I find scientific studies of the healing effects of prayers fascinating. Atheists like Theomorph probably harrumph and bury themselves in the latest issue of Skeptical Inquirer upon hearing the topic mentioned. 😉 (That’s just a friendly tease, Big Guy)
I am here today to go on the record with my bewilderment with opponents of embryonic stem cell research.
Here’s how I understand stem cell research: Fertilize an egg and let it divide a few times. Take the resulting clump of cells and use them to see what kinds of tissues you can grow on command. Repeat until you get something useful. Put cotton in your ears while Christians scream at you for being a genocidal maniac.
So who wants to respond to this?
I’ve often heard from atheists that the Bible doesn’t stand up to academic scrutiny.
If they don’t trust the Bible, I imagine they wouldn’t waste their time discrediting
the Book of Mormon. DNA evidence casts doubt (duh!) Mormon claims that
Israelites emigrated to the Americas 2,600 years ago, with the now-extinct Lamanites
and Nephites becoming the ancestors of American Indians. (Thanks, Relapsed
Catholic)
This article made me think. What sorts of scientific research would cast doubt on
orthodox Christian beliefs? How would we respond? I invite my readers to come up
with answers to both hypothetical questions.
Prayer is a weird thing. If you try to turn prayer into a way of asking God to do things, before long you’ll find yourself in a morass of conflicting theological precepts (e.g., God does whatever God wants versus God answers prayer). So a lot of Christians I have spoken with define prayer as little more than "communication with God." Apparently just initiating the link at all is enough to make prayer worthwhile. But doesn’t God know all my thoughts already? Oh, but God likes when you share voluntarily. Okay, sure, whatever.
Theomorph has posted some interesting ruminations about prayer. Anybody care to respond?
In case anyone thought that only those having faith are pro-life, I offer you the Atheist and Agnostic Pro-Life League. For links to other niche pro-life groups, such as Anarchists for Life, Leftout (which may have been subsumed by Consistent Life), and Libertarians for Life, check out their links page.