More Meaningless Research On The Power Of Prayer

Last updated on: December 14, 2010 at 9:31 pm by Jeffrey L. Falick

More Meaningless Research On The Power Of Prayer 2010-12-14T21:31:00-05:00 Jeffrey L. Falick

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When I was a kid, my little brother had an imaginary friend named Patrick. He really took this friend seriously. My sister and I thought this was hysterical until my mom explained that she had talked to a counselor and Patrick was helping my brother to get through my parents’ divorce.

I thought about this when reading on LiveScience.com about a new study on the benefits of prayer:

…[R]esearcher Shane Sharp, a graduate student studying sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, conducted in-depth interviews with 62 victims of violent relationships with intimate partners.

…Results showed that … God or another figure from religion acted as a support system for the participants. The figure had certain perceived characteristics, such as being loving, powerful and caring, that influenced why participants sought him or her out. But unlike a flesh-and-blood shoulder to cry on or an abusive partner to rail at, God was available whenever and wherever the participant reached out….

Just like Patrick.

The article goes on to say that it was better for the victims to vent their anger at God than at their abusive partners. Well, duh, especially since they knew God wouldn’t beat them up again. The study also found that prayer is a good distraction and that when people think God likes them, they like themselves better. Not exactly earth-shattering revelations.

While the researchers themselves didn’t jump to any metaphysical conclusions, the writer jumped to her own in the lead paragraphs:

Getting on your knees and looking to the heavens may really bring comfort during tough times, new research finds.

This will come as no surprise to many Americans, as 75 percent say they pray on a weekly basis in order to manage hard situations, including illness, and emotions such as sadness and anger, according to the study researcher citing Pew Research Center data. And most Americans also think God is involved in their everyday lives and concerned with their personal well-being.

The Pew data has absolutely nothing to do with this study. The only thing that this research indicates is that angry people need a place to dump their anger and an imaginary god or “another figure from religion” will do the trick.

If research like this demonstrates anything, it’s that humans are capable of comforting themselves even when there’s no one around to do it and that sitting quietly with our thoughts is calming. There’s nothing magic about this and it certainly doesn’t prove that someone in heaven is listening.

Researchers did point out that if, as a result of prayer, someone decides to forgive his or her abuser and goes back to the bad relationship, it could actually make things much worse. I guess that’s what you get for taking advice from an imaginary friend.

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