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{"id":192,"date":"2016-06-18T13:48:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-18T13:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2016\/06\/mocking-those-who-pray.html"},"modified":"2016-06-18T13:48:00","modified_gmt":"2016-06-18T13:48:00","slug":"mocking-those-who-pray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2016\/06\/mocking-those-who-pray.html","title":{"rendered":"Mocking those who pray"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Clarified<\/a>. \u00a0Mark Shea, one of the leading Catholic voices who has joined with the non-believer and the ungodly to mock this laughable notion that prayer after a horrifying tragedy has any value unless followed by the right political advocacy, clarifies his position.<\/p>\n

Of course prayer is necessary and effective. \u00a0But only insofar as you follow your prayer by, I guess, agreeing with Mark\u2019s political positions? \u00a0Which, I guess are not really political positions but are somehow the right and proper manifestation of Gospel morality? \u00a0I dunno. \u00a0Somehow Mark knows that, based on your opinions about gun control, your prayers are either valid and perhaps led by the groans of the Holy Spirit, or they are, in fact, political prophylactics \u00a0(a new favorite buzz phrase) by people mocking God and exploiting fake prayers for their ideological loyalties. \u00a0How he knows this, I\u2019m not sure. \u00a0How he can so infallibly judge the inner heart and soul of fellow believers who are reaching out to the Everlasting is something I\u2019m not privy to. \u00a0But he\u2019s a respected Catholic apologist who is frequently called upon by bishops and priests, finds his work sanctioned by such credible ministries as EWTN and the National Catholic Register, and hosts Catholic radio shows, so who am I to argue? <\/p>\n

Anyway, Mark makes it clear that he absolutely agrees with the efficacy of prayer. \u00a0Which is good. \u00a0He demonstrates this by pointing out that he routinely prays for the Wrath of God to be visited upon the Gun Cult, as Mark likes to describe it. \u00a0This Gun Cult is a demonic force, and it is right to pray at every Mass for the unwavering power of the Thrice Holy God to descend and eradicate this force of evil from the world. \u00a0So obviously, prayer is a good and effective thing. The fervent prayer of a righteous man after all.<\/p>\n

Exactly why gun rights advocates and Constitutionalists would see this is a problem is beyond me. \u00a0Perhaps there is a Gun Cult out there after all. \u00a0If nothing else, it certainly gives us something, and someone, to pray for.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"