The Power of Prayer

The owner of a well-known but still illegal house of ill repute in Dublin began construction on an expansion of his building to accommodate his ever-growing business.  In response, the priest of the local parish church started a campaign to block the business from expanding with morning, afternoon, and evening prayer sessions at the church.  Work on the brothel progressed right up until the week before the grand re-opening when lightning struck the building and burned it to the ground!

After the fire, the priest and his congregation were rather smug in their outlook, bragging about "the power of prayer."

But the next week, the owner sued the church, the priest and the entire congregation on the grounds that the church "was ultimately responsible for the demise of his building and business – either through direct or indirect divine actions or means."

In its reply to the court, the church vehemently and vigorously denied any and all responsibility for or any connection with the building’s destruction.  The cranky old judge to whom the case had been assigned read through the plaintiff’s complaint and the defendant’s reply, and at the opening hearing he commented, "Well, I’m totally gobsmacked!  I don’t know how I’m going to decide this case.  It appears from the paperwork that we now have a brothel owner who staunchly believes in the power of prayer and a priest and his congregation who would have me believe it’s all malarkey!"