quote:
9. So, I and some others began some prayer experiments on various species. For one, we chose (late 70's) the California Condor, that none of us had on our life-lists, and which had very dim prospects for continued survival. We got remarkable responses to our prayers, and felt that God very well could be artifically selecting and otherwise intervening in the course of "natural" selection. Of course, so is man, but this God person has made it clear that, if men are handy, He will use them. I also took on the problem of the Dickcissel, my favorite bird species, which had been declining in population for as long as BBS data were available. That was a more expensive prayer experiment, requiring me to give up my tenured university position in order to reverse this trend. (The Condor experiment only took corporate fasting). But it worked. The species stopped declining in population, the problems causing it to decline were reversed, and it all took place within a year or two of my resignation.
WHile I am skeptical of your methods, your experiment, if can be demonstrated, might be useful. Try praying to prevent the Javan rhinoceros from extinction, would you? At present there are approx. 40 individuals left in the wild, and only miracles can save them from extinction. So please help them. I believe rhinos have more ecological impact than birds.
™ Version 4.2