<p>If God cares about a football, baseball, etc. game - I’ve got no respect for the dude. Seems to me there are bigger things that He / She / It should worry about.</p>
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<p>Maybe in the above scenario, the athlete is asking “to do their best” so that they can brag to lesser athletes or get the best girl at the party, and this is a lesson in humility? There can be any number of reasons why prayers aren’t answered to our satisfaction in order to teach a greater lesson.</p>
<p>But why is this of concern to you? If someone wishes to believe that God can help them meet their potential, why do you have any opinion on this? Why would you feel any need to point out the incongruity of the above situation? </p>
<p>I truly don’t understand why anyone cares about what’s going on inside another human being’s brain (regarding religious beliefs) unless those beliefs are directing that person to commit acts of violence or evil against others.</p>
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<p>Good thing you don’t live in Texas!</p>
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<p>I don’t care what goes on in someone’s brain. I care what goes on on my TV set, when I have to watch smug athletes point to the sky to indicate that God wanted them to win, and when I have to listen to them preen that Jesus was on their side.</p>
<p>One of the best books I’ve ever read about coming to understand the role of tragedy in our lives and God and prayer was written by Rabbi Harold Kushner, whose son was born with a gruesome and fatal disease. The book is “Why Bad Things Happen to Good People” and it can be a great comfort to anyone who has lost a loved one despite all the prayers one could muster. </p>
<p>To put his philosophical belief in a nutshell, it is this: he could either believe in a God that was all powerful — and could have prevented horrific suffering and wrongdoing by mankind — or a God who was all good, all loving and, essentially, on the side of mankind and the rabbi choose to believe in the latter and makes his case powerfully in the book. The premise is that when God created life and set the world in motion, he allowed it to be created to go on without divine interference, with chaos and randomness likely to occur. With the acts of nature and the choices made by humans allowed to play out to whatever end comes about. No divine “reason” for any given event that happens, iow. God did not have a plan when a crazy man murdered a schoolroom full of little girls, when a tsunami inundates a whole city, when a madman launches a campaign of genocide, when a drunk driver kills a mother of four. </p>
<p>Kushner’s argument is that God weeps at these events along with the humans, but cannot and does not intervene because that is not how he set the world in motion. God does not want these events to occur as part of some plan or for some reason; they happen because chaos and randomness is part of the creation.</p>
<p>What good is prayer, then? Kushner addresses that and it is (to me) both eloquent and rational. Prayer is for humans to commune with God to gain strength and comfort from the acts of randomness that occur. One should not pray for a gravely ill person not to die, for example. Don’t pray for what God has not put in His hands. Don’t pray that God can stop a virulent septic infection, or that someone with an irreversible brain injury will recover, or that the fire or flood will skip your house…God does not interfere in the events that occur on Earth. Instead, pray for the strength to handle what comes. Pray for courage, for wisdom, for understanding, for peace of mind despite tragedy. </p>
<p>The way Kushner puts it, to pray for what God cannot grant is to set oneself up to be angry and to lose faith and to no longer have the belief that God is there when you pray. To pray for what God can grant — strength and courage — is to pray with the conviction that no matter what happens, you will still have God in your life, on your side. </p>
<p>It’s a powerful piece of writing and I highly recommend it.</p>
<p>Its funny, I read that book many years ago and also really liked it, but took from it something completely different: God doesn’t make bad things happen; ergo He doesn’t make good things happen, either. The reason to go to church/temple is because your neighbors or friends go and you want to see and talk with them. I am a non-believer, so maybe that is why I remember the book that way. :)</p>
<p>Community, the draw of being with others for a purpose, worshipping with others, is indeed a major reason for religion, I agree. </p>
<p>Actually, I’m not much of a believer myself. I respect the idea of there being a God, though. I understand the immense comfort it can bring in the face of loss and tragedy. I think there are times when even nonbelievers feel the need to draw on the inexplicable faith that religion offers.</p>
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<p>Like tennis. Did you see some of the calls that idiot line judge made against Serena in the U.S. Open quarterfinal??? God!!! I mean, literally, GOD!!!</p>
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<p>Again, why does that bother you? Why can’t you just respect that while you don’t believe that, he certainly has the right to express that himself? Why assume that he believes God wanted him to win rather than that he believes God helped him to do his best? I can’t imagine spending one second being annoyed about someone else’s religious beliefs. Who am I to judge?</p>
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If God cares about a football, baseball, etc. game - I’ve got no respect for the dude. Seems to me there are bigger things that He / She / It should worry about.
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<p>I think God cares about everything in the world. He is a loving God and a benevolent God. He wants us to have fun - to enjoy ourselves. He cries when we fight and mourns those who face hardship. He is everywhere and all knowing. He is a Father in the true sense of the word.
As a parent, I care if my child ‘wins’ the game and I care if my other child is sick - as a human I can only be in one place at a time. But God is everywhere, all knowing and all caring.</p>
<p>I always liked Rabbi Kushner’s take on prayer. When it comes to God and why He behaves as He does, I think its a little audacious of people like me to presume to understand why God acts the way He does. After all, were talking about the entity who created time and space. (Im speaking from the perspective of a believer here.) Such a being must be much more powerful and more knowledgeable than I how can I possibly know the reasoning behind His actions? As my brother likes to say, ask a flea to describe why a dog barks .</p>
<p>Speaking of prayer I also like the comment by Anne Lamott in her book, Traveling Mercies: Here are the two best prayers I know: Help me, help me, help me and Thank you, thank you, thank you. The older I get, the more I use the thank you prayer.</p>
<p>In my deepest and darkest moment when I thought i could bear no more God came to me and gave me strength. I felt His presence wash over me in warmth and light. The weight of my burdens was immediately lifted. I know in my heart and mind God exists and am happy to share this with you.</p>
<p>I thank God for forgiving my sins.I pray to God for strength for myself and for others in need. I pray for clarity of thought. God hears my prayers and surrounds me with the strength I need to continue. </p>
<p>The poem about God walking besides a person on the beach and two sets of footprints falling to one really resonates with me. God did not leave the person in their time of need, He carried them. That’s how it works.</p>
<p>Re Kushner’s book: As a pastor, this is the book that I recommend most to people who seek pastoral counseling with me. I find that many people who seek pastoral counseling are asking “Why is this happening to me? Where is God? How to I respond?” Kushner’s book provides well-conceived, well-written answers that reflect traditional Judeo-Christian thought. I highly recommend it - even for non-believers who are wondering why we (believers) believe what we do. (and, yes, I have read Christopher Hitchens, et al, so I can understand why non-believers believe what they do!)</p>
<p>I remember a sermon at our church where the pastor said that Kushner is dead wrong…but I don’t remember why.</p>
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<p>I can’t speak for Cardinal Fang, but I strongly believe that if the people who run my town, my state, or my country need to have validation from a non-carbon life form that nobody has ever seen nor heard, that is very much a concern to me. You folks all on here, the rank and file…knock yourselves out. Pray once, twice, three times a lady. When Dionne Warwick sings, go ahead and “say a little prayer” with her. Pray, pray, pray your boat, gently down the stream.</p>
<p>But I do not want anybody making a decision that will affect me, based on a conversation with their God.</p>
<p>To all who asked “what concern is it of yours?”, this is why it is a big concern to me. I’m not trying to turn this into a political discussion, but this is why many atheists have strong feelings about it.</p>
<p>Personally, it doesn’t bother me at all when athletes praise their Lord. It’s harmless, and I actually find it kind of endearing ---- sorta like a little kid who really believes in Santa Claus.</p>
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<p>Most likely, the argument against is the belief that God is all-powerful and thus chooses not to interfere with heinous acts and that each death or tragedy is part of a wider plan that we, as mere humans, cannot grasp or understand. Some prefer the notion that virtually everything that happens — kids gets into first-choice college, you got that job, the hurricane spared your house, the car crash happened two cars ahead of you, your kid comes home from war ---- are because of God’s plan for you and yours and because of God’s grace and if bad things happen to other people, that’s part of the unfathomable plan as well.</p>
<p>Kushner does address that and acknowledges that he came to a personal choice — he couldn’t believe in a God as capricious and unjust as one who would “allow” some of the awful things that happen to happen. He could only believe in a God who was all loving, one who grieved at the bad things, but did not cause and could not prevent them. </p>
<p>It’s not what most of us have been taught of course. Most are taught that God is all powerful…that God has a “reason” for whatever happens…we just can’t understand it because we are mere humans.</p>
<p>I have really enjoyed reading this thread as there were a lot of comments that resonnate with my spriit.</p>
<p>Sax,</p>
<p>Well said!!!</p>
<p>“God’s plan” - I have never understood people who preach this. I guess they prescribe to neo-Calvanistic theolgy and believe in a vengeful God. How can anyone who believe’s in God’s plan take credit for their own lives? If you rob a store, it’s not your fault - God’s Plan. If you make the Dean’s list - God’s Plan; why study? If you get a divorce - it’s God’s Plan; why be nice to your spouse and on and on. If a bus runs you over - “God’s plan”; why look before you cross. If you get sick and then well - it’s God’s Plan; don’t bother crediting modern medicine.</p>
<p>Traditional Judeo-Christian (including Roman Catholicism) does not teach “God’s plan” but rather teaches “free will”. God loves us so much he gives Free Will to live our lives and does not interfere. God does not “plan” or control our lives - we do. This is what Kushner teaches. </p>
<p>So, why pray? Pray for forgiveness because God is a redemptive God. Pray for understanding because God loves you. Pray to talk to God because focusing on your relationship with God through prayer allows you to see the answers to your problems. Pray to thank God and Praise him in all his glory because he created heaven and earth and all mankind including you.</p>
<p>I view prayer as one-to-one communication with God that allows me to unburden myself. I don’t ask for things - I ask God to give me the strength to deal with the things that come my way. When I am worried about something, I pray to be relieved of my worries (“laying it at the cross”) - which doesn’t mean that it will be all good, but that I can stop obsessing over what I cannot control. When I pass homeless people, I often pray for God’s blessings over them.</p>
<p>When my mom was ill, I prayed constantly. It was more like a conversation with God, sharing my concerns, asking for help for all of us in coping, etc. When she was dying, I could not have been the rock I was for my family had I not felt God’s presence with me every step of the way. I prayed out loud so that my mom could be comforted, and I sang songs that were prayer-like to her in the night. Even with her death, I felt a sense of peace.</p>
<p>My son is an atheist, and he has asked me how I know that what I believe is true. I tell him that I do not know … I believe, and I have faith. For me, the comfort that this brings is what I need. In the end, if it is all the “myth” my son thinks it is, no one is hurt … but life was that much more wonderful, I believe, because of prayer.</p>
<p>I haven’t read all the replies so excuse me if this has been said already.</p>
<p>I have a relationship with God, my prayers are my way of communicating with Him.</p>