USS Clueless              Voyages of a restless mind

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Stardate 20010728.0705 (On Screen): There was a time when God wielded lightning bolts. There was a time when He was responsible for wind and rain and storms. There was a time when these things could be influenced by prayer. But for the last several hundred years, these things have been changing, and now we know that lightning is an electrical discharge caused by natural forces, and preventable with lightning rods. We know that wind and rain are caused by sunlight and oceans and the shapes of mountains. There may still be people out there who think that prayer can change these things, but I think we've reached the point where most rational Christians know that it's not really like that. While praying about these things does no harm, it's not likely to help, either. The weather will do whatever it does, whether we pray about it or not.

And so will volcanos. There was a time when God rained lava and ash down on people because they were sinners and relieved that attack when they prayed (if they were sincere enough). Now we know that volcanos erupt because of plate tectonics and that the volcano doesn't care about humans. They get hit with lava and ash simply because they're near.

This article discusses the ongoing eruption of Ętna, and mentions in passing that the "archbishop of Catania said he would pray on Sunday to ask that the eruption stop." I don't really think that even he expects it to make any difference, but it's pretty much expected in heavily-Catholic Italy that he should do that. This is the last gasp of the conversion of Catholicism from a theory of physics which actually attempted to explain the world, to a system of pure theology concerned with ethics and lifestyle choices. You may be able to pray for wisdom and guidance. You can't pray for rain, or an end to volcanic eruptions. (discuss)

Update 20010729: Apparently I was wrong.