No, There Are NO Real Angels Among Us

Sent to The Star, Johannesburg, Thu 23/04/2015 18:08 in response to the reader’s letter below.  Not published.

Sir

I refer to the letter “Proof angels are among us” in The Star, Thursday April 23, by Judy Bennett.

Linden Cycle Shop is to be praised for their “angelic” behaviour.  They are obviously good people.

However, the letter can hardly convince us that real angels –mythical spirit beings commonly depicted with wings, haloes, and harps— exist.  Good people, or at least people who behave commendably in certain circumstances, definitely exist: The letter is proof of that.  Taking it as proof of the supernatural is not a logical conclusion.

It is also not logical of Ms Bennett to thank her god and pray for Linden Cycle shop.  What evidence does she have that a god was responsible, let alone the specific one that she believes in?

If I were the unnamed owner of Linden Cycle Shop, I would be annoyed that Ms Bennett believes that a supernatural agency made me behave well, rather than that I did it myself out of my own goodness!

As for praying, scientific studies of the effects of prayer have concluded that it does not work.  The most extensive of these was the "Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer" in 2006 (see the STEP project in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studies_on_intercessory_prayer). It found that prayer had no noticeable effect on healing, unless patients knew they would receive prayers, in which case (on average) the patients fared worse!

Ms Bennett’s letter may be good for the cycle shop, but her prayers are just a way of pretending to do something, while doing nothing.

Thanks and RICKgards

Promoting Religion is Reprehensible

Sent to The Star, Johannesburg, Sun 17/06/2012 16:19, not published.

 

Sir 

An acquaintance sent me an e-mailed PowerPoint presentation, “Center of the Bible”. Here is my reply, which deserves a wider audience: 

Dear Neil 

I am sure you meant no harm in sending me your chain-letter e-mail promoting religion, the bible, and prayer. No doubt you believed it was a Good Thing to do. Let me explain why I find it reprehensible. 

Imagine that you got an e-mail from me inviting you to a festival of the Sun God, based on ancient Egyptian writings. We will offer prayers and, to ensure good rains and a bountiful crop, will be sacrificing some first-born: Yours might be lucky enough to be included. You should command your wife and slaves to attend as well. 

I’d expect a sharp reply from you castigating me for my barbarism and superstition, pointing out that the Sun is a common star with no supernatural powers, that praying and sacrificing to it will not influence the weather or crops, that your wife is an adult who makes her own decisions, and that no decent person today owns slaves. 

Now, make two changes to my hypothetical invitation: Replace “Egyptian writings” with “Bible”, and “Sun God” with your name for God. 

Human sacrifice is a theme running through the Bible from Isaac to Exodus to Jesus: Indeed, it is a central tenet of Christianity that it is a good thing to torture an innocent man to death in the place of the guilty. Civilised? I don’t think so. 

The Old Testament gives detailed commandments for the keeping of slaves, including the requirements for selling your daughter into slavery. The New Testament supports it. The “Good Book’s” attitude towards women is that they are possessions: Witness Lot’s willingness to give his daughters to a mob to be raped. Good? I don’t think so. 

As with many other books, the Bible contains its share of wisdom, but there is a lot of bad stuff there too. If you take the Bible as the word of a God that must be obeyed, you would murder me for speaking against Him, and kill everyone you know for working on the Sabbath. 

I am worried when an educated 21st-Century person advocates the Bible as anything more than a myth from the infancy of our species. Today anybody with matric knows more about the universe than the authors of the Bible did. Yet your opinion of me is so low that you think I follow it. 

The god depicted in the bible is a nasty piece of work: Rigid, jealous, angry, sectarian, misogynist and genocidal. Fortunately it is obviously also fictitious.

Prayer is at best a waste of time, and may well be counter-productive, as shown by scientific studies (for example, the 2006 "Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP)" led by Harvard Professor Herbert Benson). You’re entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts. 

In an age when religious fanatics who welcome Armageddon can get hold of nuclear weapons, you are doing our planet a grave disservice by spreading superstition. Please reconsider. 

Thanks and RICKgards

With Justice Moegeng in Charge, We'd Better All Pray

Sent to The Star, Johannesburg Mon 12/09/2011 21:06, published minus the parts in blue as “No proof that prayer helps” in The Star (South Africa); September 21, 2011

I refer to Brenda Rethman's letter on Friday, "Chief Justice may be God's choice".

When you talk to god, it's called Praying.  When god talks to you, it's called Schizophrenia.

What objective evidence is there that Justice Moegeng was called to do anything by any god –and if so, which one?

Ms Rothman cites an anecdote where she believes that her god removed a blood clot.

I had a friend who died of cancer despite his congregation praying for him.

Anecdotal evidence is not helpful because people tend to remember when their prayers were answered, but not all the times they were not.

We need scientific studies to tell whether, when prayer is involved, there is any statistically measurable difference in the outcome.

This research has been done (e.g. the STEP study, which can be found on Wikipedia etc.) and has shown that praying for others has no effect, except in one case: When the person knows they are being prayed for.  Then, if there is an effect, it is counter-productive.  The researchers hypothesised that a kind of "performance anxiety" was involved.

The STEP study involved recovery from surgery.  But people recover from surgery anyway.  Why not look for something completely unequivocal?  Something that could not be produced by mere chance, but would definitely demonstrate the power of prayer?  After all, we are talking to the Creator of the Universe here, not some little fairy that might be able to sway the chances by a percentage point or two!

Here is an experiment that you can do for yourself to prove definitely whether prayer works.

Get a group of friends together and pray that, over the next month, all amputees in South Africa re-grow their lost limbs.  (You might ask Oscar Pistorius if he wishes to be excluded, lest it hurt his Olympic chances)

Is this a worthy and selfless cause?  Of course!   Would it be a miracle?  Given current scientific knowledge, yes.  Would a positive result glorify god and bring lots of converts? Definitely.

So do it!

I prophesy that nothing will happen.  Because prayer has no effect.

Why does prayer have no effect?  Because the gods being prayed to, don't exist.

Let All His Enemies Pray Publicly for Malema

Sent to The Star, Johannesburg Mon 29/08/2011 09:08, not published.

I am pleased to see people praying publicly for Julius Malema.

Scientific research (e.g. the STEP study) has shown that praying for others has no effect, except in one case.

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence in support of prayer, but none is unequivocal.  In every case, other causes could have been responsible, and it is difficult to say if prayer was the cause.  Some blindness appears to cure itself.  Cancers go into spontaneous remission.

However there is an experiment you can do for yourself that will prove unequivocally whether prayer works.

Get a group of friends together and pray that, over the next month, all amputees worldwide re-grow their lost limbs.  (You might ask Oscar Pistorius if he wishes to be excluded, lest it hurt his Olympic chances)

If this a worthy and selfless cause?  Of course!  A miracle?  Given current scientific knowledge, yes.  Would a positive result glorify god and bring lots of converts? Definitely.

So do it!  I prophesy that absolutely nothing will happen.  Because prayer has no effect.

Except in one case, according to the STEP study: When the person knows they are being prayed for.  Then it is often counter-productive.  The researchers hypothesised that a kind of "performance anxiety" was involved.

So if you want to waste your time, pray for Malema.  But if you want to harm him, tell him that you are praying for him.