My son was diagnosed with a heart condition a few years ago. Last year, he had a surgery to correct it. He went to the doctor for a follow-up appointment yesterday, and everything was fine. DW posted on Facebook how happy she was about the clean bill of health. One of her friends wrote, "Praise God!"

I know there was nothing but positive vibes meant by her expression, but it got me to thinking about giving credit where credit is due. Praise God? For giving my son a heart condition, or for creating doctors who corrected His mistake? I'm not sure.

People who have discussed the Creation with me insist that God created us. I point out that I had two creators, my mom and dad. As far as I can tell, God didn't form me in the belly. I give credit to my parents. They were there.

Now that I don't believe anymore, I find it upsetting to discount the labors and achievements of real people, and attributing things to God. Why must people see the hand of the Lord in all things, when His hand was nowhere near the action? Why can't we just give credit where it is due?

Giving God credit also implies that your son was more worthy of God's interest than the millions who die daily from lesser problems.

It may serve to make the person feel better about herself and maybe it used to serve to bond people together to give God credit. For me, it just isn't working anymore.

I'm fine with it as long as they remain consistent...

praise god(s) for the flooding

praise god(s) for the tornados

praise god(s) for rape, torture, slavery, and genocide

Ah!!! That reminds me.

You just made me think of a documentary we just watched streamed on Netflix the other night. It was a PBS special on Inside North Korea (or some title like that).

Basically, it centered on this Ophthalmology Surgeon whose team was given permission to go into North Korea to operate on 1000 patients for cataracts in order to teach their doctors how to do the procedures. Evidentally, North Korea had been donated the equipment years and years ago, but didn't have the tech expertise to use it.

Well, so this team goes in. The surgeon operates on an astounding 1000 patients in like 5 days or so and teaches the local surgeons the techniques.

Pan over to last scene. All these North Korean patients are sitting on benches in this large room. Bandages over eyes. Time has come to see if surgery was successful.

First patient's bandages come off. She stands up, staggers to the front and starts to bow, wailing her thanks to the Great Protector (the leader of North Korea, I can't remember exactly what he was called now). On and on thanks to the painting for her newly found sight (she had been blind like 40+ yrs).

Second patient, same thing. More and more bowing, scraping to the painting, and wailing thanks to the Great One for the surgery.

Not one look towards the medical team, slightly weaving from exhaustion. I wonder if that team knows just how wonderful they really were.

Of course, basic, sound medical care and periodic eye exams would have easily kept over half those patients from being blind in the first place, but I digress.

I'm not sure even I would really feel "Praise God" would be entirely appropriate in this situation, and I'm still fairly religious.

What's far more amazing, awesome, and humbling than that an omnipotent king made everything for a predetermined purpose, is that out of the vastness of the universe life evolves. It tries everything, and out of trial and error under pressure over millions of generations, small finds build on each other and grow into a global tree of life.
Giving God the credit is to take it for granted, and to vastly underestimate the process.
The Bible says life was almost wiped out once.
Well, it turns out it was almost wiped out several times. I think we are now considered to be in the sixth mass extinction, this one at our own hands, not least due to religion telling us that the earth is for man, and is meant to end anyway.
It's not that I can't believe in an eternal higher power, but I certainly don't believe it's the inventions of our own minds we see cannonized in self-sustaining institutionalized religion.
Mormonism in particular is especially transparent once you have "eyes to see" it. It's origin is demonstrably fraudulent. It's simple, Rigdon, Cowdery, Smith et al lied their asses off and used time-tested methods of exploiting "faith".
I guess that's why I still hope there's a judgement, because there are a few dopes who deserve it.