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DANIEL ORTNER: Prayer distracts us from finding real world solutions
by Daniel Ortner
Columnists | 11/13/07
Posted online at 12:23 AM EST on 11/13/07
Prayer is known to create false confidence and hope that can be deadly. Recent clinical studies showed that ill individuals who knew they were being publicly prayed for were less likely to recover efficiently and more likely to suffer serious complications. While praying for precipitation is utterly useless-a traditional Indian rain dance would be just as effective-the pressure prayer can put on our public individuals can yield fewer productive and desirable outcomes.
Additionally, our public policy must be rooted in a scientific outlook that allows for good policy to be proven successful and failing policy to be discarded. Recourse to prayer, however, can never be disproven and has no role in our political process. Simply put, if the outcome we wish for materializes then we attribute the success to divine intervention and successful prayer. If it fails to occur, then the higher power has chosen to withhold his benevolent blessings and perhaps a bit more prayer would have swayed him. With either outcome, the value of prayer is never effectively challenged.
What prayer can lead to if taken to extremes is quite frightening. After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, religious leaders such as Pat Robertson and Hal Lindsey said that the horrific affects were due not to emergency management response failure or an administration unwilling to heed years of warnings about weak levees, but instead saw the disaster as proof that God had suspended his protection over America. Instead of advocating action to minimize future disasters, a reliance on prayer has us effectively blame the victim: "If only they had been a little more pious or dedicated in their prayers, maybe things would have been different."
Whether or not we believe in a god, human beings have a very real ability to impact the world. Those who believe can continue to pray, but must ensure that it does not limit their ability to see the options avalible to them.
Because of our actions, the global climate is spiraling out of control and mankind is perhaps closer than ever to the brink of nuclear annihilation. Kneeling on the ground, giving up and praying for salvation as Perdue did in Georgia is utterly dangerous and fatalistic. There are always practical solutions to our problems that we can develop to make the world a better place if we are not stuck waiting for divine intervention.
Additionally, our public policy must be rooted in a scientific outlook that allows for good policy to be proven successful and failing policy to be discarded. Recourse to prayer, however, can never be disproven and has no role in our political process. Simply put, if the outcome we wish for materializes then we attribute the success to divine intervention and successful prayer. If it fails to occur, then the higher power has chosen to withhold his benevolent blessings and perhaps a bit more prayer would have swayed him. With either outcome, the value of prayer is never effectively challenged.
What prayer can lead to if taken to extremes is quite frightening. After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, religious leaders such as Pat Robertson and Hal Lindsey said that the horrific affects were due not to emergency management response failure or an administration unwilling to heed years of warnings about weak levees, but instead saw the disaster as proof that God had suspended his protection over America. Instead of advocating action to minimize future disasters, a reliance on prayer has us effectively blame the victim: "If only they had been a little more pious or dedicated in their prayers, maybe things would have been different."
Whether or not we believe in a god, human beings have a very real ability to impact the world. Those who believe can continue to pray, but must ensure that it does not limit their ability to see the options avalible to them.
Because of our actions, the global climate is spiraling out of control and mankind is perhaps closer than ever to the brink of nuclear annihilation. Kneeling on the ground, giving up and praying for salvation as Perdue did in Georgia is utterly dangerous and fatalistic. There are always practical solutions to our problems that we can develop to make the world a better place if we are not stuck waiting for divine intervention.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
J Hayes
posted 11/13/07 @ 2:20 PM EST
Daniel Ortner's bigotry are surpassed only by his ignorance of hydrology and disregard for the constitution (which equally protects a public official's right to pray). (Continued…)
James W. Davis
posted 11/13/07 @ 2:52 PM EST
It will inevitably rain in GA, regardless of who believes what or who prays to whom. The weather will change according to processes that, like all else, are better and better understood with scientific study. (Continued…)
Robynn
posted 11/13/07 @ 3:29 PM EST
Finally, a voice of reason in the press. Thank you Mr. Ortner. To the poster citing the constitution, in fact the constitution of the state of Georgia Article I, section II states:
"Paragraph VII. (Continued…)
Bekah Richards
posted 11/13/07 @ 6:07 PM EST
The assumption that anyone who prays cannot or does not act is ridiculous and offensive. Moreover, the argument that "prayer is known to create false confidence and hope that can be deadly" is flawed. (Continued…)
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