Why Won't God Heal Amputees

Why Won't God Heal Amputees (WWGHA) is a website that challenges the notions that prayer-answering gods exist. The site consists of an online book and a forum which invites visitors to discuss topics raised by the book.

The book was written by computer scientist and author who founded the commercial edutainment website

The site, known previously as Why Does God Hate Amputees, later changed to use the more neutral-sounding, and more expectation/evidence-based, current title.

Does God answer prayers?
Faith healing, normally through prayer, is something accepted by people of various religions. Jesus Christ regularly healed ailments such as leprosy, death and demonic possession (not so common these days). Christ is quoted multiple times on the matter of prayer:


 * "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mark 11:24)
 * "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." (John 14:14)
 * "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven." (Matthew 18:19)

It's a stretch to assume that any prayers at all are answered, but even that assumption leaves the problem that the majority of prayers are clearly ignored or rejected. The author of the website suggests that praying to God yields the same results as praying to a jug of milk.

Why won't God heal amputees?
This is the core question posed by the website. Accepting, for the sake of argument, that God intervenes to heal people, what kind of grudge does he have against amputees? The general answer to this is to say that God doesn't heal anyone, so amputees are no different. Faith healing only works on disorders that are invisible to the naked eye, or medical complaints that can naturally go into remission. The curing of a cancer is somewhat ambiguous when compared to the regrowth of a limb, and that's probably why Christians (and the faithful of other religions) don't miraculously regrow lost limbs.

The book examines this in greater depth, considering the evidence for the efficacy of prayer, and the numerous and tortured apologetics for God's oddly selective approach to healing.

Forum
The site's forum is relatively tightly moderated; posters are expected to abide by rules and observe the etiquette guide. Generally visitors should avoid proselytizing, and it's polite to respond to questions posed by forum users. Atheists and agnostics are in the majority on the forum, but there are a small number of religious posters who make interesting and coherent posts. Civilised conversations between people of all beliefs happen on the forum. These are supplemented by the regular influx of Christians who know that Jesus is the way, but can't understand why people aren't convinced by threats, rants, and the random quoting of scripture.

Christians considering posting on the forums should be prepared for the fact that many of the forum users are well versed in scripture, doctrine, theology, and that science thing.

The author of WWGHA, Marshall Brain, supports the Forum but doesn't participate in the discussions himself.

As of 2019, the forum is under "permanent maintenance".

How not to introduce yourself
Here are some examples of posts made by naifs, lunatics, and probably the occasional Poe:

Laughing while 'ur' burning in hell
Bonus points for suggesting that God won't notice (or care?) that he'd be faking devotion.