Praying to end the problem REALLY doesn't help when you ARE the problem

 I saw this meme today:



And now I'm imagining what that prayer would sound like, if the people doing the praying actually had any self-awareness...


"Oh Lord, our pastor seems really stressed and overwhelmed lately. I can't imagine why. I mean, he hardly does anything, it's not like he has a real job that requires him to provide actual goods or services. He just has to talk for an hour a week.

... and referee the bitching, gossiping, and infighting between dozens, maybe hundreds, of people who have nothing in common except that they claim to believe in universal love.

... and coordinate the schedules of several group of volunteers who are supposed to do all the building maintenance, driving, childcare, cooking, cleaning, landscaping, music, and budgeting.

... and try to live on the salary we pay him.

... and be available all week in case someone needs counseling, or someone to complain to, or comfort when they're dying or their family members are dying, so he can't take a second job that would actually pay his bills.

...and figure out how to do all that counseling even though he's not actually trained in counseling, he was trained in ancient languages and theodicy.

...and he's not even allowed to relax with a beer because we'll fire his ass if we ever catch him drinking even though all of us drink with our non-church friends all the time.

But Lord, actually DOING something to decrease his stress would require that we stop being so shitty to the pastor, and we're not prepared to do that, so could you please just give him strength to deal with our shit?"


And this really encapsulates everything wrong with Evangelicals. They always want to pray for the problem to be fixed, and they never want to acknowledge that the problem is them. They will pray for an end to gun violence, but they won't vote for the policies that would do that because they would have to wait longer or spend more money for their guns. They will pray for an end to abortion, but they won't do any of the things that would actually reduce abortion because they would have to spend money and time and effort on making a society where a single mom can take care of a kid. They will pray for their pastor's burden to be easier, but they won't stop being such a burden on their pastor.

Praying to end the problem never works, because problems are real and gods are imaginary.

But praying to end the problem REALLY doesn't work when you ARE the problem.



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