In response to Bob Mattila’s May 5 letter, “Heal nation through prayer,” while I do not doubt Mattila’s sincerity, I fail to see logic in his request. If there existed any evidence that prayer would help anything, I would kneel beside him, but no such evidence exists.
There have been many “studies” purporting to “prove” that prayer works, but I have never seen one with either of the two basic necessities for credible research: a control group and reliably replicable results. Show me these, and I will concede a rational reason to believe such reports. Without them, I can only say that just because you pray for rain at the same time a rain cloud bursts, does not mean the two events are connected. If I made the same prayer at the same time, but directed my request to the tree in my yard, would that mean my tree answered my prayer?
While our nation does have important issues in front of us, Mattila and I might disagree about what some of them are. If he believes his god will judge us all, and his most treasured book tells him not to judge others, why does he not focus instead on conducting himself according to his beliefs and stay out of other people’s personal lives?
Roy G. Wilson
Vancouver
