VERSION|0.5.1|NAME|Tesh|DATE|1377075339|CONTENT|I rarely get angry over individual TftD contributions.   Today was an exception. For years I heard that ‘thought’ uttered in church – usually voiced as “Even NO is an answer”.  What it hints on behalf of the ‘God’ believed in is that there is a loving Father who listens; who knows best what is good for us; who is deciding on his answers for each individual; and has his own purposes.  What it hints about people is that they ask for the wrong things anyway – probably nasty silly materialistic things like success and money.  
What it totally ignores and almost mocks is anguished ‘petitionary’ prayer of the kinds uttered up by thousands who see the natural disaster upon them,  or the soldiers ripping their children away, the horrors of concentration camps, the prayers of all the abused, exploited, frightened,  living in that state for years even if just within the four walls of the place called home.  Even at a smaller level – I listened to such messages as a child in Care [and it was kindly, not at all abusive] yet filled with children who wanted to be wanted – a prayer for most that would never be answered.  We sat there en bloc – about half the congregation – being told that of course God heard our prayers [probably for a bit more pocket money  or to be able to go to a party?] but it was for our good that he silently answered ’NO’.  If we had doubts it was our lack of simple faith. 
Sixty years on I did not think anyone still preached such drivel which sees no link with theodicy problems, no link with natural disasters, cannot hear its own offensive, supercilious views of what people pray for and manages to ignore the long-term consequences of some supposed ‘unanswered prayers’.  It does not wrestle with how the ‘survivors’ who give credit to God and their own hard praying [never to luck, chance, statistics, medical teams, advances in science etc] explain the ‘non-survivors’.  
I know the Psalms quite well [it was a very Bible-bashing church] and what overwhelms me is the faithfulness, not of a ‘God’ for whom endless excuses are made, but of generations of people.  “God” doesn’t need to lift a finger ever; he will just be defended by idiots like this morning’s contributor.  I hear them [the psalms that aren’t just Hebrew battle-hymns wishing all misery on their enemies] ] with the ears of Karl Marx – the sigh of the oppressed, the cry of the broken-hearted. 
What then becomes even more offensive is the response of those ‘clever’ theologians who say – ‘of course you silly little ignoramuses don’t realise that we don’t believe in some anthropomorphised ‘person in the sky’! That is just you being childish’ and not sophisticated thinkers like wot  we are!’.     At least this morning’s effort has put paid to that one. I shall forever see a sad God sighing – “Oh dear – if only they were clever enough to understand  my jokes”. 
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