God intervenes in the 2014 edition of the GoDaddy.com Bowl

After Arkansas State blocked a last second field goal attempt by Ball State to win the GoDaddy.com Bowl, the Arkansas State Coach attributed the win to his personal god: “god answers prayers,” he said, when interviewed by the sideline reporter.  This kind of thinking is deeply flawed, very upsetting, and even potentially dangerous. 

First, coach, even if your personal god takes an interest in college football, I can assure you that he/she/it was not watching the GoDaddy.com Bowl.  (I barely watched it, and I probably have less on my plate than a god would.)  Second, and more to the point, how did you get so arrogant that you believe god would choose your people over the fine men of Ball State?  Are they somehow less worthy or less deserving of his/her/its love and rewards? 

The problem, of course, begins with “faith,” i.e., the belief in things without evidence or reason.  The Arkansas State coach, like so many of us, has been taught from a very young age that faith is good and should be respected.  And once we accept that as our starting point, then any claim that is made in the name of faith is as valid as any other.  The results range from the incredibly harmful and even deadly (e.g., religious wars or religiously-motivated terrorist attacks) to the usually harmless but ridiculous (e.g., the belief that god put someone’s cancer into remission, or spared a person from some type of harm, or intervened in a college football game).

The solution, of course, is simple.  As the late, great one argued, faith, in all contexts, should be questioned, challenged, and criticized.  It should not be rewarded, praised, or encouraged.