Althouse: "Prayers are energy and if everyone has them, their spirits will feel lighter because of it."

June 26, 2009

"Prayers are energy and if everyone has them, their spirits will feel lighter because of it."

What Cher said about the dead, last night on "Larry King."

24 comments:

TS said...: I'm kind of surprised by the Althouse obsession with Michael Jackson. Anyone else?; 6/26/09, 4:45 PM
Fred4Pres said...: I like Cher. I did not see her on Larry King (I have not watched King in a very long time). But my response to that comment is...okay. I am sure she means well and is sincere, but praying(and I am assuming she meant that in connection with new age spirituality) is not some undiscovered country. A lot of people pray all the time.; 6/26/09, 4:46 PM
Anonymous said...: Cher is probably right, more or less.; 6/26/09, 4:50 PM
jag said...: this post is a great example of the 'i'm spiritual but i'm not religous' phenomenon ... it suggests that we continue to experience the desire for transcendence but are too lazy to employ reason to understand or articulate the desire.; 6/26/09, 4:54 PM
Chris Althouse Cohen said...: The entire interview is good and not flakey at all in context. I watched several hours of Michael Jackson news coverage yesterday, and she did just about the best job of anyone I saw.; 6/26/09, 4:58 PM
traditionalguy said...: Sincere prayers get answers sooner or later. So watch out what you pray for and who you make sincere prayers to. Not that there is anything wrong with a healthy scientific scepticism. Prayer does not take many words, just sincerety.; 6/26/09, 4:59 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "too lazy to employ reason"

It takes a hell of a lot of reason to get *there*.; 6/26/09, 5:02 PM
Fred4Pres said...: If you pray: I want to win the lottery...chances are you will end up disappointed.

If you pray: I want to be a better person...chances are you will get that prayer answered.

And while not all prayers get answered, praying for other people generally is good for both you and them.; 6/26/09, 5:12 PM
traditionalguy said...: Chris...That interview did contain a very thoughtful set of answers from Cher. I wonder what she has been up to these days. Her daughter made news recently, but no new movies with Cher. I always thought she was a great performer as a singer and an actress. .; 6/26/09, 5:18 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Chris, I did not watch any of the Michael Jackson coverage last night (well maybe just seconds of it as I was flipping channels). I did happen to catch an old replay of the late Bob Ross with my four year old. She got into him painting happy waterfalls. I suspect Michael Jackson liked Bob Ross painting shows too.; 6/26/09, 5:18 PM
Anonymous said...: ...but are too lazy to employ reason to understand or articulate the desire.

One of my favorite quotes on religion is by a former U of Chicago Theology School Professor, Henry Nelson Wieman.

"“If religion has any peculiar way of salvation to offer it can be only because it brings to light certain facts of vital importance which would otherwise be ignored, or because it suggests better adaptation to facts. We believe that religion at its rare best does both of these and hence does offer a peculiar way of salvation; and that without it men are lost.”

“But for the most part religion has not done either of these two things. Most religion most of the time, both within Christendom and without, has blinded men to facts, has magnified illusion, and has hindered men from making adaptation to things as they are.”

Maybe people aren't suffering from laziness to employ reason. Maybe they employ reason and easily see that religion is mostly clogged with imposters and charlatans.; 6/26/09, 5:23 PM
David said...: Is it possible that Cher has obtained greater wisdom during her years on earth? She's no dummy. It's unsurprising that she would have some compassion and empathy for Michael Jackson. She's not some twit starlet with fake boobs. She's a gorgeous old actress with fake boobs.; 6/26/09, 5:26 PM
hombre said...: It takes a hell of a lot of reason to get *there*.

Yeah, but once you get *there* you realize it doesn't take so much after all.

That is, if by *there*, you mean there.; 6/26/09, 5:28 PM
Fred4Pres said...: The Cher interview comes off as a friend feeling sad about the loss of friend. And Chris is right, Cher does not come off as flakey.; 6/26/09, 5:31 PM
David said...: Listen to the interview. Cher is having a very tender, thoughtful and human reaction to MJ--to his life, not his death. Cher is a true peer of MJ not awed by his stardom. She's awed by his talent, and sad and puzzled by how he developed in later years. The video of Cher and MJ dancing is amazing. Damn, they are having fun.; 6/26/09, 5:38 PM
Michael Haz said...: Maybe Cher should have stopped praying fo a son.; 6/26/09, 6:00 PM
jag said...: to Qualye...

religion is that layer of reasoned reflection we place over the desire for truth, for meaning, for heaven.

religion can and does become twisted, true enough. still, spiritual experience is not complete without it. cher's quote (and I'm sure she is a lovely person) is a case in point.; 6/26/09, 6:05 PM
Chris Althouse Cohen said...: traditionalguy: Cher, who is 63, is in the middle of a 3-year, 200-show gig at Ceasar's Palace, for which she's being paid $60 million. Her last album was in 2001, but she is reported to have two movies in the works (one with Johnny Knoxville, which she's talked about, and a "contemporary musical" with Christina Aguilera). Also, according to Wikipedia, she has said that she is recording her next album.; 6/26/09, 6:10 PM
hombre said...: Maybe they employ reason and easily see that religion is mostly clogged with imposters and charlatans.

The "desire for trancendence" is not synonymous with "religion."; 6/26/09, 6:11 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Speaking of Bob Ross, once he came on TV when my father and I were solving a crossword puzzle. My dad, bless 'im, mentioned Ross had been a colonel in the Air Force. This surprised me, he didn't seem the type. I said, "Oh, really? I always thought he was a burn-out hippy." My dad roared with laughter at the thought.; 6/27/09, 12:01 AM
Fred4Pres said...: Bob Ross

I find Bob Ross soothing. He would have been a great grade or high school teacher.; 6/27/09, 1:08 AM
AllenS said...: Maybe Cher is wishing that Michael was the son she never had. Now she will have Chastity, her daughter, become the son she never had. I can't stand stories about people that inhabit Hollywood. What a sorry bunch of people that happen to find any of these characters in Tinseltown interesting.

There's no there, there.; 6/27/09, 6:08 AM
traditionalguy said...: Hollywood is and always has been a maker of images/icons to be a shared pop culture among the audience. That stuff sells and creates wealth. That stuff also creates an alternate reality the audience struggles to make a part of their lives by acting it out. But you and I have to be real persons and not a false persona to succeed in life and relationships outside of the Hollywood dream. Move on and live a real life while there is still time..; 6/27/09, 6:56 AM
$9,000,000,000 Write Off said...: Energy, energy? Energy is, is, it's nothing more than a lot of 1960s new age hokum masquerading as spirituality.

Steve Coogan as Tony Wilson,
24 Hour Party People; 6/29/09, 12:36 PM