They’re Gathering in Detroit to Pray For What? November 17, 2010

They’re Gathering in Detroit to Pray For What?

By Guest Contributor
November 17, 2010

Usually, when I hear religious people say they’re going to pray for something, two thoughts go through my mind:

1) That’s not gonna help.

2) At least it’s for a good cause.

The prayers come after a disaster or when someone is sick… so even if it’s ineffective, at least the sentiment is positive, right?

In Detroit, members of the New Destiny Baptist Church are coming together to pray on Thanksgiving.

Familiar with both the resurrection story and the one about Moses leading the enslaved Israelites through the desert, [Derrick] Hills was inspired to harden not his heart.

“I started searching for something more constructive,” he said. “This is the only answer I could come up with.”

And so, those who believe in divine intervention are urged by Hills and his pastor, the Rev. Horace Sheffield III, to gather at their church or at Eastern Market on Thanksgiving morning.

And in a city with high crime rates, poor school systems, massive poverty, and rabid political corruption, what important issue is worthy of all this attention from the church?

Football.

They will then travel to Ford Field, link hands and surround the stadium with a human chain of souls seeking intercession on behalf of the once-proud Lions.

God, I know people are dying and suffering in the world, but can you please help the Lions win a few games?

You know, at some point, the Lions will probably have a winning season again. It won’t be this year. But all teams eventually start doing well. And that’s when (I’m sure) these Christians will step in to take the credit.

Has prayer ever been less helpful…?

I love the last line of the article:

Praying continually for God’s intercession, Moses eventually did lead the Israelites home. But it only took 40 years, and he did not get there with them.

Even the reporter knows this is a ridiculous idea. That’s about as blunt as you can put it while still remaining objective.

(Thanks to Larry for the link!)

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  • I’m going to pray for the turkeys 🙁

  • JulietEcho

    Q: What do you call 40 guys sitting at home watching the Superbowl?

    A: The Detroit Lions.

    I’m here all week, folks!

    Michigan has great college teams, the Tigers for MLB and the Red Wings for NHL. Why can’t we be happy with that and just enjoy having one crappy team to joke about?

  • I thought lions ate Christians?

  • Jeff

    Lions: “Guys! Good job! All the training and team work paid off, and we really deserve this win! I’m so proud of all of you!”

    Dejected Christians: “You’re welcome…”

  • Defiantnonbeliever

    Christians praying for lions, teeeheeee, if only all of them had done so inside a different arena…back in the day. 😛

  • It’s Detroit…I’d expect nothing less.

  • Jon Peterson

    This reminds me of a certain video you shared a few months back, of a comedian discussing how prayer works.

    Managed to find it, finally (spent a good 15 minutes >.<)
    http://friendlyatheist.com/2010/07/24/god-wants-to-help-you-bowl/

  • Richard P.

    Well, that beats my totally useless thing to do today.

  • Natalie

    Hemant, it’s ok, they did their praying to end the recession earlier this summer, at Campus Martius. They covered the really big stuff before getting all the way down to the Lions.

  • Pardon me for asking (I’m not American), but wasn’t Detroit one of the hardest hit with unemployment during the US recession?

    It seems odd to me that they’d put all their effort into something so trivial when there are bigger problems to worry about.

  • Iason Ouabache

    They will then travel to Ford Field, link hands and surround the stadium with a human chain of souls seeking intercession on behalf of the once-proud Lions.

    Excuse me? The Lions have never been proud. They have sucked longer than everyone here has been alive.

  • AliKatM

    I grew up in a suburb of Detroit. I can’t say that I’m surprised that these people wanting to bring back the “glory” of the Lions. Detroit (actually Michigan, in general) is a pretty shitty place to live right now. While I think praying for a football team is completely useless, I can’t blame these people for wanting something positive to happen in Detroit. I just wish they would put their efforts into doing something worthwhile instead of imploring a deity for a decent football season.

  • Richard Wade

    So… if the Lions prosper and New Destiny Baptist Church attributes it to prayer, they’re setting themselves up for criticism for not using this important power to help all the other problems Hemant mentioned, such as poverty, crime and corruption.

    Then again, maybe Jesus is a football fan, and isn’t so concerned with such downers.

  • pamsfriend

    A friend of mine was recently diagnosed w/ALS. He made a post about it on facebook. All his christian friends promised to pray for him. That’s it. No “give me a call”, or “what can I do for you?” That simple act of saying “I’ll pray for you” gets them off the hook. That’s one big reason people like it. It makes them feel like they’re doing something helpful, when in fact they’re doing the least they can do.

  • JD

    It’s a pretty sad looking PR stunt.

    If you actually have the kind of influence to make the Lions a force to reckon with just by praying, then using it on the Lions is a staggering waste of such power.

  • cotton nero

    What do Billy Graham and the Detroit Lions have in common?

    Both can make a stadium of people stand up and shout, “Jesus Christ!”

  • ImmortalityLTD

    As a lifelong Lions fan, I’ll admit that it will take a miracle for them to ever have a winning season.

  • Gregory Marshall

    Praying won’t work, because if there is a God, it’s obvious he hates the Lions (The Cubs too).

  • Dianne

    Maybe while they’re at it they can come to Toronto and pray for the Maple Leafs. They’ve been losers longer then the Lions. I’m sure that will have the same effect…absolutely nothing!

  • They will then travel to Ford Field, link hands and surround the stadium with a human chain of souls seeking intercession on behalf of the once-proud Lions.

    So, if the Lions lose, doesn’t this prove that nothing fails like prayer?

  • I cannot understand how anyone can read any of Jesus’s alleged words and think he would approve of this useless show of hypocrisy. The more of this I hear, the more I become convinced that most “Christians” don’t take their faith very seriously at all.

  • walkamungus

    Watching the Lions get chewed up and spit out by their opponents — well, it’s what you do on Thanksgiving, right? Mmmm, Lions and cranberry sauce! (Provided this year by the Patriots.)

  • Maybe the Toronto Maple Leafs have been doing so poorly all these years because I’m not praying for them… Still not gonna do it!

  • Here’s one to make you laugh your ass off….

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