Fastforward with Cindy Jacobs

People this crazy actually do exist. And they vote. And they influence easily-fooled people who also vote. Cindy Jacobs is a self-proclaimed prophet who "speaks in tongues" and apparently has a plan to establish a sort of christian theocracy here in the U.S. It starts with a 21-day prayer/fast to get people in the mood to go vote out people who don't stand for biblical values, and vote in people who support biblical values. Link below to the specific 21-day fasting and some videos of Cindy Jacobs (be careful not to punch your monitors).

Fastforward 21 Day Prayer Guide

Ask the Lord to remove the lie of “Separation of Church and State” from this nation’s governmental philosophy and from Believers mindsets!

Freebies

When I was a kid, my parents used to have this thing called a "freebie". A freebie was basically a meal where we wouldn't have to say grace before digging in. Generally these freebies were smaller meals, or snacks, nothing too formal. Most often freebies occurred after church on sunday. Sunday mornings in our house growing up were a site to see. 6 people getting ready with one shower between us, going to 2 separate church services (catholic-dad and evangelical-mom). We kids were pulled between going to church with mom or dad, but eventually my parents settled on all kids going to church with mom while dad went to his own catholic service by himself first, then went to the evangelical service with the rest of the family. You've got to give him credit for sucking it up for the family by going to church twice every sunday (especially with that whole catholic/protestant angst). I always hated the fact the we had to choose between the two. I preferred to go to church with dad because he wasn't as crazy and in-your-face about his faith, but I couldn't stand the monotony of the catholic service and the memorization. It felt like it had no heart, like people didn't really care or understood what they were saying. At least the evangelicals had guitars and drums and stuff, as a kid I preferred that because it was at least slightly more entertaining. Anyways, I digress... After a long morning of church-related activities and passionate discussion between my parents about the sermons driving home, many times we would stop at Dunkin Donuts for a dozen donuts to have as a snack when we got home. These were always freebies and I always looked forward to eating them without having to say grace. This may be the reason I still have a sweet tooth for donuts, maybe subconsciously I associate them with that same "freebie" state of mind. We would even plead sometimes to get out of saying grace like it was a punishment, "please, mom can this be a freebie?".

The term freebie always had a weird connotation to it though, like we were getting away with something we knew we shouldn't be.  Like the other times when we had to pray to god, that those weren't freebies, that they were somehow charges or fees. Who decided that god didn't need to be thanked for a freebie like he should be thanked at every other meal?

When I was real little I remember reciting the catholic grace every time before we ate: Bless us, oh lord, for these, thy gifts, which we are about to receive from thy bounty through christ our lord, amen. Once mom had her "conversion" and was "born again", dad started saying grace for the family and would make it up on the spot at each meal. He was always an eloquent speaker and you could tell he really put thought into what we should be thankful for each time we ate. He would be sure to mention guests if they were over, and any special events coming up or recently passed, family members under the weather, etc. For real special occasions, he would even prepare notes or research topics to make a really impactful presentation of grace. Actually, they were quite beautiful. As much as I hated having to wait for the food (and wished for another freebie) and would feel totally self conscious about grace if we ever went out to eat, I do look back now and think about how nice it was to pause and really think about things we were thankful for in this life. I'm glad that my father took the time to make grace a thoughtful reflection.

Now that I am older and have since realized that there is no reason to thank an imaginary man in the sky for any of it, I still find it is nice to take a few moments (even quietly to yourself) and think about all the things that you are thankful for. Thankful for a job in this economy to be able to put food on the table, thankful for the hands that worked to bring that food to the table, thankful for the animals and plants that gave their lives so that we could have sustenance, thankful for the company and the conversation, thankful for the family members who mean so much to you, thankful to live in a country where you can be free to believe or not believe what you want, thankful for the men and women in uniform who sacrifice so you can enjoy those freedoms, all the reasons that make life good. While it is nice to have freebies, it is also important to actually take the time to reflect on all the good things in life. As thanksgiving comes up in a few weeks, when as a national holiday people are tuned in to be thankful for a day, let us try not to forget that mentality during the rest of the year. Grace before dinner doesn't have to be a religious thing. It can very much be a secular thing, a reminder that life is fragile and short so take the time to recognize the reasons you are where you are in life. Freebies are great, but take time to appreciate the things and people that sacrificed so you can live and be grateful for wonderful friends and family who make life enjoyable.

He Moves In Mysterious Ways

Josh Hamilton: God Told Me I'd Hit A Home Run in the 10th Inning - SportsDay DFW 10/28/11

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Yes, god spoke directly to you Josh. You would hit a home run in the tenth inning last night. But your team would lose the game anyways. God apparently ignored manager Ron Washington's prayers for that final out, but gave you the chance to show off for everyone before the cardinals came back to win in epic fashion. Come on. Isn't it more likely that you thought it yourself? There are plenty of times when I try to psych myself up for a tough situation and say, "ok, you are going to this and it's all going to work out" and then sometimes it happens just as you wished. But sometimes it also doesn't happen the way you wished. Last night happened the way you wished. You thought a good thought, cleared your head and let your physical ability take over. You saw a pitch and hit it, there is no room for god in that equation. The pitcher left the ball over the middle of the plate and you crushed it like the power hitter you are should. It seems to me that god shouldn't be so worried about personal accolades for athletes (although he sure gets a lot of credit), instead maybe he should have worried about that poor father who fell to his death reaching for a ball YOU threw into the stands, leaving his young son to grow up without his dad. Who knows how many other lives he could have saved had he lived, being a firefighter and all. Why would he do that? God should have told you not to throw that ball. Hardly seems loving and compassionate to me. He should care more about that firefighter and his little boy and his widow than about a multi-millionaire playing a game, hitting a home run in a losing effort, no? Mysterious ways indeed.

Josh, you are an amazing ball player and you've had your troubles with drugs and alcohol in the past, they are well documented. I know you've claimed that god cleaned you up, but if you didn't have the strong will and determination to clean yourself up on your own, you wouldn't have done it at all. Don't sell yourself short, you deserve the credit for resurrecting yourself from a dark place, and you also deserve credit for hitting that home run. You've worked hard to be a good, clean ball player. At the same time, also know that it wasn't god who caused that man to fall over the railing. It was a terrible accident and a tragedy for the family, but an accident nonetheless. Nothing supernatural in either case. If you are hearing voices in your head, you may want to get checked out, but most likely it was just you wishing for the big moment, to be the hero for your team and this time it worked out (albeit briefly). Next time, the coin may flip the other way.


Rangers Fan Dies After 20-Foot Fall - ESPN 7/8/11

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The Power of Prayer

Pray For the President? Yes, Thou Shalt - CNN 10/14/11

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The Presidential Prayer team solicits donations in exchange for prayers rendered. I wonder what the return on investment is? No better than if you prayed to the sun or Thor or Zeus or Ra, I contend. $30,000 per month this group is raking in and laughing all the way to the bank, no doubt (as they are tax exempt for sure).

"We believe that prayer is the most important power in this entire world" Really? How did prayer work for Rick Perry when Texas needed rain this summer? Ironically, it finally rained when the Atheist Convention was held in Houston just a few days ago. I always thought it was futile, but if it helped the weak-minded feel somehow comforted or stronger, for personal reflection or what have you, all the more power. You use your time as you see fit as long as you don't include me in it against my will... But paying someone else to pray for something for you? That's really pushing it, isn't it?

Fantastic business model though, getting paid to do nothing

Matthew 6:5 KJV And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

2 Hands Working Can Accomplish More than 1000 Clasped in Prayer

Guru Kailash Singh Quit Bathing 37 Years Ago

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In some lighter news, it is beyond me how you could go this long without being clean. I can't go a day without showering or I feel filthy. This is just another example of the power of religious persuasion over the feeble minded. A priest told him to stop washing so it would bear him a son (I would love to know where this ludicrous idea even sprouted from), and he's had 7 daughters since, haha! You honestly can't make this stuff up, the truth is stranger than fiction sometimes. There is scientific proof that prayer has no effect:

Prayer Study: An Example

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One of the greatest errors of mankind is this idea that god answers prayers. The system, unfortunately is stacked to sway the believer as a double-positive. I mean to say that if you pray for something and it happens, well then it's obvious that god heard you and indeed answered your prayer. If you pray and nothing happens, well god still heard you but he is testing your faith and your prayer will be answered exactly as you wished it in due time or it will be answered in some other fashion down the road and you say "ah hah! this was god's will all along". In every case, god wins. I hate to break it to you, but this is just the nature of being. Some things will happen to you and other things won't. Some things that happen will be good for you, others will be bad. This is life. Praying about it has no effect because there is no supernatural force controlling any special requests you make of it. You would think after 37 years, Kailash would get the hint, but his religion has blinded him to believe that his prayer will be answered in due time, to the detriment of the nostrils of the townspeople. God is obviously testing his faith otherwise he would have had a son.

"Two hands working can accomplish more than a thousand clasped in prayer"... what a great quote

This brings me to another thought I've had about amazing events happening to people around the world. Insane coincidences that seem to baffle the mind. When something extraordinary happens to you or someone you know, it makes you stop and wonder how could this be? is this god? This obviously gives fuel to the believers, but the odds are actually pretty good when you crunch the numbers. Consider the world has almost 7 billion people... 7 BILLION. Each going through their daily routines, etc, etc... What would be a good estimate for the odds of something out of the ordinary or extraordinary happening to someone? 1 in a million? Simple math here would show that 7 billion over 1 million leaves 7,000 extraordinary events per person in a lifetime! what about the odds of something truly mind-numbing happening to you? Let's say, 1 in a billion? that still gives you 7 out of this world events per person in a lifetime, plenty that can be accounted for by natural processes and the odds given the sheer number of people alive. The feelings that these events bestow on the eventee that seem other worldly are only made more pronounced by the circle of people you interact with. You are affected by their extraordinary events second-hand and so forth. Seems divine on the surface, but when you think about it critically, it is really just the statistical eventuality that you feel.

This is not to take away from those special events, you should want to feel the full impact of an extraordinary occurrence, good or bad, because that is the essence of living. We can be in awe of the power of statistical anomalies.

I suggest a new strategy, instead of praying for something to happen, go out an do it. Go out and accomplish what it is you want. Work hard and make yourself a better person for going through the struggle. If it's someone you are praying about, instead help them with all the resources available to you or comfort them if they are ill or grieve with them if they've lost someone special. This will only serve to grow the bond between you and those you care about. You will find life much more fulfilling and rewarding in this way instead of just waiting for something to happen, waiting for that statistical anomaly to show you a path. Go out and blaze the path you want to blaze and accept the good with the bad along the way. But please, whatever you do, shower regularly...