ve thought about that too; I’ll post some of those thoughts later.
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer.
Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.
Pray for Oklahoma
The monster tornado that mauled Moore, Oklahoma a month or so ago was on everyone’s mind for a week or two after it happened, then newer tragedies took its place in our collective conscious; but it’s not completely gone. Occasionally articles will pop up in the media about rebuilding and recovering there. (check out media coverage here).
Right afterwards, I saw a bunch of “prayer requests” from religious leaders, government officials at all levels, and even celebrities, and it got me thinking about Divine Intervention in human activities. So let’s put these prayer requests in the context of some of my recent posts about critical thinking.
What are these prayer requests actually asking for? All down through history, prayers were for one of two main purposes: asking for God to intercede, or thanking God for having done so. Praying for rain, praying for rain to stop, thanking God for the rain, or for making the rain stop, praying to have God make the volcano stop erupting; you get the idea. In the benighted past, people actually believed that God either sent rain or caused a drought, or if He was really peeved, smiting a village with a massive tornado. Of course today we know that tornadoes are caused by a confluence of weather systems and events that, while not always exactly predictable, are at the very least completely explainable by an understanding of the physics of temperature and air flow. So not too many people outside of a few nut jobs today think that bad weather is an indication of God’s wrath.
Let’s assume for the moment that the people who are praying on behalf of the Oklahoma victims are genuinely asking for God to do something here (rather than grandstanding for the publicity, for example). Praying for God to intercede? Aside from that raising somewhat awkward questions (if He’s willing to intercede now, why didn’t He do it just a little bit ago and prevent the tornado in the first place?), exactly what is He being asked to intercede in? Not letting people die? Miraculously healing peoples’ injuries? Even more miraculously rebuilding houses and hospitals? Or maybe planting the notion in the minds of people around the word to send cash to the tornado victims? Assuming that their prayers do something, asking God to intercede is the same as asking God to change His mind. Said differently, if everything is in God’s hands, then the tornado is God’s will, and asking Him to intercede here is asking Him not to do what He has determined to do (His will). If He’s all-knowing (one of the basic attributes given to God), then the pain and suffering (not to mention death and destruction) caused by the tornado would be explicitly and exactly foreseen, so He would have had to have not only known about it, but been willing to go ahead anyway. Asking Him to “change His mind” now seems disingenuous, or just plain silly.
Let’s say the prayers are thanking God for sparing those He did. That’s very close to thanking God for not killing more people (assuming he’s in control of natural forces). If He’s in control and chooses to let it happen anyway, that’s pretty cruel and capricious. If He’s not in control, then the weather is not “God’s will,” but we would then have to assume He’s allowing it to happen. And this seems to be supported by scriptures such as Matthew 5:45 (paraphrasing: God causes rain to fall on the righteous as well as the unrighteous). But wouldn’t that mean two of the primary attributes (all-powerful and all-loving) are not true? By the way, this is simply a re-stating of Greek philosopher Epicurus’ famous statement: “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
I love Ricky Gervais’ tweet: “Beyonce, Rihanna & Katy Perry send prayers to #Oklahoma #PrayForOklahoma. I feel like an idiot now… I only sent money.” Seems like sending some cash would be a lot more beneficial. And tangible.
So praying either to thank God or to ask for Him to intercede seems a good example of muddled thinking. Or whistling in the dark.
There’s another possibility; one that may be more palatable (and, as I think about it, sums up what I believed as a JW): maybe they’re just asking God for strength. I’ve thought about that too; I’ll post some of those thoughts later.
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer. Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.