I'm no theologian, so don't expect lots of biblical references. It's unlikely that I can escape my judeo-christian cultural basis. However, the following applies to a great many religious movements around the world, and likely has its roots more in humankind's underlying tendencies towards team-formation and self-preservation than in divine inspiration.
So, what about Prayer? Here in the United States, it's everywhere. Today an article on the web mentioned an inquiry at the Air Force Academy (those guys/gals sure have trouble staying out of trouble). Apparently christian leaders at the academy are discriminating in significant ways against others, as demonstrated when various ranking individuals (instructors and academy leadership) try to coerce cadets into christian prayer. We see it in a pronounced and highly visible fashion in our professional sports. Naturally our politicians are deeply into prayer. And, of course, all sorts of protestors (Schiavo, anti-abortion, anti-democrats, pro-nukes, etc.) invoke prayer at every possible opportunity, especially when the cameras are rolling.
I don't think that all religious people condone all of the examples above, but few people that I know of are bothered by, much less offended by, most forms of prayer. Does that seem strange to you? It does to me.
Let us begin at the beginning. What is prayer for? This could be analyzed from many perspectives, but let's begin with what's simple. Most prayer seems to be a request for something. Dear God, let us compete to the best of our capabilities and win this game. A few people might throw in something about this being done as a witness to God's greatness - or even a promise to do something good if God complies.
Let's be straight here. There are some really elemental questions that have to be asked about this form of prayer:
- Why should God care about a football game? Anybody?
- Are we really trying to win for God, or for fame, money, prestige? Where's our humility?
- If both sides request a win from God (or do they say "...to win for God"), does this create a no-win situation for God? I mean, who is he supposed to support? And, if my sides loses, do I try to turn it into God's wish to teach me (or maybe someone else) something? If so, does everyone on my team, and all our supporters, need to learn something at the same time? Is it the same something? Sheesh! Let's not be silly, God doesn't want to hear a lot of whining about helping me or you or your team or mine to win a game. You'd have to be a stupid lout to think otherwise.
- What right do we have to ask God to intercede? Doesn't he know what he's doing? Doesn't the very definition of God incorporate the notion of all-powerful and all-knowing? In which case, why does he need our kibbitzing? And, before you answer, remember that when you're in a hole, the first rule is to stop digging.
The little bit I remember about the bible suggests that we "...make a joyful noise unto the Lord...", or that we be thankful. What about asking to win a football game (or war) is offering thanks? Even if we throw in the tagline "We thank you..." as part of the request, we all know that's not the inspiration for this prayer. Heck, if we were thankful, we would say thanks for the opportunity to play this game. <= that's a period. If we were thankful, our first concern wouldn't be whether we won or lost - it would be how did we play the game - did we live up to the opportunities that God has given us. Now, that's an interesting concept that gets lots of lip service in our society, but not so much support for anyone over about 6 years of age. In fact, look at Texas High School football - its life and death on the gridiron in the heart of the bible thumping baptist belt.
Some people will respond that this example unfairly treats the larger body of prayer. So, when I pray for someone else's health - is this done as a disinterested party? Take an example of war - do we pray for the good health of our enemy's? If anyone proposed doing so, they would be vilified and probably lynched in almost any society I can think of, including the United States. Even on those rare circumstances when someone says "...may the best man win...", how often do you suppose that the speaker thinks that the best man is anyone other than himself?
Why did all those right-wingnuts hold prayer vigils for Terry Schiavo? Was it because they were so concerned about her tragic fate? Given the number and scale of tragedies in the world, it hardly seems like this particular one required so much intense prayer. Do we think that these prayerers (people who pray) felt a close personal bond to Ms Schiavo? Do we think that they were strongly concerned that her fate might soon befall themselves - and warranted an extraordinary intervention? Do we think that they constantly throw themselves into prayer on all the key issues and tragedies of the day? None of these explanations seems likely to me. What were they doing? Playing holier than thou? Hiding from their sins by trying to point out the sins of others?
How about praying for God to bless America? This prayer begs two questions:
- Hasn't God blessed America already?
- What would a blessed America look like?
Anyhow, lets get real. Why should God bless America? America is an institution of man - that means its flawed and always will be. Why bless such a thing? Shouldn't taking care of America be the duty of people, not God? There are already so many man-made conflicts in the world, does God really need to, or have time to, take sides among the nations? Of course not. Asking God to bless America is a blaspheme. It amounts to renouncing what he has given us, and supposing that we mortals know better and should direct God in the use of his almighty powers. Our saving grace is that we aren't telling him or directing him, we're asking him. But how long is it before we hold our collective breath and have a tantrum if God isn't forthcoming.
It seems to me that the only possible form of prayer request that might be acceptable is a request for God to protect one's enemies. Help those that I try to hurt! Anything else has the taint of greed on it, and even this has the taint of knowing better than God what he should do. Fortunately, I don't think there are many among us who would utter this prayer so we're unlikely to offend God with it.
Anything other than a prayer that says: Thank you God for all that I am and all that I experience (including war, pestilence, disease, hunger, pain) is not a real prayer at all. So, why do we continue to pray for the things we do? Why don't our religious leaders correct our prayer behavior?
My personal belief is that most prayer exists because people need a crutch to lean on. No one is ready to say that they are blessed in their current state. In my experience, those with the most complain the most about their lot in life - no matter how religious they are. Think of all the rich folks, even when they evade most of their taxes, who complain about how they're being taken advantage of by poor folks. But, when combined with faith that one's God can hear and will respond, prayer provides comfort.
An understanding of this can be easily co-opted by religious and other leaders. Rather than telling their disciples to revel in their fate, the leadership offers them the alternative to improve their fate. In so doing, they gain the support of their disciples and a measure of control. Teams can form around a vision of God, a definition of what constitutes good work by man, and a form of prayer. It becomes self-sustaining too.
Prayer becomes a tool of team formation - a manifest demonstration of our shared faith. It clearly draws the line between us and them. Those that pray for what we do versus those who don't want God to bless America. It also becomes a foil to avoid the necessity of good works. I say my prayers so I don't need to worry about my fellow man. Or, I give to my fellow parishioners and don't need to worry about others. And, it becomes a weapon against our enemies (God protect our troops in battle and lead them victorious to establish...blah blah blah).
The right-wingnuts give us plenty of examples of all these sorts of behavior. How can any leader believe that coerced faith is real faith? But the Air Force Academy affair is hardly the first instance of such behavior, and this coercion is not a uniquely Christian trait either. In fact, our country was founded in part to escape coercive religion. And, the basic notions of democracy trace back at least to ancient Athens - not judeo-christian ethics. So, when the right-wingnuts try to establish our society as biblically based, and that it must therefore intertwined with christianity - one can be sure that either their comprehension, or their representation of history and God is fundamentally flawed.
It's time for true democrat's (as in believers in democracy) and the truly faithful (as in those thankful to God) to say: Enough with this prayer! Get it out of government. Get it out of sports. Get it out of schools. Get it out of the public eye. Start taking responsibility for your own moral compass you sinner, not someone else's. Start to be grateful for what you and we have, instead of begging for more from God, and cheating your fellow man out of his due. And, generally just keep your religion to yourself. IMHO
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