God Won’t Fix Your Problems
Fix them yourself.
As an agnostic, there is a lot I don’t get about faith and religion. One of them is how those of faith constantly ask higher powers to solve problems. Whether it’s a major global problem like climate change or a minor personal problem like getting an A on a test, so many people rely on their god to fix their problems.
Look, if you pray for something, the odds are something like 50/50 that it’ll happen, depending on what it is. Praying to win the lottery is much less likely to happen than praying for a good performance review at work. Praying for cancer to magically go away is probably not going to happen regardless.
The thing that I don’t get is why people insist on praying for solutions to their problems when they can just do something about it. Praying for an A on a test is worthless if you haven’t studied, and praying for a good performance review doesn’t matter if you’re a crappy employee. That said, if you did study and are a good employee, your prayers are much more likely to “come true.” I wonder why.
Prayer is only worth what you put into the problem at hand. You can pray for world peace and an end to suffering, but it’s a worthless gesture if you don’t put any of your own energy into solving the problem. God doesn’t magically fix problems — a whole bunch of people are working hard to fix those problems, and unless you are putting your own effort into the mix, your prayers aren’t helping.
Problems don’t magically go away — generally speaking, someone did something to fix the problem. Whether or not you believe that they were sent by god is irrelevant — someone did something, and that’s what matters.
The thing is, you can be that someone. Why pray to solve hunger when you can volunteer or donate to feed the hungry? Why pray for good grades when you can study and be a diligent student? Why pray for a good performance review when you can be a good worker and earn that good review?
There is a parable wherein a religious scholar says that god puts everything on Earth for a reason and is questioned by a pupil as to the reason for atheists. The scholar responds that the atheist does not wait for god to do miracles, but instead goes out and does good things regardless. Atheists, he says, do good deeds not for fear of hellfire, but simply because they are good deeds. They need no higher power to tell them to do good in the world.
In this way, you should be an atheist. Don’t wait for a miracle, and don’t pray for good things to happen. Go do those good things anyway. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless — go do all of the things Jesus would actually do. Don’t wait for god to solve the world’s problems — solve them yourself.
And, while you’re out doing good things and solving the world’s problems, you can pray for the strength to go forward and enact those changes. In the end, though, you are the one who is answering the prayers of countless others. Whether or not some god or another sent you, you are making that change.
So what are you waiting for? If you’re waiting for god to answer them, you might wait a long time. Answer your own prayers. Fix as many of your own problems as you can manage, and if you can, maybe help fix someone else’s too. The more people stop waiting for god to answer prayers and start fixing things, the faster the world will improve.
Be well out there.
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