God Is Not A Genie

Though sometimes I touch on religion in this blog, I rarely post directly about it, and only very rarely discuss matters of doctrine. However, I'm going to do that today. I do have friends who are not Christians, and that's fine... this isn't directed at you.

Sometimes it just has to be said.

• There is no magic talisman that will make God do what you want. That includes coins, pendants, crosses, or sand from the Holy Land. The Holy Land is holy because of what happened there, not because it is covered with magic sand.

• There is no magic potion that will make God do what you want. The water from Lourdes is just water. There are all kinds of juices and fruits and oils and liniments that may be good for you, but watch how you throw around that word, "miraculous". Respect chemistry: it's one of God's very best and coolest inventions.

• There are no magic words that will make God do what you want. If you tell someone that God will surely rescue them from whatever their affliction is if they only pray hard enough or sincerely enough, or long enough, you're lying to them. And you are cruelly making it their fault if their problems don't disappear. Prayer is for praise and supplication, but sometimes the answer is "no". 

• There are no magic rituals that will make God do what you want. If you share a picture someone else shares on Facebook, there is no guarantee that God will "do something nice" for you in the next two minutes, or two years. Somebody just made that up.

Stop it.