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By Mike Perry
Here's something I don't normally do - which is to publish something on this blog that I completely disagree with. But today I thought I would! The article is by Al Stefanelli and is based on a theme from his book called Free Thoughts - A Collection Of Essays By An American Atheist. The word 'athiest' in the title of his book immediately indicates that Mr Stefanelli would have little truck with many of the posts on 67 Not Out!
So blood pressure tablets at the ready here goes.
"The claim that God answers prayer is contrary to reality. Outside of the obvious, glaring reality that there is no God, coincidence plays a major role in the believer's lack of understanding about how the world works. Let’s take the scenario of someone locking themselves out of their apartment. They utter a prayer for help and a few minutes later the Superintendent shows up. Normally, this would be viewed as a coincidence. But according to the praying Christian, it was the hand of God that made the Super show up 'just at that moment' to unlock their door.
Consider, though, that in third-world countries there are faithful believers who are praying to God because they're starving to death or are succumbing to diseases that can be cured with modern medicine that isn't available to them for a variety of reasons, usually associated with money. Speaking of money, there are hundreds of thousands of people who have lost their jobs and are praying for God to give them another one, and to provide for their sustenance and health while they are unemployed.
It would seem that God is behaving like quite the jerk by ignoring all those sick, starving children and allowing entire families to be put out on the street, but chooses to send an apartment manager to unlock the door of an inconvenienced resident.
Ask a believer to explain how their God could provide a great parking spot at Wal-Mart; yet allow six million people die during the Holocaust. Ask a believer how their God could provide a sunny day for a $10,000 outdoor wedding; but ignore the prayers of the woman who is left to die after being raped and tortured. Ask a believer about their God ignoring the payers of a mother who is watching her kids die of starvation, but providing a … Well, you get the idea… continues
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