# My brother-in-law is trying to kill himself with the power of prayer **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 2, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369 "2008-12-02T17:57:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/221 "2008-12-05T18:56:22Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I bet Jesus is wondering how he gets the spokespersons he gets. Same reason Mephistopheles gets all the good lawyers, I 'spose. This came up last year, after Falwell died; neither Heaven nor Hell wanted him, and they had to take it to court. After a lengthy hearing, Eternity & Kismet ruled in favor of Satan, and Jerry went to join the choir invisible. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/222 "2008-12-05T18:56:50Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > I don’t do it in my own name but in the Name of Lord Jesus. Did you know that taking the lords name in vein is, by definition, trying to gain something for oneself by the authority of God’s name? -Kris ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/223 "2008-12-05T19:07:18Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Did you know that taking the lords name in vein is, by definition, trying to gain something for oneself by the authority of God’s name? > > -Kris [pedantic jackass] I think you mean **vain**. [/pedantic jackass] ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/224 "2008-12-05T19:12:02Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > [pedantic jackass] > > I think you mean **vain**. > > [/pedantic jackass] What, you didn’t know that the lord’s name came intravenously now? When your vitamin G level’s get too low it’s a quick fix. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/225 "2008-12-05T19:16:41Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > What, you didn’t know that the lord’s name came intravenously now? When your vitamin G level’s get too low it’s a quick fix. That’s funny. I have a friend who uses “Vitamin G” as a euphemism for marijuana. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/226 "2008-12-05T19:30:06Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Same reason Mephistopheles gets all the good lawyers, I 'spose. See, that’s a matter of like appealing to like. Are you saying Our Lord Jesus Christ is a cuckoo crazy big elastic pants? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/227 "2008-12-05T19:31:20Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > What, you didn’t know that the lord’s name came intravenously now? When your vitamin G level’s get too low it’s a quick fix. [anal-retentive asshole] I think you mean **levels**. [/anal-retentive asshole] I wonder how long before Gaudere takes his vengeance upon me? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/228 "2008-12-05T20:02:25Z")
Aha! You should have put the word “levels” in quotation marks. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/229 "2008-12-05T20:41:13Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Aha! > > You should have put the word “levels” in quotation marks. No, bolding it serves the same purpose. But don’t worry. I have been tempting Gaudere all week, and the Dark One will not be mocked. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/230 "2008-12-05T20:43:34Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > [anal-retentive asshole] > > I think you mean **levels**. > > [/anal-retentive asshole] > > I wonder how long before Gaudere takes his vengeance upon me? Isn’t **Gaudere** female? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/231 "2008-12-05T20:50:29Z")
> [@Telperien](#): > > Isn’t **Gaudere** female? I speak not of the administrator known as Gaudere, but of the the master wordsmith for whom she was named – an Ainu who was, for a brief time, corrupted to Melkor’s service, and who has now returned to the mansions of the Valar. But though Gaudere once again stands in Iluvatur’s service, he retains the mark of his former master, and thus delights in pedantry and nitpicking. Thus all who love words love Gaudere, and yet they fear him. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/232 "2008-12-05T20:52:40Z")
Damn it! There has to be something in there. Commas before “ands”? Double dashes? Lack of a semi-colon somewhere? Throw us a frickin’ bone here. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/233 "2008-12-05T20:55:31Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/234 "2008-12-05T20:58:14Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Damn it! > > There has to be something in there. > > Commas before “ands”? Double dashes? Lack of a semi-colon somewhere? > > Throw us a frickin’ bone here. Fool of a Took! As if I would not be cautious when poking a notably irritable _[panserbjørn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iorek_Byrnison#Iorek_Byrnison)_ with an extremely short stick. Each of these posts is being proofread with far more care than usual. I have learned from my mistakes, no less than he whom I tempt. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/235 "2008-12-05T21:03:06Z")
Somebody grab a Strunk and White; we need an adjudication on whether that should be _no less than **him** whom I tempt_. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/236 "2008-12-05T21:18:28Z")
Can we just take the fact that \*\*Skald \*\*edited his last post as ipso facto, quad erat demonstratum, e pluribus unum, post hoc, iridium, ehay uckedfay omethngsay, proof that there was an error in there at one point? ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/237 "2008-12-05T21:19:20Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > What about a _really_ uncomfortable rash in a _really_ inconvient, embarassing place? Oh, that’s fine. You can even try to give it to him yourself, if you’re feeling enterprising. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/238 "2008-12-05T21:24:09Z")
Gaudere _IS_ female, for the record. It’s beyond my expertise to speculate on the sex of gods or angels of which she has become an avatar, but in her human form she’s definitely a woman. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/239 "2008-12-05T21:52:18Z")
> [@Lanzy](#): > > b-dd-? [miffed crank] b-dd **h** - [/miffed crank] ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369/240 "2008-12-05T21:55:12Z")
> [@cwthree](#): > > [miffed crank] > b-dd **h** - > [/miffed crank] Thank you. I had been thinking that there existed a little-known deity named “buddy”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-in-law-is-trying-to-kill-himself-with-the-power-of-prayer/475369.md?page=13)