Reply #15: He recently responded personally to a prayer...

[onager]

I read this on the Internets, so I know it's true.

Down deep in one of the Red states lived a very Christian man who was constantly praying. He prayed in church and out of church. He prayed at work and on the street. He prayed for people he met on the Internet. He prayed for his family, his friends, his pets, etc. etc.

He was unhappy with the result, and finally one night he prayed: "God, I've tried to be a good Christian. But I have a dead-end job and barely make ends meet. My wife has had me locked out of the bedroom for years. My daughter flunked out of college and is pierced everywhere, including places I don't even want to think about with objects I certainly don't want to think about. My son is flunking out of high school and spends all his time listening to weird music and smoking stuff that smells funny.

"Now, God, I only mention all this because of my neighbor. He and his wife have great jobs, and obviously still love each other. His oldest daughter is in Harvard on a full scholarship, and his youngest daughter was high school valedictorian.

"What I don't understand, God, is this: my neighbor and his whole family are all atheists. How could you allow this to happen?"

Suddenly the sky darkened, a flash of lightning rent the clouds, and the Voice Of God boomed in the man's head: "Because he doesn't bother me all the time!"

(I'm an atheist myself. One of those Fundamentalist ones!)