EssEff

I was reading this article in the Washington Post and couldn't resist thinking that it's a perfect argument for the futility of prayer.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2004Sep18.html

Labor Day Brawl Casts A Shadow Over Dawn
Va. Village Fears Crime Resurgence

By Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 19, 2004; Page A01

DAWN, Va. -- The people of Dawn are used to coming together in prayer. They did it two years ago, right in the middle of Mount Gideon Road, after a man strung out on drugs tried to rape a woman there. They've even held a prayer vigil to ask for running water and toilets, which some residents of this little Caroline County community still lack.

It's time for another prayer vigil.

On Labor Day, 11 people were shot and one was stabbed in a fight that broke out about 2 a.m. Authorities said it was the worst outbreak of violence in memory in the rural county south of Fredericksburg. Although there were no life-threatening injuries, the incident literally left bullet holes in the heart of Dawn -- its community center, where people hold wedding receptions, family reunions and parties such as the one that was ending when the shooting started that Monday.

[the article goes on in the same vein and then ends with the following]:

At the community meeting, several of the nearly 40 residents who stayed until about 10 p.m. said the problem was that young people do not have enough to do. Then there was the back-and-forth so familiar at such meetings: Someone said more effort should go into getting grants and fundraising, and someone else asked how that is possible when the same few people do all the work?

Intermingled with the frustration and fear was the comfortable talk of people who have lived lifetimes together in a small community....

And they made plans: to form a committee to organize youth events and to begin hiring off-duty police for night events.

And, of course, to pray.

:banghead: It didn't work the first time!!! They still don't have toilets and running water, and their drug problem hasn't been fixed. Shouldn't they try asking someone else for help? And why doesn't The Post point that out? Sheesh

Bright Life

Because the idiot who wrote the piece was trying to bring the story full circle in a poignant way. Something like, these people have had all this crap happen, and they still have faith. Faith, of course, being a virtue.

EssEff

I'm trying to decide whether to send a letter to the editor. *waits a beat* Okay, I've decided. :devil3:

EssEff

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2004Sep18.html

Hepler's home was the only one in his community that was left uninhabitable by a tornado. He and his brother were inside with their children and a neighbor's child when they looked out a window and saw a funnel cloud coming down the street.

One of his neighbors said it seemed to "leap over a house" and land right on top of Hepler's.

It took less than a minute for the winds to peel off most of the second floor and throw it onto a neighbor's yard and deck.

"One minute we were lying in the basement and the next thing I knew there was daylight coming into my basement," Hepler said as he spoke to county emergency workers and National Weather Service officials.

Barbara Hepler said she was grateful that no one got hurt.

"God works in mysterious ways because He protected my family," she said. "There's definitely a lot of faith in this family today. . . . It's disappointing to lose a lot of things that were precious to us, but my family is safe and nobody was hurt at all."

Why doesn't she say, "God had it in for us. We were praying too damn much and I guess he just got sick of all our whining and bellyaching and just let us have it. The atheists next door didn't even lose a tree limb."

I'd like to see someone say that just once! :rolling:

ToMeK

Most tragedies have survivers and those survivors are always somehow chosen by god through his mysterious ways. Nobody is ever intereviewed if their family was shot / killed.

Another good argument against the power of prayer is scientific studies. You always hear about the positives which contain small smaple sizes. However, when a proper study is done with a large sample size, obviously it finds nothing but those are never reported.

Id love taht in a newspaper.

FRONT PAGE: Prayer Doesn't Work

Millions if not billions of people pray everyday asking for health, fortune and forgiveness. Now, a large study done by Dr. Joe Doe at Swinburne University in Melbourne has shown that prayer doesn't work and its 'effects' can be attributed to a well known phenomenon called 'confirmation bias'. "People remember the times it appears to help and forget or rationalise away the times where it doesnt" says Dr. Doe. People from all religions have reacted with outrage with some calling the study "the work of Satan". Dr. Doe has reportedly received numerous threats calling for an end to his work.

More on Page 3

EssEff

Page 3

Dr. Doe interviewed the survivors of 2,000 disasters in which some people died and others didn't. He found that while 90% of the victims prayed for their deliverance from the impending disaster, their odds of survival were no greater than chance.

One such case is that of Mrs. Ima Bleever, whose husband died when a tornado ripped through her trailer park. "We both prayed real, real hard for God to save us. I hung onto the side of the tub and Vern hung onto the terlet. I guess God decided it was Vern's time. I miss him somethin turrible but he's with God now and I'll see him some day."

When Dr. Doe asked why she thought God would listen to her prayer but not Vern's, she said, "What do yer know, ye heathen!"

"It's usually like that," Doe explained. "Except when the deceased was gay or voted for Clinton. Survivors believe they got what they deserved."