**Editor’s note – Wesley’s column is being called “Lighthouses > Churches.” For normal people that would obviously read, “Lighthouses are greater than Churches,” but to a Linux geek like me it can be a little confusing as the alternate reading would be “Lighthouses piped into Churches.” “Lighthouses, redirect output into Churches.” To be clear, the official position of dwnomad is that lighthouses are greater than churches, all alternate readings should be ignored and shining a bright light on the insanity going on in churches is awesome too. – Dustin**

Intercessory prayer in sports.
If you like to watch some football with your friends any given sunday, keep an eye and ear out for religious terms / signs. Start with the pre-game and watch through to the to the post-game… Calls for prayers, thanks to god, even Jesus was my blocker and other nonsense. Make a game out of it. In fact, I dare you to turn it into a ***drinking game! (Just take your friends keys first because they will not be in any shape to drive home)… Warning, if you are watching a Denver game, people might get alcohol poisoning.

What about MMA? Those fighters are about as woo-filled as they come. From one dude drinking his own urine to the nearly everyone else taking the step of praying before they enter the octagon. And for what? The blessing of their deity in the defeat of another man who is praying to the same deity for the same reason.

Something keeps bothering me.
Why doesn’t every game religious people play end in a final score of 0-0? Everyone knows skill has nothing to do with the outcome when you have god on your side. How will the equally righteous, yet losing side justify their defeat? Ok, so I’m being dramatic, but I think the question is still valid. With god on their side, how can a religious person lose? As I ponder Tim Tebow and the Broncos vs Devin Hester and the Bears game today, I keep thinking isn’t this like dividing by zero? Both teams are tied at 10 with 10 minutes left as of my writing (Update: Prater kicked the winning field goal… Broncos win) and I can’t help but wonder which team is more right with god since both are very religious groups. God should be the ultimate bookie. We *should* be able to clean up in Vegas. But it just doesn’t work that way.

Lets have some fun.
I like calling people out when they spout BS. The British Medical Journal called out a lot of groups when they spoofed the efficacy of retroactive intercessory prayer. I think Tosh.0 has the right idea… Let’s turn this Tim Tebow meme around. While we are at it, every time Rick Perry calls for prayer, lets ask how well his rain prayers worked… As religious folk point out their “hits”, lets point out their misses. Why should a schmoe like me put any stock into the efficacy of prayer after so much credible work has been done to quantify the efficacy of prayer with no success.

Thanks for reading,

~Wesley | email | Google+

***Switch to soda if not of legal drinking age. =p

I hope to see each and every one of you at the Northwest Freethought Convention in Seattle, Washington next year!