Wisdom
Christopher Hitchens Mortality Prayer Religion	[From Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary...] "Prayer: A petition that the laws of nature be suspended in favor of the petitioner; himself confessedly unworthy." Everybody can see the joke that is lodged within this entry: The man who prays is the one who thinks that god has arranged matters all wrong, but who also thinks that he can instruct god how to put them right. Half-buried in the contradiction is the distressing idea that nobody is in charge, or nobody with any moral authority. The call to prayer is self-cancelling.
Browse	Next