Views of God

[pyat]

From CNN.com:

"FINDLAY, Ohio (CNN) –- In an interview posted online Wednesday, Sarah Palin told Dr. James Dobson of “Focus on the Family” that she is confident God will do “the right thing for America” on Nov. 4.

Dobson asked the vice presidential hopeful if she is concerned about John McCain’s sagging poll numbers, but Palin stressed that she was “not discouraged at all.”

“To me, it motivates us, makes us work that much harder,” she told the influential Christian leader, whose radio show reaches tens of millions of listeners daily. “And it also strengthens my faith because I know at the end of the day putting this in God’s hands, the right thing for America will be done, at the end of the day on Nov. 4.”

She also thanked her supporters — including Dobson, who said he and his wife were asking “for God’s intervention” on election day — for their prayers of support.

“It is that intercession that is so needed,” she said. “And so greatly appreciated. And I can feel it too, Dr. Dobson. I can feel the power of prayer, and that strength that is provided through our prayer warriors across this nation. And I so appreciate it.”

The interview was taped on Monday by phone while Palin was campaigning in Colorado Springs, where “Focus on the Family” is headquartered."

I'm not quoting this to spark debate about the election, or basic politics. I feel their comments raise interesting questions about how they view God, and prayer.

If Palin loses, will she say it was because:
A) God did not consider her or McCain to be the best candidates?
B) God had no control over the outcome of the election?
C) God did not chose to "intervene" because people didn't pray hard enough?

I'm sure there are other options.

Does Dobson's comment about praying for God to intervene mean that he believes God is usually "hands off," unless specifically petitioned?

It seems to me that they regard God as a magic fairy who gives you things, but only if you want them hard enough.

In any case, they might win, so... we'll see.

Comments

[dagoski.livejournal.com]

Well, Protestant Christianity in the US has become largely pagan in the sense that they see god as a spirit which grants wishes. I'm using pagan with a small p to denote that these believers have gone back a view of the supernatural that's been regarded as heresy. Seems like an awful lot of the prayers and invocations one runs across these days in the US could stand in for occult rituals. All you'd have to do is change a few proper nouns. I don't move in those circles, so I'm mainly going by transcripts I've read though I have been appalled at a couple of invocations I've heard in person.

In any case, this has been brewing up since the 1970s at least. The non-denominational church I was forced to attend as a kid preached this kind of theology. Scripture in this environment becomes largely irrelevant and the sermons I remember rarely had anything from the New Testament in them. However, you HAD TO BELIEVE!!!! Believe in what, though? They never made that clear other than whatever it was had name and that name was God. There was never any talk about the principles of the faith that you find in the New Testament.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

In any case, this has been brewing up since the 1970s at least.

I think it goes back to the beginning. Certainly, there's a few paragraphs in The Golden Bough about how most adherents of a given religion are actually superstitious, rather than religious. They're seeking a boon from the Sky-People, or bowing to them out of fear of punishment.