The Power of Prayer

In a small mid western conservative town, a newly arrived Atheist
couple started a building to open up their bar/tavern business. The
local Baptist Church started a campaign to block the bar from opening
with petitions and prayers. Work progressed, however, right up till
the week before opening, when a lightning strike hit the bar and it
burned to the ground.

The Church folks were rather smug in their outlook after that, till
the bar owner sued the Church on the grounds that the Church was
ultimately responsible for the demise of his building, their prayer
having caused the lightning strike either through direct or indirect
actions or means.

The Church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection to
the buildings demise in its reply to the court, saying the lightning
was entirely a random act of Nature.

As the case made it's way into court, the judge looked over the
paperwork at the hearing and commented, "I don't know how I'm going
to decide this, but as it appears from the paperwork, we have an
Atheist bar owner that believes in the power of prayer, and an entire
Church congregation that doesn't!"