Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
When even the priest says praying is pointless...
Have a drought? Facing real-world problems? Then solve them with real-world solutions, not prayer. That is basically the message here:
SOUTH Melbourne priest Bob Maguire says church leaders across Australia can pray for rain "until they go black in the face" but it won't solve the water crisis.
***
Father Maguire, of St Peter and Paul's Parish, is among many Melbourne priests warning drought-stricken farmers not to pin all their hopes on divine intervention.
"Praying for rain is great and we will be doing it in our services, but we have to be prepared to work on finding solutions to the problem ourselves," he said.
Of course. Sky Daddy ain't there to solve your problems. You have to do it yourself, or with the help of other people in the real world. And when even the local Shaman admits this, you know that a bit of cognitive dissonance is starting to kick in.
Naturally, though, they don't want to lose the religious gig, so others start in on the 'well, prayer helps us cope' routine:
Anglican priest the Rev Howard Langmead, of St John's Church in Brunswick West, said rain prayers had regularly been included in weekend services.
"Certainly, we will continue to plead the cause, but I don't believe God will always do what we ask him," he said.
"The good thing about prayer is that it can also make us change our response to things too."
Um, right. That's like telling someone who has just suffered some personal catastrophe like the death of a spouse or child that "it is all part of God's plan, and you'll understand when you get to heaven."
No, it's just an excuse.
Jim Downey
(Hat tip, Hank!)
Bookmark/Search this post with:
Father Bob
Father Bob, as he's usually known, is a delightfully grumpy and non-traditional kind of priest. And I say this as an atheist with the standard aversion to all things priestly. Most people in Australia were introduced to him through the masterful "John Safran versus God" series:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Safran_vs_God
The Wiki article there includes a quote from Safran himself, which basically endorses the "religion is necessary for morality" idea, which is naturally bunk. But none of that comes through in the series. Instead, it's a brave world tour that points out the weirdness and contradictions that religions all share.
Safran and Maguire (easily the most sympathetic guest of the "versus God" series) went on do another series, in a talk-show-type format:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaking_in_Tongues_(TV_show)
Basically, he's one of those rare priests who has enough common sense about him that you could actually stand to be in his company. The only thing you're left wondering is why the hell he's still a priest, let alone still a believer.
Reverse that...
Hang on. Got my generalities and specifics backwards. What I mean is that Father Bob's attitude makes you wonder why he's still a *believer*, let alone a *priest*.
casual christians.
Im in the UK, and most of our population is barely-Christian: They are members of the anglican church (sometimes catholic instead) because their parents were. They will vaguely claim to believe in God, Jesus and Heaven - but they never read the bible, and religion has no influence in their lives. They only go to church on special occasions - weddings, funerals and such.
Anglicans
Shaggy Maniac
This piece isn't particulary surprising given that Anglicans are often atheists who really like liturgy.