About a week after the devastating earthquake in Japan, I saw an article on AnnArbor.com which featured a photo of Japanese students painting "Pray for Japan" on The Rock at the southeast corner of campus.
I'm curious about the belief that underlies this message. What is the purpose of praying for Japan? Did their god not notice that the earthquake and tsunami were happening? Was he somewhere reading "The Pet Goat" and couldn't be bothered to act? Was he so busy cursing people who were having homosexual sex that he didn't notice this catastrophe? Perhaps he didn't hear the screams of pain and suffering of the thousands of people who were killed or injured. He wouldn't have acted until a few people in a small college town in Michigan point out to him, "Hey, look over at Japan. There seems to be some trouble over there that needs your attention."
Imagine if our government worked this way. What if there was an earthquake off the coast of California which caused a tsunami which wiped out part of San Francisco. What if the government didn't do anything until people around the country started calling Washington DC a few days later to tell them about the disaster? Would these people put up with that? OK, perhaps that is pretty much what happened with Hurricane Katrina, but that doesn't make it acceptable, especially from a god.
OK. So perhaps their god did notice, but then, why pray? Will their god not provide enough relief and comfort for the survivors until he gets enough prayers to support it? Is he playing Japanese Tsunami Survivor and is waiting for all the prayers to come in to see who will get booted off the island and who gets to stay? If their god is truly compassionate, then he should do what is in his power (which should be everything!) and fix the problem. He shouldn't need prayer to encourage him in the task.
I guess another option is that, yes, their god will do what he wants to help the people of Japan, but they pray to make themselves feel better. They don't really expect to influence their god, but the act of prayer is an act of self-reflection. It focuses them and shows their solidarity with the suffering of the survivors. Wouldn't it be better to take all that energy that is being spent on prayer and focus on actively doing something that will help? Donate to the charities who are effective in helping with these types of disasters. Do work in your own home and community to prepare if a disaster occurs where you live. Contact your government representatives and let them know what you think they should be doing to help. There are lots of ways that you can actively do good in the world. Kneeling and praying and then feeling better about yourself because you did it isn't one of them.
The final possibility for why these people pray instead of act is because that is what they have been trained to do by their leaders. If you have a problem, pray for help. Suffer silently and pray. Because people who pray when there is trouble don't cause problems. They are willing to put up with injustice, incompetence, and abuse. They don't strike or revolt. And when their leaders pray with them, they don't notice that the leaders are the ones causing a lot of the problems. They are taught to pray and wait for good things to come along.
If you pray, think about it. Why do you pray? What do you hope to accomplish with prayer? Wouldn't you be more likely to get the results you want if you actively did something to accomplish those ends instead of praying for them?
4 comments:
Darn it, Dan, I would have really preferred a blog about squirrels. However, you ask questions, and it is my nature to provide answers. I can't help it. And at least in part, I've certainly been through the same though...t processes in the past.
I think prayer, which is part of a much larger category of belief, is a very individual thing, despite thousands of years of attempting to institutionalize it. I think the desire and willingness to believe, at some level, is a pretty natural human response, particularly in situations where things aren't tangible or may be rather complex to comprehend. Prayer is just one manifestation of belief, and, kind of like other forms of meditation, can be pretty therapeutic, provide moments of self-reflection, reaffirm values, sharpen focus, strengthen resolve and inspire action.
Belief, prayer, and various other activites can all be taken to extreme, and can be harmful when you believe blindly without asking these types of questions of yourself, your leaders, and your institutions. Also obvious is the need for self-reliance, individual responsibility and the need to act, not simply rely on someone or something else to respond to prayer.
As with most things, I don't think there's any moral absolute where prayer and belief are involved. It can be good, bad, or largely indifferent, depending on the individual and what they choose to do with it.
I understand your point, but it's not really what I was talking about. I was referring to praying FOR something. Especially in Christianity, there is an odd contradiction where it is said that their god is everywhere and knows everything, yet there is a tradition of prayer to ask their god to act on their behalf. I am curious how people with those beliefs rectify them in their minds.
With respect to praying for inspiration or another introspective use, I can see your point. However, I don't see the need to look for insight from a supernatural being. We can find insight from ourselves (which is what is really happening), or we can discuss our thoughts with others and get their opinion.
Of course, asking a god for guidance delves into the whole free will v. predetermination issue, which is something for later discussion.
So, I have to comment on this. You may be surprised. As you know, I went to church for about 2 years a few years back. I have always believed in God, and always will. During that time, I read the Bible for the first time, I put my heart into being a good Christian. However, the more I went to church, the more I read the Bible, the more I contemplated... the less I started to believe. That is hard to say.
During church services, the choir director seemed to be "all about him", one of the men who sat behind me was constantly hitting on me, so much that I talked Greg into going with me a couple of times just so he would know I was married. When I was baptised, all I heard was how wonderful it would feel, how a wave of calmness, warmness, etc would come over me. All I felt was cold and wet. I felt cheated, yet again.
I actually have more "hope" and faith without going through the church rituals, and proclaiming my beliefs on bumper stickers and tshirts.
I do still believe in God, I do pray on occasion, I think - like you said - to make myself feel better. I do it mostly at night or when I am extremely anxious. I really don't expect to get a response, or for it to make everything better, but for the moment, it is more of a meditation. It calms me down and provides me with the hope that things may get better, but I have learned not to count on some miracle. Ironically, it's kind of like buying a lottery ticket (for lack of a better example) although the odds are astronomical, maybe, just maybe you will win some day.
I will say, in closing, that I would never judge anyone for their beliefs. I think that everyone has the right to choose what they believe in. I think it all comes down to loving yourself, loving your family and being the best person you can be in this world while you are here. THOSE are the things that really matter.
Elaine, I really appreciate that you read my blog and posted such a thoughtful response.
Your experience is a lot like mine. I kept hearing religious people say that they had The Truth, but as soon as I scratched the surface just a little bit, all I found was contradictions or superstitious nonsense that didn't match the real world that I saw around me.
Prayer, to me, is one of those contradictions. If you have an all-powerful and all-knowing god, then he knows what you are thinking and he knows what is the best thing to do. Therefore, the action of prayer is not necessary, and it is futile because god isn't going to change his mind because some tiny human asked him to.
Praying is more like going in front of a king to make a request. You have to make the effort to physically go there and state your case. It's the only way for the king to hear you. And then the king may decide to do something based on your plea. But with a god, those actions aren't necessary nor are they fruitful, thus the contradiction.
Going back to your point and to Mike's, this argument only applies to praying FOR something.
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