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Monday, 3 Apr 2006
A team of scientists today ended a 10-year study on the so-called
“power of prayer” by concluding that God cannot be manipulated by
humans, not even by scientists with a $2.4 million research grant.The scientists
also noted that their work was “sabotaged by religious zealots”
secretly praying for study subjects who were supposed to receive no
prayer.The allegations came at a news conference where
researchers announced their findings that intercessory prayer by two
Roman Catholic religious communities and a group from the Missouri-based Unity church failed to produce better results for patients recovering from heart surgery.“As
it turns out, God was not impressed by our academic credentials, our
substantial funding base, and our rigorous study protocols,” said lead
researcher Dr. Herbert Benson, a cardiologist and director of the
Mind/Body Medical Institute near Boston. “I get the feeling we just
spent 10 years looking through the wrong end of the telescope.”While
patients who knew they were the targets of the study’s intercessory
prayer team actually had more post-operative complications, Dr. Benson
admitted he failed to prevent friends and relatives from praying for
the “no prayer” control group.“It really burns me up that we
worked so hard, only to be undermined by an anonymous army of
intellectual weaklings on their knees,” he said.
This is the satire.
The actual news story it's based on , amazingly, is very close to it:
Prayers offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people
who were undergoing heart surgery, a large and long-awaited study has
found.And patients who knew they were being prayed for
had a higher rate of post-operative complications like abnormal heart
rhythms, perhaps because of the expectations the prayers created, the
researchers suggested.Because it is the most scientifically
rigorous investigation of whether prayer can heal illness, the study,
begun almost a decade ago and involving more than 1,800 patients, has
for years been the subject of speculation.
Gee, I wonder why!
April 3rd, 2006 at 1:13 pm
SM, did you hear about the fatwa from Al-Azhar against the display of Egypt’s heritage?
http://pajamasmedia.com/2006/04/first_they_came_for_the_buddha.php
Destroy your past so that your future will only be Islam. Not just any Islam. THEIR Islam.
April 3rd, 2006 at 1:32 pm
Sandmonkey, please help!!!!!!!!!
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=16142
“Fatwa against statues triggers uproar in Egypt
A fatwa issued by Egypt’s top religious authority which forbids the display of statues has art-lovers fearing it could be used by Islamic extremists as an excuse to destroy Egypt’s historical heritage.
Egypt’s Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, the country’s top Islamic jurist, issued the religious edict which declared as un-Islamic the exhibition of statues in homes, basing the decision on texts in the hadith (sayings of the prophet).”
I can keep some of Egypt’s treasures in my basement for safekeeping (I promise I’ll give them back) but I only have so much storage space.
April 3rd, 2006 at 1:52 pm
This is old news guys. It’s not new, and no one will be destorying sculptors anytime soon. It’s one of the most ignored Fatwas in history. Don’t worry about it!
April 3rd, 2006 at 2:06 pm
Ok, I’ll take your word for it. I feel a bit better now.
Thanks.
April 3rd, 2006 at 3:06 pm
hey there were many studies in that direction lately, well at least I started reading about it in the last couple of years. But apparently there is alot of placebo effect related to it, It’s really fascinating.
April 3rd, 2006 at 3:23 pm
Of course, prayer works. I say daily prayers that any study studying prayers is neutralized, and as you can see it works.
April 3rd, 2006 at 4:36 pm
Well said Luke. I’ll find you a study tomorrow that says the exact opposite. And “faith” cannot be “scientifically” tested…silly to think so.
And in regard to that goofy fatwa: Man, the most glorious things of Anceient Egypt and this Grand Moron wants to destroy them?!!
Can’t happen.
April 3rd, 2006 at 8:33 pm
Apparently we needed scientists to figure out that prayers did’nt work… the thing is if a prayer works we thank God for it, if it does’nt however, which is usually the case, we say its God will, all for our best ofcourse.
P.S Abu Kufr… in a hundred years time or something, you’ll have a very hip name.
April 4th, 2006 at 12:39 am
WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH THE STATUES AGAIN I DID NOT REALLY GET IT. I am a Muslim and i don’t have any staues in my home but, are they trying to destroy the Pyrimids or something like that?
April 4th, 2006 at 1:21 am
Surely there’s a better use of money. People pray because they a) believe it works, and/or b) find comfort in it.
Take the money and give it to a homeless shelter. Give it to an orphanage. Fund some schools. Something.
Perhaps whomever approved the study needs our prayers…
April 4th, 2006 at 9:52 am
Some years ago a study showed that prayer worked. The prayers were said by christians, muslims and jews according to the faith of the patients.
A result of a studdy must be confirmed with a new study before it can be reliable, so this is what this new study was meant to do - and obviously they have failed to confirm the initial results.
It has not questioned what a faith can do - or not do - for an individual.
So non-believers can be happy. Believers con continue to believe.
But it’s not necessay to hire clerics on hospitals to say prayers.
April 5th, 2006 at 8:10 am
“It has not questioned what a faith can do - or not do - for an individual.” - yes it does, it shows that an individual with an ailment is no better off if people are asking god to help them. If that doesn’t stop people from realising that you cannot petition the lord with prayer then I don’t know what will. Come on, on one hand god’s plan is so complicated that babies are killed in poor countries, yet on the other hand “Hey, what the heck? let’s cure Mary’s cancer.” Wouldn’t he either have it in his plan to do something or not? why would our decisions help him to change his mind? or is it a democracy where “praying” counts as voting?
April 9th, 2006 at 2:50 pm
Great points, Justin. Is there a God? Maybe. Is He what we are told He is by people who have never seen or heard from him in any way different than anyone else? Probably not.