Some people think we don’t have a prayer of gas prices dipping below $3.00 for a good long haul. These parishioners holding hands around a Shell station beg to differ. They’re part of a group called “Pray At The Pump,” organizing prayer-circles at various DC area gas stations, hoping to goad divine intervention into lowering gas prices. I wonder if they carpooled to the rendezvous point.
Activists Keep the Faith, if Not Their Money [Washington Post] (Thanks to ejangles!)
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Yes keep praying. Because praying helps with all sorts of things. Like cancer and world hunger and preventing wars and…. uh… well like lots of stuff!
@Triborough: “Last year, he led prayers for rain in drought-afflicted Georgia. (Rain did eventually fall.)”
Yeah, Twyman, I’m sure it was your prayers that made rain fall at some point in the future… (rolls eyes)
Good grief! It seems the comment code is irrelevant if people pray. 1) Does praying for gas prices being lowered mean you CAN’T pray for China or wherever? 2) At least they are praying and not complaining and griping and whining like babies over the prices. They are probably far more pelasant to spend time with than some people. 3) At least they have some faith and believe. It doesn’t give Christians a bad name to pray for an economic problem. Not in itself. I do not spend a lot of time praying about gas prices but I don’t think God is upset over people who do. Mean spiritedness probably upsets him far more.
I cut my gas bill by driving less, consolidating trips and doing most of our driving in the car with better mpg. Does this make me a god?
I need to quit operating under the assumption that other people possess rational thought processes, I am constantly disappointed.
They shouldn’t pray to Jesus, but rather to Allah for mercy.
I just can’t stand people who sit at home on their computers and place blame on others when most of you probably are doing LESS for gas prices than these people are. IN a world filled with violence, hatred, cynicism, and bitterness people joining together is a nice change. When did we become more quick to be skeptical and bitter than having faith in other people? Its a sad way to live–constantly frustrated and angry with others. So what if they aren’t doing what YOU think is effective. As for “voting” instead of praying…well, I am MUCH more skeptical voting towards a government that continually lets down the American people (and I’m not just bashing Bush here). I mean, politicians? Voting for me is always choosing the lesser of two evils. They are all corrupt and payed WAY too much if you ask me.
They can pray all they want but they’re around 60 million years too late. They should have been around then to ask god for more oil.
FAIL.
Here’s $50 that says 3/4′s of them jump in their SUV’s after the protest and drive home.
If there is a God, I hope he’s working on the 10,000 other problems that cause more suffering than high gas prices.
@carpediemcls: Maybe if they didn’t draw attention to themselves in the media, I’d buy that. But unless their God is “The God of Finance” it’s fairly pretentious to think that gas prices in one of the cheapest gas-guzzling nations are important enough to pray to your Creator about.
If they were just an iota more creative, they would simply pray for peace in the middle east. Then lower gas prices would come naturally. Two birds, one stone. Er, so to speak.
Dear Lord,
We lifteth our hands up to you, O Lord of Lords, Mightiest of Mighties, and asketh for your help. As you knoweth, the heathen conquerors of your Holy Land have taken it upon themselves to raiseth the price of your Holy Light Sweet Crude, which rightly belongeth to your devoted followers in North America except for Mexico.
Please, we beseecheth you to lay your hands upon our Hummers and Escalades and blesseth them with your might, all while striking down enemies of your righteous holy greatness.
Also, please remembereth the little children in the third world, and showeth your love by showering down upon them chocolate treats (store brand is fine since they won’t knoweth the difference).
In your name we prayeth, Ramen.
@Ryan H: Amen, brother!
The effort would be so much better spend talking with their representatives in Congress. I cannot possibly imagine what gas prices have to do with the afterlife, except possibly the various ways in which gasoline gets one to the afterlife.
@carpediemcls: I just can’t stand people who sit at home on their computers and place blame on others when most of you probably are doing LESS for gas prices than these people are. IN a world filled with violence, hatred, cynicism, and bitterness people joining together is a nice change. When did we become more quick to be skeptical and bitter than having faith in other people?
when many of us spent some time at the butt of the particular brand of “loving Christians” who do things like pray in PR stunts. The hypocrisy is often palpable. Too often the same people who pray in public groups for things like gasoline prices are the same people who pray in public groups for the souls of homosexuals (and not in a good way). (Note: particular brand = not all Christians. Thank you bradanomics for quoting my favorite passage of Matthew.)
I’d also like to note that the article dates from May 31st – I’m in DC, and the place around the corner was $4.14 last I saw – the Costco gas station in the suburbs that my folks go to (they live out there, although I’m sure there are people who will haul out for it) is the cheapest in the area, and it was $3.96 on Sunday, with a line at the pump waiting for the place to open.
So, what we always knew is proven once again – God hates DC.
@mgy:
praying is nothing more than thinking REALLY hard about something. Don’t hurt yourselves now!
+ Watch video
Jeez. (no pun intended)
I wish loonies like these people would stop giving thoughtful, intelligent religious and spiritual people a bad name.
I remember these guys started praying locally when gas was hovering around $3.40 a gallon, obviously they are doing it wrong.
Sigh… I’m sure the almighty himself has a great interest in making something so destructive to the environment, cheaper and easier to use larger quantities of. I mean, damn, does religion destroy brain cells or something?
The oil companies seem to have set up some sort of strategic counter prayer circle to to cancel out this group’s work.
What a waste of time for these folks. HE or SHE won’t alleviate suffering around the world for animals or humans so why is praying about gas prices going to make anything any better? Superstitious numbskull’s is what these people are.
@Norsehawk: Prayin’…yer doin it wrong”
@Crabfeast: The oil companies demand another sacrifice….
@scerwup: Yes it does (in some cases).
How many of them drove up in SUV’s by themselves when they could have carpooled with someone else in the ground?
hippies
@GregGates: “All that said, this type of story always seem to smoke out the mid-tier intellectuals and their emo atheist angst.”
I am so totally stealing this line.
Who were they praying too… there is a difference
Mom-cute video. I love how on pretty much any blog, Christian detraction is like a sport. Anyways, the video, as I said is cute. Here is what is wrong with it. To begin with, the narrator says it himself, if you pray, and believe it has been received, you will have it. So, premise 1: I believe I hae what I am praying for, it is mine. Premise 2: I roll the dice, praying I will get my result, but not believing that I will. Premise 3: I didn’t get my result. Conclusion: Prayer doesn’t work. There is a slight logically fallacy there. And any atheist, merely by virtue of being atheist, cannot truly believe God will grant them their needs (not wants, and note, you need X for X to grant something), so no atheist can perform this experiment successfully. Also, I love the excuses bit. Not clasping hands right. Nice, cause Jesus tells us how to hold our bodies when we pray. Also, this couldn’t be more apples to oranges if it tired. As soon as I find a horseshoe with a prophet, maybe I will change my mind. Example 3, how do we know who is “deserving”? At least the narrator could use the phrase “hindsight bias” to give the impression he knows what he is talking about. Anyways, at no point does the narrator actually prove that prayer is superstition, he merely shows supposition that it is superstition based on an eronious notion that normal, intelligent people will know it is superstition, so it is superstition. He proposes that if these experiments are caried out, then that is what they will prove. That is not proof. That is not science. That is conjecture, speculation, and (wait for it….) faith. Yep, faith. He has not proven his conclusion scientifically, yet he is sure it is true. I have not proven God exists scientifically, yet I am sure it is true. Who here is the most faithful (answer, of course, no one).
Oh, and in Mt 18:19, Jesus isn’t really talking aout prayer either. But why quibble over a little detail like that.
I wonder how many miles I can get out of a gallon of Mana. Anyone have the octane count?
Tony-depends on the coloric content
What a thoughtless waste of time, they should have drove to the blood bank to make a deposit instead.
@TonyTriple: Considering Diablo III is at least a year off, I’d say be patient with that mana stuff.
Speaking of logical fallacies, no true Scotsman?
Also we’re not saying prayer doesnt work because we put fingers in our ears chanting neener neener god isn’t real, we’re saying it because scientific study shows prayer or lack of prayer doesn’t make a lick of difference.
maybe praying to Allah might help considering the location of the dino juice. LOL.
@EBone:
If they, like most churches, were praying about the serious issues affecting the world, it wouldn’t be a news story. It’s only news because it’s silly.
@CaliCheeseSucks: In that vein….
(Link coded to NOT play here because of salty language.)
The relevant part is from 5:21 to 7:21
Technically, they’re not hurting anybody but I was under the impression God helps those who help themselves. Would it be too much to ask that half the parish/group pray and the other half do something a little more active?
@Kali Mama: I’m an atheist, and I pray for higher gas prices so we can end our dependence on fossil fuels and move on to cleaner, more efficient, and less expensive alternatives…. not really, but that certainly throws a wrench in your logic.
Kali-my point exaclty. What scientific studies? The one a couple years ago that showed that prayer doesn’t help. That was the one that was on Fark, and all over the news pages. That study was methodologically flawed. What about studies from before that, that actually showed that people for whom prayers are offered do improve at a numerically significant rate? I don’t care enough to go find the specific ones, but they were done, and that was the conclusion. Likewise, I have sen many of my own prayers answered as well, and I’m not just cherry picking the instances where it worked to the ommission of the times that it didn’t. Of course, the other problem is how do you measure your outcome? If you pray that someone recovers from cancer, but God, being aware that that person would become a drunk driver and kill someone’s daughter if allowed to live, then wsa the prayer answered? Someone’s prayer that their daughter grow up safe and healthy was answered, while someone else’s prayer that theis person not die was not. This is the meaning of God’s plan. You really have to be able to divorce yourslef from the little picture to see prayer work. Otherwise, you can sit here convinced that these prayers are not working when they actually are, right in front of you. As a final point, remember, God is not a genie, here to grant our every wish, whim, and desire. If you pray vainly, it won’t be answered (which is why vain utterances and taking God’s name in vain are both expressly forbidden).
BTW-and what point is being made by mention of the no true Scotsman? My point is that an atheist cannot meet the necessary requirement of believing that God wil grant them thier prayer, so cannot conduct an experiment as to the validity of prayer. If I am going to prove that X fertilizer does not make plants grow, and I add X ferilizer to every plant in a crop, but I never water it because I refuse to believe that plants need water to grow, I cannot conclude anything about the viability of X fertilizer as a product. If an atheist became a theist (specifically a Christian), and really and truly immersed themselves into Chrisianity, then tried to prove or disprove prayer, they would be qualified to make a conclusion having met all of the prerequisites.
I have heard of a study done on praying for the quick recovery of people in hospital, there were 3 groups, one group who were not prayed for, one group who were prayed for and a third group who were prayed for and were told they were being prayed for. In the first two groups, there was no difference in the rate of healing or outcome, the third group however took longer to heal, or did not heal properly. The rationale was that knowing they were being prayed for seemed to make them believe their condition was worse than they though and di not fare as well.
Link here: [seattletimes.nwsource.com]
My boyfriend reading over my shoulder: “Why don’t they just take the fucking BUS?”
I wonder what god they are praying to? They’d better talk talk to an Indian shaman. If they can summon rain, why not gas?
Right… Because that’s been working so well in politics, weather, diseases, crime, etc.
Wow, what the hell happened to not blaming the victim? Or is that only when the victim isn’t a part of a group that the Internet hates?
1. Wait until gas prices are at their absolute peak.
2. Make a big show of praying to make gas prices go down
.
.
.
4. Profit!
The fact that the majority of the world’s oil lies under the Middle Eastern sand is proof that God hates America.
@chuck0008: Exactly!
This reminds me of a story. There was a big flood in a midwest town and a priest was inside the church praying for help.
A raft came by to offer a ride and the priest said, “No thanks, the Lord will provide.”
As the waters grew higher he took refuge on the church roof. A motorboat came by and offered him a ride and again his answer was, “No thanks, the Lord will provide.”
Eventually he was sitting atop the steeple when a helicopter came overhead and once again he said, “No thanks, the Lord will provide.”
The priest drowned and went to heaven. Upon reaching the pearly gates he asked St. Peter why God didn’t help him when he needed it.
St. Peter replied, “He sent you two boats and a helicopter, what more did you want?”
@chuck0008: If prayer is so effective, why has it never regenerated a lost limb? Not even the tip of a pinky finger? Are the prayers of amputees and their families not valid somehow? Or is limb regeneration beyond God’s power?
@chuck0008: You do not need fancy studies to know that praying is nothing more than a “placebo” for the “soul”. Pray for world hunger and suffering to end… Did it end?… Did not think so!!!
@Ryan H: Could be worse I guess. Around here for whatever ails society is “solved” with a candlelit vigil.
It has the benefit of looking religious without being religious so Massholes feel they “Made a Difference(TM)”
If God didn’t have control over oil prices, why did he put so much of the oil in the Holy Land?
/sarcasm
@Sasquatch: The Holy Land is generally considered biblical Israel/Palestine, not Persia.
I know I invoke God’s name every time I see gas prices, usually to say something like “Thank God I take the bus.”