If you're impregnated by rape are you allowed to pray for a miscarriage?

[cthulu2016]

The problem with God's Will is that the argument applies to everything.

Almost everything we do is done to counter God's Will.

How can anyone justify treating cancer? You have cancer for a divine reason. How can you and your doctor collude to thwart God's plain desire that you die of cancer?

If lightning sets your house on fire are you allowed to put out the fire? God just made it pretty F'ing plain that he would rather your house burned down. Who are you to thwart his Will?

And so on.

[thereismore]

1. If you were a woman you'd know you can shut the whole thing down.

[Zambero]

2. No, only the rapist is allowed to pray for this

If God answers his prayers, the rapist will have one less thing to worry about aside from a likely prison sentence, that being the unspeakable horror of mandated child support payments.

[Tansy_Gold]

3. But, but, but. . . .

"God must've wanted me to have the abortion because He put the Planned Parenthood phone number right in the phone book!"


Duh.

[cthulu2016]

5. No silly, everyone knows Satan is in charge of the phone book

God, on the other hand, is in charge of rapists

[libtodeath]

4. I would think

a person would begin to wonder if the sky fairy they believed in existed at all.

[snooper2]

6. If everyone would think about it, ALL your prayers are nonsense...

So next time you think about praying or do pray, remember this.


God has this divine plan that is in motion and all worked out right? So if you are to pray to him for something, any prayer that would be granted would deviate from his "divine plan".

So it's either one of two things. Either God doesn't give a fuck about you because he already has it all worked out what will happen and ignores any and all prayers. Or, he really isn't this omnipotent being and is a wishy washy failure who doesn't have a plan at all.



It has to be one or the other, you pick

[cthulu2016]

9. Yeah, but you might have persuasive arguments he hasn't thought of.

He's powerful, but a little slow. It might not have occurred to him that you would prefer that your spouse survived the operation. And world peace... well, some things require a little nagging.

[DefenseLawyer]

12. God is busy this time of year determining the outcome of NFL games. n/t

[progressoid]

7. If everything is God's will then there isn't much point in praying except

to thank him for all his "gifts". God knows best and to ask for an alternative to his wise gift would just piss him off.

[BlueStreak]

8. Of course you can pray about that. That should give God a nice chuckle

because after all, it was His will that you be raped in the first place.

[justiceischeap]

10. Nope, unless the man of the family has told the little woman it's okay

to have independent thoughts, praying on your own is illegal. Did you not get the rule book?

[lapislzi]

11. The jury is still out on imprecatory prayer.

http://www.theopedia.com/Imprecatory_Psalms

My understanding is that it is generally frowned upon, especially if the sentiment arises from a need for personal revenge. One should pray to God to take care of the matter in his own way.

It is a thorny theological issue. If you see the fire trucks racing down your street, is it OK to hope it's your neighbor's house and not yours? Technically, that's not allowed (as I understand it). You can pray for the fire to be put out quickly and for no one to be harmed.

Disclaimer: I am an atheist who suffered through a rigorous Catholic upbringing.

[cthulu2016]

13. As a fellow Catholic atheist...

I find that the Jesuitical rigor of a couple of thousand years of philosophy has little relevance to the American religion which is more like a Manichean TV series where God and Satan are independent forces, fairly evenly matched, but that God prevails at the end of each episode.

[lapislzi]

14. Agreed. And they like it that way.

It's like wrestling, except with Jesus winning every match.

However, I love poking at the theology. I have a close friend who is a former priest (also now an atheist). I can usually get the book version from him. Even he could not give me a straight answer on imprecatory prayer OR what happened to the damn babies when they got rid of limbo.

Apparently there is also a wacky group of ultra-montanists who claim that every Pope after Pius XII was a false pope, so none of that Vatican 2 stuff counts.

The church is an endless source of amusement to me, and of misery to most.

[cthulu2016]

15. I think the un-creation of Limbo moved those souls to heaven

as part of the deal. (seriously) And, in the process, made baptism kind of a waste of time... unless fetuses go to heaven but unbaptized new-borns go to Hell.

At what age does the fetal immunity expire?

[riderinthestorm]

16. No way. You have to pray for the rapist who gave you this "gift" from Gawd....

See, the rapist was doing gawd's will. He was literally an instrument (heh) of gawd.

So you have to pray for him since that pregnancy is a gift dammit.

You are however, allowed to thank gawd for the "gift".

[LisaL]

17. You shouldn't have gotten pregnant to begin with.

Legitimate rape and all

[nichomachus]

18. Well, if you have an abortion and it's successful

Then that must be God's will too.