Bob,
I would imagine that it is difficult to know whether what happens is an answer to a prayer or what would have happened in any event. As I've said before, belief and knowledge are very different things.
Belief on a mass scale I think is a very dangerous thing whether we speak of New Agers, Christians, Muslims, Democrats, Republicans, etc. Mass belief is too easily manipulated by those who seek domination, and even the most peaceful belief can easily be turned to violence - just look at the history of Christianity.
Belief - all belief - must be constantly questioned and reassessed. No leader, no faith, deserves blind allegience. This is the only way we can prevent corrupt humans from exploiting belief. And any belief system which does not encourage its followers to question is inviting demagoguery.
To non-believers, the notion of prayer is offensive because we do not believe that any being that is really supreme would expect or encourage people to beg and plead. This behaviour seems to us a negation of dignity, especially as many of us suspect that the pleadings are directed at a man-made construct. Believers feel otherwise. If believers choose to plead, I have no objection. But the notion that a hurricane might have been less destructive if more of us had pleaded harder - and thus, implicitly, that the destruction can be blamed on those of us who neglected to plead - is something I find a little difficult to stomach.
Steve |
