So, who hasn't heard about Ted Williams yet? The "Golden Voice" is hitting every media outlet, so we're all up to date on the former homeless man's rise to fame, with the help of God. Yes, God answered his and his mother's prayers. Chance, his own personal perseverance and generous character, the natural goodwill of others...all attributable to God. Now comes the avalanche of secondary media and Facebook posts that tell us how this man owes everything to God because his prayers were answered.
So what of the other ~110,000 chronically homeless, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of temporarily homeless? Assuming some don't believe in God, some are incapable of formulating prayers due to mental illness, and others refuse to pray, I would still be willing to bet there are a good number praying for help and even have others praying for them. How does God pick, then?
Years ago, my cousin was diagnosed with leukemia. It's a horrible form of cancer with a current survival rate of 40%, up from 14% in the 60's. Thankfully, my cousin survived. To many, it was, and is still, declared as a miracle. Many prayers were asked for and many prayers were said. He beat the odds but, every day, 60% of others don't. Why was his case, in particular, a miracle? Why were his family's and friend's prayer's answered when the majority of others are not?
You cannot find any competitive endeavor, especially when Americans participate, that "winners" don't thank God. Olympic medalists, sports teams, racing drivers, reality TV competition competitors, game show contestants, etc., etc. all thank God for their wins. When someone, or a team, wins, there are invariably many, many more "losers". I'm pretty sure a great many of them were praying for victory. Do they thank God for the loss? If two teams/competitors both pray to God for the win or even just to play well (which would be the more modest prayer), how does God pick who to answer? I almost have this image of Zeus and Poseidon each imbuing their champions with power for victory, but it sort of breaks down because God is singular. Ever tried to play checkers against yourself? It doesn't really work so well.
Floods, earthquakes, hurricanes...we've all seen the aftermath footage of survivors thanking God for their lives. Really? So John Doe down the street, who lost his home and family: what should he be thankful for? You see the same thing with every level of tragedy and despair: people thanking God for not making it worse or for answering their prayers while they were at the cusp of death. That's right, you prayed and God answered. He just happened to ignore the other two passengers, with you, when the car slammed into that tree.
God gets credit for even the mundane. I have seen thanks given for a new job, an affordable car available for purchase, a child getting good grades...I could go on ad nauseum. The point being that, with all of these prayers flying around and prayers being answered and miracles happening, what's the logic? Is the prayer answering percentage based? Can you get yourself into the queue with extra effort? I don't think anyone has been able to answer this question, except with the tried and true oblique responses:
- We don't understand God's grand design (He's infinitely smarter than you, so don't bother even questioning anything associated with God or faith).
- He helps those who help themselves (implying you haven't done enough for yourself if your prayers aren't answered?)
- Someone's time was up (Again, don't question what you'll never comprehend)
Faith is wonderful like that. There is absolutely no argument that can stand against the basic foundation that God is unknowable and unquestionable. Well, bullshit. I'm not going to get into any kind of theological debate with anyone over this. I simply want to point out the narrow focus that people have when attributing credit to prayers and God's largess. Most people are pretty damn selfish. Am I against prayer? Hell no! Pray away. Anything that gives you strength and makes you feel better is a positive in my book. Will I be praying anytime soon? Statistically speaking, I'm just as well off as people who don't, so no. And, to anyone who would decry, "Atheist asshole!", I'm an agnostic. The difference will be in a later post, if you don't know it already.
“Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear” -- Thomas Jefferson
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