A Menace

Last updated on: February 12, 2014 at 4:08 pm by C. Don Jones

A Menace 2014-02-12T16:08:25-06:00 C. Don Jones

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Prayer is a deadly menace to society. Therefore Western Society has opted to regulate its’ use and practice. While there are some who wish to ban it completely, most of us know that such prohibition usually leads to an increased usage of any thing made illicit by the law. So many people who wish to have prayer regulated argue for its’ use in social contexts and cite health reasons for keeping it available.

The argument for banning prayer is that it is ineffective. There is no purpose to prayer. It is like talking to an imaginary friend. And it would be dishonest to teach people the imaginary friend exists. But, then what if the friend is not imaginary? There is no dishonesty. True, claim the prohibitionists. But, does it help to give in or even to encourage a delusion? So, those who would prohibit prayer do so for the sake of public mental health.

The regulators of prayer claim that there is something healthful and helpful to the individual and the public in prayer. Public events, meetings, sports matches, and picnics are special times for prayer to promote good feelings and attitudes that contribute to social cohesion. If there is a delusion involved it is harmless in these small doses.

The third group are deregulators who believe prayer is meant to be a menace to society. When an individual prays, the person knows he is not alone. The prayer can be in a group of other people doing the same or alone in a “prayer closet” situation. If the person praying believes the words or meditations are being heard or shared how can that person ever be stopped. A person may pray out of compassion. A person may pray for courage to perform a right action. A person may pray because every aspect of a given situation is outside the person’s power. We deregulators ask where is the harm?

The response of regulators and prohibitionists is that people who pray could become dangerously disobedient and disrupt the engineering of society. As an advocate for the deregulation of prayer, I respond I hope so. As a prayer practitioner I have learned many things (some good and some bad) about myself. I have learned I am not bound by anything other than my loyalty to truth. I have learned while praying I can become a Self and not a cog in the machine of production and consumption.

Learning these things makes the use and practice of prayer a menace to the society which only wishes for ordered movement of money, goods, and services with no question about spiritual wealth. Prayer is a menace to society because it helps liberate the person from the grind of society.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

February 5, 2014

Unrighteous Cruelty

Next Post

March 19, 2014 Why sin is rooted in fear.

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Addiction Advent Afghanistan Anxiety Ascension Sunday Baptism Barack Obama Biblical Interpretation Bigotry Book Banning BSA Buddhism Choice Christmas Church Discipline Community Conscience Conspiracy theories COVID-19 Culture Wars death cults deconstruction Devotional Divine Judgment Donald Trump Earth Day Election Day empathy Environmentalism Evangelism Exploitation of the Poor Faith False Claims fascism Fear Forgiveness Genocide government Grace Gun Violence Halloween Hate Health Hillbilly Elegy Hindu Holy Communion Holy Week Homelessness Hope Identity Integrity Islam Joe Biden John Hagee Kamala Harris Labor Lent Liberation Theology Lies Love Love as action Neurological disorders Non-Christian Religions Online Worship Original Goodness Pandemic Peace Pentecost Philosophy Preaching Progressive Christianity Racism Redemptive Violence Myth Resentment Saint's Days Satire Sobriety social media Spiritual Self Care Spirituality Technology The Kingdom of God The United Methodist Church Theology Transfigurations Sunday Transgender persons Truth Uncategorized Violence Wesleyan Working Class

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 March 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 January 2025 October 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 July 2018 February 2018 January 2018 August 2017 May 2017 November 2016 July 2016 June 2016 November 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 January 2015 November 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 June 2013 March 2013 February 2013 December 2012 August 2012 July 2012 May 2012 February 2012 December 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Ezekiel was commanded to lie on his left side for 390 days and his right side for 40 days.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE