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.
Working as an attorney, I am no longer surprised by the least ethical proposals from the most religious people. I certainly know may ethical people of faith, but the idea that faith is a prerequisite for ethics is insulting.
ReplyDeleteI am waiting for the EMan's counter argument before I decide...
ReplyDeleteGood one, Vince. But Eman hasn't yet become a reader of The Dog. He's still intending to get around to reading our article from '06. "Now, what is this 'Crawford'? Is that a state case?"
DeleteKnight would like to remind E-man and Vince that, even during difficult times, Dog is their Co-pilot.
ReplyDeleteGood post, Michael. If anything the 'trend' is even more pronounced now than it was 4 years ago when I snarked about it myself. http://lawmrh.wordpress.com/2010/09/12/does-god-care-if-i-make-that-putt-score-that-touchdown/
ReplyDeleteIt has about as much chance of going away as the overused and misused invocation of "amazing" to describe everything.
- Mo aka "The Irreverent Lawyer"
Great stuff, Mo. Dare I say "amazing," or even "awesome"? I've added The Irreverent Lawyer to my blog list and bookmark bar. Nicely done.
Delete