The best optical illusion in the world!

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We have all seen dozens of optical illusions. In this short video, I would like to show you the best optical illusion in the world.

For this optical illusion to work, I am going to start by assuming that you are a Christian. I am also going to assume that you are a smart person. You have an education, and you have what people call "common sense".

If you are a smart Christian like this, you have been looking at this illusion ever since you became a Christian, but you have never been able to "see" it. In the next five minutes or so, you will be able to see this illusion for the very first time.

So let's start at the beginning: Since you are a Christian, you believe in God and you believe in the power of prayer. You probably agree with this statement from Christianity.com:

"What are you praying for today? Is someone you love sick? Are you having problems with your spouse? Are you or your spouse suffering from an illness or an addiction? Are you hoping for a job transfer, or a positive result on a pregnancy test? Are you anxious about starting a new career? Having financial trouble? Don’t give up. God is faithful. Trust Him, in the little things and in the big. He cares, and He is there. Don’t lose hope. A miracle of your very own could be right around the corner." - Christianity.com

This is a very important promise for Christians. God cares about you. God can perform miracles. All that you have to do is pray, and God will help you.

So let's imagine that one day you have a big problem, and you pray to God for a solution. However, God does not answer your prayer. There is no response at all.

You are disappointed, perhaps angry, and you do not understand what went wrong. If you talk to another Christian or look on the web and ask, "Why didn't God answer my prayer?" you will hear a response like this:

"We have to trust that He knows what’s best. God answers prayers in the form of 'yes', 'no' and 'wait'. Sometimes the hardest answer to accept is 'wait'. It’s difficult to be left in limbo, wondering how God will handle our problem, but we must have faith that He will!" - Christianity.com

'Yes', 'No' and 'Wait'. That is how God answers prayers. You have probably heard this a thousand times, and you believe it completely.

'Yes', 'No' and 'Wait' may sound comforting, but here is the thing that I would like to help you understand.

'Yes', 'No' and 'Wait' is actually an optical illusion.

Let me show you how this illusion works. Imagine that I put a jug of milk on the counter, and I say to you, "Pray to the jug of milk." I tell you that if you pray to the jug of milk, it will answer all your prayers. You are skeptical, but you agree to try it. You pray to the jug of milk to give you 1,000.

Now I say to you, "The jug of milk answers prayers in the form of 'yes', 'no' and 'wait'. Let's see what happens."

What is going to happen? There are three scenarios:

Scenario 1: Out of the blue, a check for $1,100 arrives in the mail tomorrow. It is an unexpected tax refund check from the IRS. I say to you, "See! The jug of milk answered your prayer!"

Scenario 2: Seven weeks later, out of the blue, you get a cost-of-living raise and it happens to increase your salary by $1,200 per year. I say to you, "See! The jug of milk answered your prayer! You just had to wait patiently."

Scenario 3: Nothing happens for six months. You ask me, "Why?" I say, "We have to trust that the milk jug knows what’s best. Let's be patient."

Look at what happened: In scenarios 1 and 2, the jug of milk really did answer your prayers. And in scenario 3 we are waiting for it to answer your prayer, knowing that it is doing what is best for you.

Now let me ask you: Will you get down on your knees and worship this jug of milk?

Probably not. But why not?

You won't worship the jug of milk because you know it didn't do anything. The jug of milk did not "answer" your "prayer"? The milk jug did not cause you to get a raise or get a check in the mail. Did the milk jug do anything at all? No. Absolutely not. You know that. We both know that. It was nothing more than a coincidence.

When you pray to a jug of milk, any answered prayer is nothing more than a coincidence. That is obvious to any intelligent person. If the criteria is 'Yes', 'No' and 'Wait' it appears that the jug of milk answers EVERY prayer. But we both know that the jug of milk did nothing.

If you are a smart person, you may be starting to see the illusion of prayer:

"God answers prayers in the form of 'yes', 'no' and 'wait'." - Christianity.com

"The jug of milk answers prayers in the form of 'yes', 'no' and 'wait'." - me

"We have to trust that God knows what’s best." - Christianity.com

"We have to trust that the milk jug knows what’s best." - me

When Christians say "God answers prayers in the form of 'yes', 'no' and 'wait', it is impossible to lose:

- The thing you pray for might coincidentally happen the next day. More information: http://whywontgodhealamputees.com

- Or it might coincidentally happen a week or a month or a year later.

- Or it might never happen.

'Yes', 'no' and 'wait' is ALWAYS true, no matter what. It is even true if you pray to a jug of milk. Or a stone idol. Or the planet Jupiter. 'Yes', 'no' and 'wait' is true no matter what you pray to.

As a Christian, you have believed that God is answering your prayers. But all that you are seeing is an illusion. The illusion is created by coincidence and the 'yes', 'no' and 'wait' mentality.

Since you are a smart person, you should be able to see this now.

If we say "God answers prayers in the form of 'yes', 'no' and 'wait'," God can't lose.

But in reality, "God" is no different than a jug of milk. The jug of milk can't lose either. That is the illusion.

How do we know this? How do we know that every answered prayer truly is a coincidence? The way to know is to look at every valid scientific study that has been done to test the effectiveness of prayer. Scientists have proven it over and over again: Prayer has absolutely no effect.

For example, the New York Times wrote this:

"In a large and much touted scientific study, one group of patients was told that strangers would pray for them, a second group was told strangers might or might not pray for them, and a third group was not prayed for at all. The $2.4 million study found that the strangers' prayers did not help patients' recovery."

In fact, there wasn't even a placebo effect. The people who knew that they were being prayed for actually did worse than the others.

The Boston Globe points out:

"A review of 17 past studies of ''distant healing," … found no significant effect for prayer or other healing methods."

USA Today says:

"A positive attitude does not improve the chances of surviving cancer and doctors who encourage patients to keep up hope may be burdening them, according to the results of research."

We see this every day:

People who pray die of diseases at exactly the same rate as people who don't pray.

People who pray get divorced at exactly the same rate as people who don't pray.

People who pray win the lottery at the same rate as people who don't pray.

We all know it. Prayer does not have any effect on events.

You might have a thousand rationalizations. For example, you might say to yourself,

"God cannot be tested!"

Or

"God must remain hidden!"

But these are rationalizations, nothing more. The fact is, the scientific studies are correct. Every answered prayer is a coincidence.

Once you understand the illusion of the milk jug, you can see exactly what is happening.

The scientific studies are correct.

You should be able to see that now. Take the time to actually look at the science. You will see that it is true.

You are a smart person.

You cannot deny reality.

And then use your intelligence to understand this simple truth:

The reason why prayer has no effect is because God is imaginary.

God is imaginary.

If you would like to learn more, please visit: WhyWontGodHealAmputees.com and GodIsImaginary.com.


by Marshall Brain


New York Times Coverage
WWGHA was
discussed in a
New York Times piece
by N. D. Kristof.
For a counter-point to Mr. Kristof, please see
Chapter 26.

Recommendation by Sam Harris
Sam Harris recommends WWGHA in his book Letter to a Christian Nation.

Endorsement by Richard Dawkins
In a New York Times Letter, Richard Dawkins calls WWGHA a "splendid Web site."


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Introduction

Section 1 - prayer Section 2 - The Bible Section 3 - Jesus What it means


Highlights


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