Prayer and Plot Twists

[MineralMan]

The Latin phrase "deus ex machina," "god from the machine" derives from an ancient Greek dramatic device used in plays. To resolve a difficult dilemma in a plot line, Greek Gods would suddenly appear on stage, either lowered from a crane or rising up from below the stage. Being gods, they could use their divine powers to alter the course of events and resolve the issue.

We're still using that device in some plays and films. Sometimes its "bats from space" or an actual representation of God who appears to fix the problem.

For most modern playwrights, that device is considered to be cheating, and is a sign of a poorly conceived plot. Modern audiences don't particularly like the deus ex machina method.

When religious people use prayer as a way of requesting help from God, they are calling on the same principle as the deus ex machina. "Please, dear Lord, don't let my Charlie die from his terminal cancer." When Charlie dies, it's because it was "God's will," though. We humans can't solve some problems, so we ask our deities to come down on a rope or ride the elevator up through the floor and change things. Almost always, that doesn't happen, but we excuse the diety by saying "God's ways are not our ways" or "Nobody knows God's plans for us." Both of those expressions are just ways of attributing what happens to a deus ex machina.

We're disappointed when a filmmaker brings in an illogical or magical force to resolve a poorly plotted story. It's a "cheap trick." We don't like it one bit, and expect the scriptwriter to do a better job, somehow. But, in our real lives, many people call on their own personal deus ex machina and expect something miraculous to somehow happen.

"Thank God my house was not destroyed in that tornado, but it was God's will that yours was." Deus ex machina at work. It's just a plot trick, though. One house was in the path of the tornado and the other wasn't. God had nothing to do with it. It was natural forces that caused destruction or spared your house.

Unlike in the Greek plays, nobody sees God, but they still pray for help from that imaginary entity. To what end, I wonder?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. The thing that's always bugged me

is when there's a disaster of some kind, and a survivor thanks God for saving them - saying (or at least implying) that God especially wanted them to live. So what about all the other people who died? Didn't God give a crap about them or their families? I've always thought that kind of thinking was bizarre, not to mention arrogant.

[MineralMan]

2. You see people thanking God after every distaster.

Those who suffered are too busy to chat with reporters, or they're dead. So, "Praise the Lord" is what the media shows us from the survivors. I don't blame the survivors for not speaking about those who have died or lost everything. They have plenty on their minds. The media will show you the destruction, so you can make up your own mind about God's handiwork.

"Thank God my family's safe!" Never mind the first responders who pulled them out of danger.

[MineralMan]

3. An example of a deus ex machina in a modern film

In Mars Attacks, the Slim Whitman song, "Indian Love Call" saves the planet from the Martians, whose heads explode on hearing the yodeling singer, as naturally they would:

[3Hotdogs]

7. I enjoyed Indian Love Call with Nelson Eddy and Jeanetter McDonald

I don't remember the name of the movie.

[Voltaire2]

10. One of the greatest satirical comedy films

[MineralMan]

11. I agree.

[Karadeniz]

4. If you read closely the Prodigal Son parable, which sketches out the God System, you

Will note that the father -god in no way interacts with the son-soul. The son (soul) left with some of the father's (God's) riches (soul nature/energy). The soul 's purpose is to be God's agent elsewhere since God does not leave it's realm. It's up to the soul to get back...but only when it's ready. This sketch of the God System is the theology Jesus builds on in other parables. They are all mosaic tiles yielding the big picture. The deus ex machina effect is but one of Christianity's many pagan influences.

[Freelancer]

5. Very interesting POV. Thanks! -nt

[Bretton Garcia]

6. Another great piece of writing by a DU writer: Miineralman

Better than most, maybe all, professional equivalents I've read.

No brag. No flattery. Just fact.

The atheist blog 'Vridar' often does similar things about the Bible as bad literature, fiction. You might keep an eye for another or recently past post on this subject ... and present a copy of this in the very active Comments section.

Good writing has a better chance of surviving and being read, if you record a version on several blogs. Not too many, to avoid anti spam software.

You can also duplicate to your own Facebook site etc...

Good writing deserves to live on. One of the few rational readings of immortality.

[MineralMan]

9. You're very kind.

[3Hotdogs]

8. Then you got the other point of view. If your ass is in danger, it must be because God wanted your

ass in danger. So if you ask to be saved, you are fuckin' with God's will.