Canberra-based writer and host of Alex the Seal podcast, Jo Pybus shares ‘Thoughts and Prayers’ – a reflection on the recent mass shooting in Maine, USA, the Voice Referendum, and the reverence given to God and people with a god complex.
Another mass shooting in the USA, this time in Maine with 18 people dead, has reinforced not only my gratitude to be living in the ‘lucky country’ but also my dwindling desire to visit America. When first hearing of this tragedy my mind went to the press conferences that would ensue and the thoughts and prayers that would be offered to the families of the victims.
The report of this horrible event coincided with me reading the prologue of I’ve Been Thinking, a memoir from preeminent philosopher and cognitive scientist Daniel C. Dennett. Dennett begins his book by describing a personal medical emergency and the futility of his well-meaning friends praying for him, equally lamenting that they thanked God when he recovered when it was the medical professionals who had undertaken years of study and practice, performing scientifically tested and verified procedures that saved his life. This thinking got me thinking.
A belief in a deity that hasn’t been scientifically proven is the right of people around the world, a right many uphold and revere. There are, however, humans who believe they should be given the same reverence and are said to have a ‘god complex’, referring to their arrogance and inflated sense of self-importance often associated with narcissistic personality disorder – think Donald Trump. To be clear, it is not a compliment to be told you have a god complex, and it can be a problematic psychological condition.
Whatever our beliefs, we cannot ignore what science and technologically have proven, nor can we allow others to hijack our intellect by believing their rhetoric without question. Seeing US citizens riot in their Capital in reaction to the baseless and repeatedly disproved lies of President Trump in January 2021 was disturbing to say the least, and it was with some relief I felt removed by distance and dissidence at the time. That was until our own recent Voice Referendum, where lies and misinformation reached good people who trusted their sources. Why, in a world where we can fact check information through many sources, do some choose to believe one individual or one source, even when multiple credible authorities are correcting the lies and misinformation?
In his book, Dennett cites a study into intercessory prayer for cardiac patients for which it was found to have no effect on recovery but was associated with higher incidence of complications in some. He hoped his well-meaning friends who prayed for him might “devote their prayer time and energy to some pressing project they can do something about” and save their thanks for the goodness of the medical professionals for studying hard to save lives. A doctor in a medical malpractice suit is not going to claim they hoped and prayed as their defence!
Whether it be a religious god or a human thinking they are a god, we live in the 21st century where science has explained with certainty many things that were mysteries 1,000 years ago, and technology can help us reach information faster than ever – for which I should acknowledge can also be one of the biggest sources of misinformation. We no longer wonder if the earth is round or believe cigarettes can cure asthma. We can find multiple sources to verify whether something is the truth.
Unlike Dennett, I’m not such a zealot as to suggest people shouldn’t utter the T&P response when comforting someone’s pain, but I fear for a world where relying on religious text written thousands of years ago holds any more value than philosophical and moral guidance. Whatever our beliefs and mantras from these ancient scripts or our attraction to the hyperbole of others, our responses in this 21st century should come firstly from our intellect and understanding of the science and facts behind the issue at hand. In doing so, it is my belief that our altruistic and spiritual desires will be better served.
