Hitchens and the Subversive Liberty of Prayer
Over at Hot Air, yesterday’s
quotes of the day were all about the oddly controversial issue of whether or not Christians, or any people of faith, have any business praying for Christopher Hitchens as he battles cancer.
The topic has generated a great deal of surprising commentary, even
here on
this blog; at Hot Air, they are highlighting quotes from
Fr. Robert Barron, whose
Word on Fire videos i sometimes post here, and from
this really excellent exchange between Hitchens and Hugh Hewitt.
They also highlight quotes from
this article, which provides quotes from an atheist, and a believer.
As an atheist, I find it objectionable that anyone should feel the right to pray for me because I don’t believe as they do. That’s as bad as that idiot church who thinks its a good idea to baptize dead Jews or protest at military funerals. It’s the worst kind of pandering.
Well, the atheist is certainly entitled to think what he wishes, and even to tell people not to pray for him. And I suppose if someone
asks you not to pray for him, you shouldn’t. But then again, how could he ever stop you? Prayer is the
subversive liberty; the one thing that no one can take from you or prevent you from engaging in, unless they lobotomize you or kill you. Except, one never knows fully what is happening with the brain. Perhaps a lobotomy might end vocal prayer, even overtly conscious prayer, but it may still exist elsewhere in the chambers of the body and soul. My severely brain-damaged brother was still able to pray. I have volunteered with brain-injured patients who have indicated through various and surprising means that prayer is still alive within them.
And as a Christian, I know that physical death
cannot end my prayers, because my soul is eternal; if I am a member of the great cloud of witnesses, what could stop my prayer? Nothing on earth.
firstthings.com/blogs/theanchoress/2010/07/15/hitchens-and-the-subversive-liberty-of-prayer/
