Time for prayer again

“@time: Science acknowledges the medicinal power of prayer | http://su.pr/1shWfH (via @TIMEHealthland)”

There are so many things wrong with this I don't know where to start.

For starters the study and the title Time gave this article have almost nothing in common. It was a sociology study of 62 women victims of domestic violence. And it has to do with the emotional aspects of abuse, not medicinal power. That is a dishonesty level I find unacceptable.

And it suggests:

"prayer can be…a way for victimized women to learn to forgive their abusers,"

Why must an abused person forgive their abuser? That is a disgustingly immoral suggestion to me. Yes I will heal, and be happy, but how dare they suggest that I have to forgive them. If you feel it helps you to forgive, that is up to you of course. But don't assume this is necessarily a good thing. In fact, it continues:

"he finds that it can also keep some women from getting out of violent situations."

Exactly. And does the study say that prayer is even the best way for women to get out of abusive relationships? Nope, it sure doesn't.

What the study essentially says is that prayer can be used as a coping method (like children often use an imaginary friend).

Real scientific studies into prayer show no medical effect as my blog post on prayer discusses.