Study: Prayer has “small, but significant” beneficial effect on the sick
posted at 3:18 pm on March 16, 2007 by Allahpundit
I knew that Iraq post would be a bust comment-wise. The thousand or so we’ll get for this one should balance it out.
Here’s the abstract. The author looked at 17 studies over 40 years and found “significant improvement or favorable trends” among patients in 12 of them, according to the Arizona Republic. Approached for his reaction, a spokesman for an atheist group demonstrated once again why my kind is so widely respected and loved:
David Silverman, a spokesman for the American Atheists, said some of the research Hodge examined is flawed because the patients knew people were praying for them. That can have a placebo effect, or a positive outcome due to the patient’s expectations, he said.
“The Religious Right hates to admit they are wrong, and they hate to admit when it comes right down to it: Prayer does nothing,” Silverman said.
There’s video in the sidebar at the Republic site which suggests (but obviously doesn’t prove) that Silverman’s explanation doesn’t work in every case. Click the image to watch.
Blowback
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First!
Tim Burton on March 16, 2007 at 3:25 PM
Allah – Why are you so hung up on how many comments you get per post? I read just about everything on this site (other than anything to do with Rosie. Refuse. To. Click.)
It is just that I don’t have much to say about most posts.
The thing about Sadr City worries me. I find the whole “militia laying low” scenario to be ominous. Someone should blow ol’ Mutadda’s brains out or, remove all his rotten teeth one by one.
There’s your comment.
Babs on March 16, 2007 at 3:26 PM
Never been the first to see or comment about a thread, even if it is contentless…
Tim Burton on March 16, 2007 at 3:26 PM
So what happens if a manly man prays for the sick? Do they heal faster?
Tim Burton on March 16, 2007 at 3:30 PM
Well, as my dearly departed ol’ Mum used to say, I don’t care if it’s real or not–if I feel better and if I get better it’s good enough for me.
Bob's Kid on March 16, 2007 at 3:31 PM
I would rather have a bunch of people praying for me than to just have a bunch of crickets chirping! Just sayin……
NEMETI IN SYRACUSE on March 16, 2007 at 3:31 PM
Those damn placebos.
Kai on March 16, 2007 at 3:34 PM
Has that News 12 anchor been issued her Fox golden ticket yet?
Kid from Brooklyn on March 16, 2007 at 3:35 PM
hey AP, you should make an open post where you smack Bryan for being gay about the 300. You’ll get tons of posts. Of course, there won’t be any QUALITY posts in there, but if Quantity is what you’re shooting for, make with the mudslinging.
Or chicks.
Kai on March 16, 2007 at 3:36 PM
Whatever that placebo stuff is; they should bottle it and sell it. Whenever people come across that stuff; they always feel better right away. It’s like a miracle or something.
lorien1973 on March 16, 2007 at 3:38 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo
Obecalp:
Sometimes a doctor who does this, says that the fake medicine is `Obecalp’, which is “placebo” spelled backwards.
Kai on March 16, 2007 at 3:40 PM
Zoinks! Newdow-ed again!
marykatharine on March 16, 2007 at 3:49 PM
I got a kick out of the comments on that AR page…
I mean, I’m Catholic, and I don’t care what religion anyone adheres to, if any religion at all, but why are so many people so vehemently anti religion? Because there are some pretty mean-spirited comments over there…
There have been so many studies about the healing power of prayer done over the years…in books, newspapers, TV and cable specials, and even blogs. And it seems every time the same conclusion is reached…
Prayer works. And doctors can’t explain why.
JetBoy on March 16, 2007 at 3:52 PM
And yet somehow he misses the fact that he JUST explained how prayer DOES work.
Are atheists evil? No – but stupid seems to fit. Can’t simultaneously have “no effect” and a “placebo effect,” you godless airhead.
You know what really sucks for atheists? What sucks is that there are only two possibilities:
If there is a God and an afterlife, atheists get to spend eternity feeling either sheepish or stupid or both. Hopefully not in Hell, but there are some who might suggest it.
And if there is no God, and we all wink out of existence when we die, then religious types will never know they were wrong, and atheists will never get to gloat.
Atheism sucks, man. There’s just no percentage in it. Lose-lose situation, baby.
Professor Blather on March 16, 2007 at 3:55 PM
Exit question: what if the placebo effect …
… is God Himself?
Professor Blather on March 16, 2007 at 3:59 PM
I’m the first to admit that if I know people are praying for me, I do tend to have a sense that healing is taking place.
I’ve also had people say that they are ‘thinking good thoughts for me’. For some reason, “thinky no worky” when it comes to a general sense of healing.
In short, (for me), people’s prayers work better than people’s people’s hopes. Call it what you will, but it’s more meaningful to me that people are beseeching help from the Lord of all Creation for me.
Matticus Finch on March 16, 2007 at 3:59 PM
Still no explanation as to why God lets us get sick in the first place…
Enrique on March 16, 2007 at 4:01 PM
AND IT TORMENTS US!!!!
Enrique on March 16, 2007 at 4:02 PM
You could pray about it …
Professor Blather on March 16, 2007 at 4:09 PM
Because if we never got sick we wouldn’t appreciate our good health.
Lehosh on March 16, 2007 at 4:11 PM
Who’s this “us” you’re talking about? You think we’re religious just for the free wine and bread?
Kidding, of course.
The real explanation is the Fall. (the one involving sin, not autumn).
Slublog on March 16, 2007 at 4:17 PM
Because God has enough love in his heart even for HMOs and pharmaceutical companies.
That’s omnipotence, baby.
a4g on March 16, 2007 at 4:21 PM
Poor Allah, I do feel bad for you with this. Its gotta suck when these tools do their damndest to make every Athiest/Agnostic look like a bitter hate-filled tool.
And even if prayer is a placebo effect, Its still a positive one, so why the the big emo tears from the athiest? The fact that he can’t say, OK, so its not ALL bad, says a lot about him, ditto his acolytes.
That said, I’m not surprised no ones posting on Iraq entries, it gets repetitive, as everything that could be said has already been said a bajillion times already, we know where we stand and where the other sides stand.
Bad Candy on March 16, 2007 at 4:26 PM
The future – five minutes after Allahpundit’s untimely demise. An overheard conversation (with AP subbing for Joe Atheist):
AP: What the? Wait a minute? What happened? Where am I?
The Voice: Hello there, AP. Looks like driving your 1982 Toyota Tercel, with your cell phone in one hand and a laminated picture of Kirsten Powers in the other, wasn’t such a good idea, was it?
AP: You mean I didn’t manage to avoid that Mack truck. But atheists are great drivers!
(a deep, amused chuckle)
AP: Wait a minute. Then I’m … dead?
The Voice: You always were the quick-witted one, weren’t you?
AP: But I can’t be dead.
The Voice: Why not?
AP: Well, duh. Because I’m still here.
The Voice: Impeccable logic. And yet here you are. I suppose I should just not believe in you, then?
AP: (pause) Wait a minute … wait one stinkin’ minute … who the @#$@ are you?
The Voice: I Am who I Am.
AP: (longer pause) You mean you’re …
The Voice: There you go being quick again. Got it right in one.
AP: Ah. Crap.
Professor Blather on March 16, 2007 at 4:28 PM
Oh, and Enrique’s doing his damndest to make religious people hate athiests, too, right on cue.
Oh, and a healing faster trifecta is in play…
Bad Candy on March 16, 2007 at 4:31 PM
Total silence.
Allahpundit on March 16, 2007 at 4:36 PM
May I recommend the Asiago cheese?
SilverStar830 on March 16, 2007 at 4:38 PM
So AP, you’re an Atheist conservative?
or just an atheist?
You actually strike me more as an agnostic libertarian without all the pot.
Kai on March 16, 2007 at 4:44 PM
Maybe. But you saying “Ah, crap!” is much funnier to contemplate.
Professor Blather on March 16, 2007 at 4:46 PM
Why in the name of
Godyour gender-neutral higher power of choice …. would anyone be an agnostic libertarian if they couldn’t have the pot?Professor Blather on March 16, 2007 at 4:47 PM
I see what you did there.
Nah, God would just make Allah sit and listen to Mr. Mister – ”Broken Wings” in Purgatory for a thousand years as punishment for doubting his existance. Because everyone knows God’s a sucker for corny 80′s music.
Bad Candy on March 16, 2007 at 4:50 PM
No, but she has been going to the plastic surgeon lately.
Tim Burton on March 16, 2007 at 4:51 PM
Professor Blather is en fuego today. Thank you PB, you’re making my Friday afternoon a little less dull.
Matticus Finch on March 16, 2007 at 4:52 PM
Internet rumors of Allahpundit’s untimely demise were extremely exaggerated then?
Think of his career! Look what it will do for Sinbad!
kiakjones on March 16, 2007 at 4:57 PM
Okay… I’ll bite, again…
Then Silverman says
Lawrence on March 16, 2007 at 5:39 PM
Okay… I’ll bite, again…
Then Silverman says
So, regardless of reason, what exactly do you have against a positive outcome Mr. Silverman?
Seems in your infinite wisdom and circular logic, you disproves your own argument.
Lawrence on March 16, 2007 at 5:41 PM
oop. sorry for the double post.
Lawrence on March 16, 2007 at 5:41 PM
“Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company”, and
“The dog is a gentleman; I hope to go to his heaven, not man’s”
- – Mark Twain
AP and Professor, you are gifted and need to be sent gifts.
Entelechy on March 16, 2007 at 5:55 PM
Well, if atheists like that guy want to believe prayer does nothing, that’s their problem. It sure seems pretty stupid, though. Why they feel the need to tell people for whom it WORKS that it’s wrong, I don’t know. (Insecurity? Anger issues? Just being a general a-hole?)
To me, faith and prayer helping recovery when you’re sick is a no-brainer. You let go of your stress, have faith that you’ll be OK whatever happens–or at least, whatever happens is “meant to be so.” It’s why so many cancer (and other serious disease) survivors say “cancer made me a better person.” You learn to stop worrying/stressing out about things you CAN NOT control, and take control of those things you can. I really don’t see how an atheist can “just know” they’ll be okay (like I did) when it doesn’t look quite that way. It seems to me like that’d be an obvious impediment to recovery and healing. Everyone knows a positive attitude makes a huge difference, and letting go of stress is a big part of it.
bamapachyderm on March 16, 2007 at 6:19 PM
Do atheists pray to themselves?
Hening on March 16, 2007 at 6:45 PM
No, but they do worship themselves…
Tim Burton on March 16, 2007 at 7:11 PM
The coolest thing in the whole study was the discussion of a study from 2001 in which prayer was assigned to randomized groups of patients in an Israeli hospital, all of whom had blood infections. The study found positive effects in 2 out of 3 categories (length of hospitalization and length of fever). Mortality (the third category) was lower in the intervention group but not in a statistically significant way.
Here’s the cool part…
The patients had been hospitalized 4-10 years prior to the start of the study. It was designed to test retroactive prayer on the assumption that God is not confined by time and, as I said, it worked.
Explain that one away as an “expectancy effect” Mr. Silverman.
John on March 16, 2007 at 7:24 PM
I dont get into religious discussions much because there ussually isn’t much point. Everyone can believe whatever they want as long as it doesnt affect me (like them wanting to bomb me). This is why public “Athiests” build up so much ill will, they go out on limbs to tell other people what to believe.
What I want to say about your quote thier is simply what has that got to do with a higher power or creator? I see no logical connection. This is the folly of highly “religous” people. They attibue normal things in life which have other explanations to a higher power. You can easily see this objectively as these thing change over time and from 1 religion to the next. Surely an omnipotent being would keep these things that you can look to him for constant!
In the best possible light these studies show what? A 5% benefit from prayer? He might as well not be there if he has irrational, inconsistent responses at human intervention that have less effect then an aspirin. (sorry if that sounds hostile)
Resolute on March 16, 2007 at 8:03 PM
Except we really attribute all things in life (normal or otherwise) to a higher power. What we see as folly is picking and choosing what is or is not attributed to our creator.
The common misunderstanding is that prayer is all about asking God to do something. When praying really has more to do with thanking God for what He already has done for us and what He will do for us in the future.
If everything is attributed to God then aspirin is also something God provides. So when you get a headache don’t just pray that God make the headache go away, pray thankfully that God provides aspirin to ease our pain.
If prayer does nothing else it provides comfort, a positive attitude, and more importantly it provides hope.
Lawrence on March 16, 2007 at 8:29 PM
The common misunderstanding is that prayer is all about asking God to do something. When praying really has more to do with thanking God for what He already has done for us and what He will do for us in the future.
I have no problem with that. Everyone is free to believe in an abstract creator or supernatural benefactor as they wish. That is a very diffent take on it then believing that God causes things to happen in our everyday life. These types of studies are specifically looking for that.
Look at it this way. Socialism prevents people from taking control of thier own lives. I see people praying for intervention in exactly the same boat.
helplessness and despair
Resolute on March 16, 2007 at 10:13 PM
Don’t you mean “specifically finding that”?
Where did you get that number? Maybe you should read it before you argue why it’s wrong.
John on March 16, 2007 at 10:25 PM
I’m more than willing to have provided my dear friends who survived cancer with a “placebo”.
Buck Turgidson on March 16, 2007 at 11:37 PM
Funny how there’s never any stories posted critical of atheism.
Buck Turgidson on March 16, 2007 at 11:46 PM
Sorry we’re boring you.But hey,its the count that counts right? ;-)
spazzmomma on March 17, 2007 at 12:05 AM
Buck: there don’t have to be any critical stories; the comments take care of that end of things.
Yet somehow AllahP doesn’t take offense. :)
Do bloggers get annoyed with their comment sections? You spend time and effort building a voice, and you end up with commenters you don’t really find congenial, who don’t go in the directions you sort of wish they would.
Or do you write more for other bloggers?
kate q on March 17, 2007 at 12:28 AM
I respectfully disagree kate. I hear many well informed defenses of the various forms of christianity. Yet no one is openly hostile to the non-believing be they commentor or blogmaster. It’s not that I think religion is above criticism, it’s not. It does strike me that AP seems more hostile to my faith than I am to his atheism.
Buck Turgidson on March 17, 2007 at 12:45 AM
Nothing like seeing it happen.
Just last Friday I saw a guy get healed of a chocolate allergy. If I was making this up, I’d have him grow a limb back, you know? But that’s what happened. And yeah, we tested it out on him (chocolate), and his normally violent allergic reaction: not a peep.
I’ve seen other much more dramatic things, too, and experienced healing myself. Not every time, not all the time, not even most of the time. But prayer in the name of Jesus can indeed result in miraculous healing.
The methodology of this guy’s study is a cross reference of a hash of other studies, if I read the abstract correctly. I’ve not taken the time to dig down into it, but simply studying “intercessory prayer” is humungously broad. It’s not like all Christians intercede for healing in the same way–or even all believe that God still heals. Lots of Christians “intercede”, but they’re asking God to comfort, “do His will”, etc. Not prayer that specifically asks for healing at all, but it would fall under the umbrella of “intercession.” I don’t really dispute the relative success rate he reports, but when it happens, I would have to say it’s a lot better than just a “favorable trend.”
I think specific case studies on people who claim to have been healed in this fashion would be way more demonstrative of whether or not something is going on or not.
TexasDan on March 17, 2007 at 2:06 AM
As a charismatic Christian who strongly believes in the power of prayer, I have a major problem with all of these kinds of studies. AFAIK, they completely ignore the very specific elements surrounding what prayer is and how it’s effective. Certainly, the most basic element of prayer is that it’s simply intimate communication between man and God and visa-versa. It’s not a spiritual wish list delivered to Santa Claus. Which brings me to another element, which is the lifestyle and anointing of the persons praying. What kind of relationship do they have with God? Are they even Christians (i.e. born again by salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and having an in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit)? Are they living in sin? What is their faith level? Do they believe in and have they heard of or witnessed divine healings before? Do they understand and operate in the healing gifts of the Holy Spirit?
And then there’s another element, which is the relationship to God, lifestyle, faith level, personal issues, etc. of the persons being prayed for. I’m not saying God won’t heal people if they “don’t have enough faith” — I’m just saying that God isn’t a laboratory animal we can place under a microscope and study. Sometimes there are very good reasons why someone is actually unable to receive healing in their lives.
There’s also an additional element of specificity. Misc. people praying for other people they don’t know and never met is something I find highly dubious. If God answered prayer that way, we should all just start praying that all sick people everywhere in the world should be healed right now. It doesn’t work that way. It’s best to have direct communication with the person you’re praying for. This is about love, sacrifice, and humility in caring for one another. Direct communication doesn’t necessarily have to be laying on of hands — I know one person who was healed by prayer via Internet chat! Cell phones are also an interesting medium for prayer.
Bottom line: God is indeed a miracle God, but He’s not a spiritual ATM machine, and He’s not a micro-managing dictator. We have to give him permission to operate in our lives, and that is a lot more involved than simply folding our hands together and saying please. This is a very complex and serious topic, and scientific studies that treat prayer like it’s some kind of drug whose results can be analyzed completely ignore how it works, why it works, and where it works.
Quite a subject you brought up here, AP. Nothing like going for the controversial. :)
Jared White on March 17, 2007 at 2:53 AM
Hmm. I don’t think it’s meant to be hostile. It’s also true that Bryan is an evangelical; I think if there were — issues, we’d see evidence of it.
You have to talk about something, if you’re going to talk, and these threads always do get long…and usually seem to end up being discussions of theology between believers, don’t they?
As far as atheism goes, there are the militant ones who reject organized or theist religions, then cast around for something else to believe in. And then there are the other kind, who were born without the religion gene, who don’t seem to need anything to take the place of a church — and who therefore don’t get too worked up about it either way.
If you’re expecting the first kind, then a little teasing by the second kind might seem harsher than was meant?
(Also — remember that poll from a week or two that ranked atheists as Less Likely To Be Voted For than practically anybody? I think it was AP who posted that. Grinning ruefully, it seemed to me.) (Lovely internets. Leave so much to the imagination. :) )
kate q on March 17, 2007 at 3:19 AM
Let me toss in a little gem from Pascal who says it so much better than I can.
I think it’s helpful to remember that God can answer prayer a number of ways, one of which is “NO.” Jesus wasn’t exactly ecstatic about the idea of being cruxified and He told his Father He’d rather not, but He said that He would do the Father’s will. If the Father tells Jesus “no” then we certainly shouldn’t expect to get everything we ask for.
Mojave Mark on March 17, 2007 at 11:48 AM
I know I caught this one a little late, but judging by the previous comments, this thread proves exactly why any research done regarding the “power” of prayer is quite futile. Everyone has their own subjective definition, one way or the other, of how and why prayer is “supposed” to work. So any theist can just explain away, without providing any factual evidence to support an alternative hypothesis, any unfavorable results regarding prayer.
As for the interesting abstract AP posted, at first glance it seems provocative. However, any meta-analysis is only as good as the methodology and research design implemented into each individual study. So depending on what controls were used (e.g. double blind, random, etc.), sample size, sample demographic, statistical methods used (how statistically “powerful” they are, which leads to how strong of an inference can be made on results), and many more research concerns; you could end up with anything turning up in a meta-analysis. So no matter what theory is being studied, “junk in=junk out”. The only study that I’ve read that tried to exercise stringent standards, that could even begin to make it possible to make causal inferences instead of merely correlations, was the Harris et al. (1999)(Arch Intern Med, Vol. 159 Oct.25) study. And they intercessory prayer had no effect, and actually the 3rd, “placebo”, group who had knowledge that they were being prayed for, actually had a slight decline in health (strange, I know). And these guys were even funded by the Templeton Foundations, haha.
In the end, the placebo effect does have minimal benefits, just as any cognitive-behavioral scientist readily admits and supports. But there have been absolutely no proven, medical reports of miracles taking place that go beyond scientific explanation. Does anyone know of someone who’s had a limb mysteriously grow back? Or cancer being cured without any form of modern day medicine to help treat it? Or countless other miracles regarding numerous other forms of illness that are independent of positive thinking (e.g. Down Syndrome, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, MS, etc.)? No, you don’t. Because, if that were the case, the whole medical industry and profession would be vastly over-hauled and junked and we could do away with doctors and hospitals, and replace them with pastors and churches. If someone truly believes in the power of prayer, they should have no problem systematically rejecting any form of modern medicine, because “prayer does work”!
I can assure you that many people prayed during the “bubonic plagues” in Europe of medieval times, but still died horrible deaths at young ages from that awful illness. What was God’s reasoning for that? Ahh, the people just didn’t know how to pray right? Is that it? They didn’t have enough faith? They happened to belong to the “wrong” church? None of those explanations make sense, and I’m pretty sure the Christians of those times were just as (most likely way more) devout as most Christians of present day. Prayer is like trying to explain any other “supernatural” phenomenon, utterly useless; because you can never “pin it down” with objective standards. Instead of erring on Pascal’s side of the fence, I feel quite comfortable “erring” on the side of science.
Roark on March 17, 2007 at 4:39 PM
I know someone who watched a deformed (too short) leg grow to match the other leg. Right in front of them.
My personal experience: my daughter began to go through puberty when she was 5 years old. Her breasts budded, and we took her to the docs. Bloodwork confirmed the onset of puberty, and the course of treatment was to be monthly hormone shots to hold things in stasis until she was old enough to allow puberty to commence. Without the shots, she would not grow any more, but would develop breasts, etc., and would be essentially misshapen and stunted physically.
We were devestated. It also meant we could not move overseas as we had planned, since the treatment would be unavailable in the place to which we were moving.
For two or three consecutive nights my wife and I went in and prayed for our daughter when she was asleep. We wanted to lay hands on her, and a)she wouldn’t sit still for it when she was awake and b) it felt awkward since we wanted to actually lay hands on her chest, and, well, you can imagine.
On that last night as we were praying we felt the breast buds melt away under our hands. We returned to the doctor who did more tests and confirmed that there was no longer any concern or hormone therapy necesary. That was 5 years ago.
It’s funny that even in the face of evidence to the contrary, we don’t like to accept the possibility of the miraculous happening right in front of us. It’s intimidating. It’s disconcerting. It means that pretty much everything we’ve been believing up until that moment is now up for grabs. That can be shattering. So otherwise rational, intelligent people often choose to ignore the evidence before them, because it’s simply less upsetting. You can argue that people would behave rationally if presented with such evidence, but my experience has been that the opposite is more often the case.
TexasDan on March 17, 2007 at 8:39 PM
I really am sorry to hear about your daughter’s serious medical complications. I can imagine it was a horrible time for your family, and I’m very glad to know that her situation reversed course. I really do mean that. My mother has MS and it has been a hard financial and emotional burden on our family, so I can greatly sympathize with your daughter’s case.
I guess a skeptic like me though would just ask questions like; why didn’t the praying work the first night or the second night? Or why your prayers worked and why don’t others when faced with similar situations with similar “faith”? My only problem is that when an illness like that unexpectedly turns around, we as a society often simply give “God” the credit, instead of just saying, “I don’t know. Our current medical knowledge just can’t explain it at this time”. Please understand that I’m not trying to be insensitive to your daughter’s illness, those are just the thoughts that go through my mind.
As for that. That type of hearsay does not qualify as evidence in my book or any scientist’s book. Was it documented? When? Where? Who else witnessed it? How many inches did it have to grow? What was the type of device used to measure it? I’m sorry, I really would like to believe you, as I was a Christian for a long time, but that sort of “evidence” just isn’t enough to convince me of the power of prayer anymore.
Roark on March 18, 2007 at 9:46 AM
Roark
Thanks very much for your sentiments above. It was a hard time, but God totally turned it around. I am sad to hear that your mother has MS, and I’m sure that is a heavy burden indeed for your entire family.
I can understand your unwillingness to accept a second hand report, which is why I moved on quickly from that account and onto my personal experience.
It’s not just skeptics like you that wonder why prayer–specifically healings–happen sometimes and other times not. Even in the gospels, Jesus is the only one with a 1.000 batting average. The disciples come to him frustrated at one point that they have been unable to cast out a particular demon. Jesus tells them, “this kind only comes out with fasting and prayer.” He promptly then exorcised the demon, but my point is that we definitely do not understand everything we’re dealing with, and finding the handles can be tough. [I'm equating casting out of demons with healing, which is not unfounded Biblically, but the connection I make here is our interaction with the supernatural/miraculous]
Those struggling with disappointment over seeming lack of answers to prayer ask many of the kinds of questions you listed above. If anything, the struggle can be more intense when one is in a setting where others are clearly being healed. How does this work? I think that those issues you raised are important, but they miss the elephant in the room, which is the amazing reality of miracles actually taking place.
I give God the credit in this particular case based on the following: I was praying the moment it happened, specifically telling this illness to leave in Jesus’ name. There was an immediate, visible physical change in my daughter’s body. Furthermore, our doctor assured us that this condition is one which never, ever reverses course on its own–it’s not medically possible, according to her. So I don’t think it’s irrational to give credit to God in this instance, in fact I think it’s the only reasonable conclusion one can make.
TexasDan on March 18, 2007 at 1:29 PM