Using prayer to help with your finals is cheating.
Prayer is widespread amongst the student body; it’s an ethics crisis on campus. Asking God to help you with your finals is technically “soliciting outside assistance” on your test and thus you are requesting “improper collaboration.”
Thus, by praying, you are committing academic misconduct.
According to the Provost’s Web site, “academic misconduct” includes using unauthorized outside sources on tests and “improper collaboration.”
That means, unless your teacher has given permission for the class to collaborate with a particular god on the final, by soliciting said god’s aid, you are in fact cheating and should be punished for academic misconduct.
The penalty for this academic misconduct is censure or expulsion from OU.
Many who believe in God will pray seeking aid on finals. On several occasions I’ve heard students and pastors openly advocate this form of academic misconduct.
Solicitation of this type of supernatural assistance on tests is terribly ironic because most common religions prohibit cheating and support fair play.
So if you pray for divine aid, you’re not only are you cheating on your tests, but you’re breaking God’s law, sinning.
Consider the administration’s perspective; is God an acceptable resource for students to utilize on their tests?
Should professors allow this socially acceptable form of cheating?
By giving each student an equal opportunity to solicit his or her god’s aid, the professor should be open to the different variations in which students would solicit their gods’ aid.
Consider the pantheist, who believes God is in everything; should this student be denied the opportunity to consult the aspect of God who resides in a textbook, while a Christian consults a God who resides somewhere in the sky or wherever the Christian God lives?
This is a very difficult topic students and faculty appear to not be taking seriously. If the administration of OU does not prosecute pray-ers (who pray without the permission of their instructors) for academic misconduct they are not enforcing their academic rules; if they are not going to enforce this rule, then none of their rules should be enforced.
I know most “believers” are going to be praying to which ever brand of God they subscribe.
It’s ironic that so many of these “believers” will be sinning as a result of soliciting their God’s aid. And strictly speaking, your paper or test should not be accepted by your professor if you prayed over it.
Academic misconduct is serious business.
One could argue that God is a resource that students may use; after all, God’s aid is “free” to use and available to all who believe and live as God would have them live (there’s always a catch).
However, this argument fails to address the problem of God being used as an outside influence. There are many Web sites with pre-written essays readily available to every student, yet this resource is considered academic misconduct despite being available to all.
Another question is the intelligence of God. Do you remember when former President George W. Bush said God had told him going to Iraq was the right choice; clearly his God has major cognitive failings.
As a political science and history major, I do not want that God helping me with any tests or papers; if I chose to cheat, I’d prefer a more wise and loving God’s assistance.
Prayer is a gateway to greater moral relativism.
That’s certainly true with football, the god of OU. Many prayers have been said for whoever’s carrying, throwing, kicking or catching that hunk of leather.
Oh, regarding that oft cried prayer, “Please dear God, help OU beat Texas this year.” Not only are you soliciting outside influence to aid OU on the field (cheating again, but at least it’s not academically), but you’re also advocating that God show favoritism of one team over another.
Your God may be an omnipotent, omnipresence, omniscient God for us here at OU, but certainly not for Texas.
All joking aside, if you honestly believe in God, why would prayer not be cheating?
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meANDmy_monkey 2 years, 5 months ago
Truer words have never been written in an OU Daily opinion column.
dio 2 years, 5 months ago
Only ignorants pray for good grades.
leimapapa 2 years, 5 months ago
Cute little article. One question: why would you care about cheating anyways? "As a political science and history major," congrats on being a half-step above a Comms major. Maybe you'd think cries for divine intervention were justified if you were in any remotely difficult classes like the rest of us.... I kid, I kid.. Of course those are perfectly respectable fields, and I'm sure it's a rough time for you as well. In any case, good luck on your bowling and finger-painting finals... :)
ArchC 2 years, 5 months ago
What happen to the liberal belief that religious expression was suppose to be private. Now you begrudge them their own private thoughts. Is there no limit to your anti-religious bitterness?
mythman 2 years, 5 months ago
Of all the columnists that populate the Daily, it seems that Max Avery is the only one who knows what he's doing.
flyingeagle 2 years, 5 months ago
Wow. Did you seriously just write this? This is the biggest load of crap I have ever read in my life. My view of the Daily just dropped to an astronomically low level. I know this is your own opinion and I guess you really don't care about how popular your column is. But if you haven't noticed, you are in the Bible belt and I can just bet you that if you asked students across campus about their beliefs, there would only be a tiny group of nutcases that would share your views; the majority are Christians that beieve in God and take prayer very seriously. I don't care if you are an atheist, you're free to believe or not believe whatever you want, but don't attack my religion, my beliefs or my right to pray whenever, wherever and under whatever circumstances I choose to. This column was senseless, factless and ridiculous, and I hope you realize that writing crap like this only hurts your own image and makes you look like a wacko.
JJanowiak 2 years, 5 months ago
At least half of the commenters in this thread, especially Soonergirl45, should probably drop out of college immediately.
jfreezy 2 years, 5 months ago
because it cannot be proven that God provided any assistance to you as you took the test, wrote the paper, etc. Even if God delivered to you a 20 page paper a la 10 commandments to Moses style, you would have a hard time proving that, and your accusers would have an even harder time. Moreover, you are only talking about tests. Do you think if you prayed for God to help, that he/she/it would magically give you knowledge that you didn't already have, or transform the questions from their original to make them easier so that you know them? The most help that most people would say that they've received from a god on a test would be that they suddenly remembered something they had forgotten after praying, which really would just be a holy reminder, not cheating. P.S. where do you come up with this bull?
RPants 2 years, 5 months ago
I assume theists believe it's not cheating, as they are using a resource they will constantly have access to, no different than their memories.
Alright, slightly off topic, stay with me here. If learning is the process of creating pathways in your brain, and this is on some level a physical change, then how is tattooing a timeline of Western Civilization to the underside of your arm any different?
Now if you'll excuse me, I have some tattoos to get and an argument to prepare regarding academic misconduct.
TylerBranson 2 years, 5 months ago
I prayed over this column, and Jesus told me that Max deserves a high-five for cleverly deploying satire, (it's a literary device, Soonergirl45) to expose some of the faulty assumptions that people have about prayer. He told me that He is appreciative people pray to Him at all, to be sure, but that sometimes people want things He simply just cannot grant. He told me about this guy that prayed to Him awhile back, "Dear Jesus, plz help me beat, 'Bama, Jesus. If you don't I'll just cry." Jesus was happy for the acknowledgment, but alas, He said, "I just don't win football games!" Jesus doesn't give people A's, or even F's. Jesus transcends academia, for that matter. But in that transcendence, Jesus also loves humor--in a way, He IS humor. Which is why Jesus told me to tell you all how much He loved this column. He also told me to tell everyone else to pick up the new Brad Paisley and Jay Z albums, which he described as "sick."
oumotorcyclist 2 years, 5 months ago
Hat's off to you, Max. Well done. Also, ArchC's and jfreezy's responses are priceless. Thank you all for the laughs.
annio 2 years, 5 months ago
I think your argument is a little faulty... Since Christians believe that the Spirit of God lives in them, they wouldn't be "soliciting outside assistance" by praying to do their best on a test. In fact, they would be utilizing internal resources. So, if you really think praying to something outside of yourself is academic misconduct and should be forbidden, okay, but such a policy would not include Christians who pray to a God whose Spirit resides inside them.
acsooner 2 years, 5 months ago
Hilarious.
mythman 2 years, 5 months ago
Looks like some people can't take a joke.
dargus 2 years, 5 months ago
I guess some people just don't get satire. Sad, really.
soonergirl0007 2 years, 5 months ago
You sir need more prayer then those mentioned in your column. While it is deemed okay for you to express your views, I certainly don't see how this had enough merit to make it into this publication. The editorial board of The Oklahoma Daily should be embarrassed that they let this be published. Just now that there will be a lot of individuals praying for you, whether you think you need it or not.
mreidland 2 years, 5 months ago
An outraged someone sent me this link, probably thinking I'd be outraged too. I am so glad they thought I was an idiot, because I never would have seen this on my own. You have made my last-day-before-finals slightly less beastly.
Max Avery = Awesome. Back to studying. And I won't be praying for you. Instead I'll count on the fact that someone who can write this brilliantly actually took the time to learn the material.
Flysooner 2 years, 5 months ago
Your an idiot. Get a life
Mesocyclone 2 years, 5 months ago
Are you (censored) kidding me? This has to be the biggest joke of an opinion piece I've ever seen the Daily run, though it shouldn't surprise anyone, given some of the other anti-religious hate columns they have published. Max, can you really not see the obvious and gross breech of 1st Amendment rights it would cause to legally treat a private prayer in class before a test (or at any other time, for that matter) as "academic misconduct"? The irony kills me. Liberals are all about 1st Amendment rights, free speech, and freedom of thought, until it comes in the form of someone expressing or exercising their religion (particularly if they are Christian), especially if said religious expression is in conflict with the liberal secularist philosophy, and then these same people get "offended" and will stop at nothing to seek out whatever loopholes and other convenient half-ass excuses they can find to support their covert attempts to criminalize prayer and the practice of religion. Where does this kind of B.S. stop? I'm sick of the nonsense and the hypocrisy of the left. The arguments presented in Max's column are cheap at best, and borderline hateful. This country is founded on the free exercise OF religion, there's nothing at all in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights about freedom FROM religion. I'm thankful to God that we don't live in a country where such an extreme fascist idea as suggested in this article is implemented into law - at least not yet, though we may be headed in that direction if some of the radicals in the Obama Administration have their way...
RW1121 2 years, 5 months ago
Most hilarious comment I think I've ever read: "you are in the Bible belt and I can just bet you that if you asked students across campus about their beliefs, there would only be a tiny group of nutcases that would share your views; the majority are Christians that beieve in God and take prayer very seriously. I don't care if you are an atheist, you're free to believe or not believe whatever you want, but don't attack my religion, my beliefs or my right to pray whenever, wherever and under whatever circumstances I choose to."
So...the term "nutcase" no longer applies to overly-zealous Christians? And if someone doesn't agree with those people, they're not allowed to express their opinions? Hmm... If anyone has seen Religulous, remember that scene with the truckers...does this hilarious argument sound familiar? "IF YOU START MESSIN WITH MAH GOD...YOU GOTTA PROBLEM."
akohut 2 years, 5 months ago
You are neither funny nor a good writer.
BJacobson 2 years, 5 months ago
Top Ten Reasons Why Max Should Have “Cheated” Before Writing this Article 10. I don’t know Max, but he is the guy in all of our classes that sits in the front row, argues about every irrelevant thing imaginable and wastes our time. Hey, you look real cool. 9. Prayer is nondiscriminatory. It is available to anyone, regardless of their god, and its free. 8. Max, you implied that you would cheat if God were a little bit more loving and caring, a little hypocritical, don’t you think? 7. As for George Bush, God cannot be held responsible for man’s actions/interpretations of his will. 6. So, if OU made prayer “illegal” how would they catch the criminals? They would have to instate a new special task force to sit outside of our windows and sneak into our churches to make sure we weren’t breaking any rules. How would you like that tuition increase? Or maybe the OU football program could foot the bill. Maybe you’d be a fan then? 5. There is nothing wrong with praying to do my best at something. People don’t pray to have God spontaneously put answers into our brains. Heaven forbid got put His followers on the same playing field as the Adderall junkies. 4. Since prayer is available to anyone who chooses to use it, how is that different than using the Writing Center, teacher’s office hours or the Action Center? Maybe you should suggest we take spell check off of our computers too? 3. Max, you should choose your arguments wisely. Remember the little boy who cried wolf? 2. Readers: would you want to invite this guy to one of your parties? 1. Max, I hope you enjoy your ‘Christ’mas break.
In all honestly, Max, you’re a great writer and very intelligent. Next time you should focus your talents on something that is actually relevant.
Soonergirl45 2 years, 5 months ago
Wow!!! Ummm....I don't know if the was meant to be satirical either, but I just don't understand. Anybody who knows Jesus and knows what he's all about would know that God just doesn't place the answer to your test in your head. People don't just not study for an exam and pray to God for the answer to the exam, and God grants them their prayer, it doesn't work like that. So therefore your argument has just proven wrong. God blesses those who follow Him, and you should probably follow Him if you were serious when you wrote this column, because God will provide you with guidance so that you won't write another article this dumb. I will pray for you Max Avery b/c you need it!!! :)
sooner09 2 years, 5 months ago
Oh dear Max, stretching to make your mark in the big bad OU Daily. Congrats! You've pissed off people.
But praying to God, or any god, is individual and internal. God does not whisper into the ears of the faithful which answer to bubble in, or come booming in with words for an essay. Therefore your point is as moot and ignorant as you see these people who pray for support and inspiration, not for God to draw a giant "A", "B", or "C" in the sky.
I'm praying for you.
shelly 2 years, 5 months ago
Many truths have already been spoken. NOT in the article, but in some of the previous comments. I agree with the one who said that God's spirit dwells inside the Christian or believer & therefore is NOT an "outside" source. I laughed most of the way through reading the article. It's positively ridiculous that anyone could actually believe this nonsense! If it was suppose to be a satire, shame on the author for poor taste. If however, it is what he believes, then I am saddened for him & will pray for his salvation. Another point I agree with is that God doesn't put information in our heads that is not already there. He did in the time of the prophets and with the authors of the Bible, but that time has past. He simply helps us remember information that has already been placed there by lectures, reading & studying. He also helps us by helping us from making stupid mistakes on tests, which I'm sure everyone has @ one time or another done. Some people have horrific test anxiety & the anxiety prevents them from doing as well on a test as they should. Why begrudge them a prayer? Why are you jealous? A third point that was made is that God's help is available to all who ask, but you must first accept Him.
leimapapa 2 years, 5 months ago
Self-righteous back-patting diner? Looks like I've come to the right place... I can almost taste the pomposity. Tastes great wrapped with snobbishness with a side of pretension.
I too would like to give myself credit for recognizing satire. Everyone knows intelligence is only related to recognizing English language literary devices. I can't even imagine how dumb people who only speak other languages must be. Everyone else is sooo stupid. Right fellas?
BJacobson 2 years, 5 months ago
Top Ten Reasons Why Max Should Have “Cheated” Before Writing this Article
10.I don’t know Max, but he is the guy in all of our classes that sits in the front row, argues about every irrelevant thing imaginable and wastes our time. Hey, you look real cool. 9. Prayer is nondiscriminatory. It is available to anyone, regardless of their god, and its free. 8. Max, you implied that you would cheat if God were a little bit more loving and caring, a little hypocritical, don’t you think? 7. As for George Bush, God cannot be held responsible for man’s actions/interpretations of his will. 6. So, if OU made prayer “illegal” how would they catch the criminals? They would have to instate a new special task force to sit outside of our windows and sneak into our churches to make sure we weren’t breaking any rules. How would you like that tuition increase? Or maybe the OU football program could foot the bill. Maybe you’d be a fan then? 5. There is nothing wrong with praying to do my best at something. People don’t pray to have God spontaneously put answers into our brains. Heaven forbid got put His followers on the same playing field as the Adderall junkies. 4. Since prayer is available to anyone who chooses to use it, how is that different than using the Writing Center, teacher’s office hours or the Action Center? Maybe you should suggest we take spell check off of our computers too? 3. Max, you should choose your arguments wisely. Remember the little boy who cried wolf? 2. Readers: would you want to invite this guy to one of your parties? 1. Finally,Max, I hope you enjoy your ‘Christ’mas break.
In all honestly, Max, you’re a great writer and very intelligent. Next time you should focus your talents on something that is actually relevant.
MissB 2 years, 5 months ago
i understand this is an OPINION article and that every person has a right to express their ideas, but i don't understand why The Daily chose to run this article...how will this help students in the upcoming week? in my OPINION this article should not have been printed right before finals.
haveagooddayandboomersooner 2 years, 5 months ago
I find myself to be a fairly devout Christian. I pray multiple times a day and try and follow the expectations the Lord set for us. With that being said, I found this article to be satirical and laughed at the fact that someone would actually think this up. I do not believe Max Avery was serious when he wrote this (at least I'm hoping he wasn't). If anything I think he wanted to get a rise out of the Bible Belt students at OU. And he has obviously accomplished this. As for the people who thought he was serious, both the Christians and the others: take it easy, and chill out.
eightbitgirl 2 years, 5 months ago
Max, I needed this laugh so bad today. Thanks, man. The sound of the "whooooooooosh" as it flies over heads is like a symphony.
hmanwarren1 2 years, 5 months ago
Why is it satire when this dolt makes fun of Christians but a serious issue when a different idiot made fun of Bobo's Chicken? I guess only believers are fair game. Oh how I wish I was young and had all the answers.
Lansdallius 2 years, 5 months ago
I'm assuming this is satire, reasonably well done satire as it may be. Although it certainly smells of trolling to me.
JJanowiak 2 years, 5 months ago
I for one prepare for finals by consuming a sacrifice to his meatificence The Flying Spaghetti Monster.
flyingeagle, you are an idiot.
OUguy 2 years, 5 months ago
I love how Max trolled all this religious fools.
pdrap6 2 years, 5 months ago
If this, meaning Avery's work, is intended to be a "joke" then I hope the author is not looking for a career in journalism. Because if he is, why would any editor hire him if he is not going to take his job seriously - plus Avery's grammar as a columnist is horrible.
And if this article was intended to be satire, it's lacking an obvious touch of humor. Besides, Mr. Political Science/History major, what happened to separation of church and state?
Judging from the author's photo, it appears he may not care what anybody thinks. Hence, the reason for being an Opinion writer - to share your thoughts and act like nobody else's matters. But writing a controversial article on religion in the "Bible Belt" screams, "look at me and share with me your angry critiques!"
The article is very insightful and even thought provoking. And Avery is entitled to his opinion, but respect for others and love for everyone are much more admirable acts than writing an article to receive a few angry comments.
Madcow 2 years, 5 months ago
Great article! I daily grow in my appreciation for the absense of spirits or supernatural forces
jssooner4 2 years, 5 months ago
Ok first off, Tim tebow certainly should have come up somewhere in this article. Secondly, it's terribly ironic that people get upset when one questions prayer, even jokingly. They say things like don't disrespect my beliefs etc. But then they turn around and force their beliefs on others by banning abortion, stem cell research, and gay marriage How terribly ironic. Great paper max.
missmolly 2 years, 5 months ago
This is awesome. All I feel is appreciation for the writer of this article, and pity for those who aren't quite clever enough to understand its satirical humor.
boarder 2 years, 5 months ago
The proper prayer should be for the wisdom and power to retain and put forth the knowledge that you have studied. In this case, you are merely praying for an increase in your cognitive abilities, rather than an outside help with the actual answers. This could be equated to having a former football player help you with your technique if you were a wide receiver. That, in itself, is not illegal. Lying about it, on the other hand, would be.
Bravo. Thanks for clearing up what our prayers should actually be.
hehe
ab167 2 years, 5 months ago
This article is pretty eye-rollingly lame, but the comments it inspired make me want to high-five you regardless, Mr. Avery.
wwfsmd 2 years, 5 months ago
Obvious troll is apparently not obvious enough..
You're brave - I would be worried about people leveling death threats against me over this (in Jesus' name, of course).
whatsherface 2 years, 5 months ago
Your columns are great. And hilarious. I applaud your ability to write satire such as this and for being one of the only columnists at The Daily that have pieces worth reading.
And half of these comments on here piss me off. To those you don't get it: stop being so dense and realize it's SATIRE. You don't need to pray for Max, you need to pray that you'll be able to understand literary devices such as satire.
Eagles101 2 years, 5 months ago
One picture is more than enough..
ston9794 2 years, 5 months ago
I love articles that bring people with no common sense out of the woodwork. Good job, Max
mfhayes 2 years, 5 months ago
This argument is hilarious! In a way I think it opens a lot of doors for discussion.
Sooner09, if your prayer is entirely internal and for "support and inspiration", do you pray to god? Or yourself? Or is it the equivalent of saying to yourself "You can do this."?
Why do you call it prayer if it's not to a god?
I'd assume that most prayers of the sort are something like "Please God, guide me during finals, blah blah blah." I don't see how this is in any way "internal".
simplegreen 2 years, 5 months ago
After reading this article, I cannot say I agree with everything Max has said. He does have some valid points and backs them up with facts. But clearly there are a lot of other subjective issues to consider, and thus other facts and opinions to consider.
The main thing I want to say is that some of the comments against this opinion are clearly ridiculous. Even if you disagree with what he has said, it doesn't mean you have to completely flip out. I respect people trying to defend beliefs and values. However, lots of these comments show how truly intolerant people are. Of course there is going to be controversy with any religious topic. And of course some of the arguments used in his paper are subject to debate. Even if you think this is a ridiculous topic, that is your opinion and is viewed differently by each person. If you disagree, state so in a respectful, intelligent manner so you don't sound like an idiot. You are not helping your case one bit. So before you start writing with your emotions, think not about what you are saying, but how you say.
dqualk 2 years, 5 months ago
Not cute. Grow up. Find something useful to write about rather than being irreverent.
sandra 2 years, 5 months ago
Thanks for writing something that doesn't make me hate everything. Quality column. Good job, Max.
qm 2 years, 5 months ago
Aaaand once again people fail to understand satire. Max, your columns are the only ones I ever enjoy reading, but people don't seem to get the recurring theme. Keep it up. Maybe people will take an English class, learn something, and stop completely misinterpretting things you write. Or they'll just continue to go about thinking Swift really WAS advocating baby eating.
@TylerBranson: Best comment ever.
unknown123 2 years, 5 months ago
Was this suppose to be funny? If it was, try using humor next time. I did not find it funny at all.
cripifyouwanto 2 years, 5 months ago
this is cute, dont listen to dqualk. Youre lucky you wrote the last sentence that you did. This is a littany of faulty logic, bad grammar, and misguided accusations. You make people who are not religious look like morons. Prayer is internal mghayes. It simply mentally prepares people for what they are about to encounter. They are manipulating themselves, giving themselves confidence pretending like God has their back. They may say "help me with this test" but they dont really expect God to take the test for them. There is nothing moral about receiving credit for that which you do not deserve. Their words may be naive, but their intent is what should be taken into account. A discussion on motive or how a person may react once God earns them an F on a test would be more interesting. Jacobson, you're cuter than the article itself. You posted that twice? lol. I think my favorite was sooner09 - "Im praying for you" hahahaaa. Why would you believe in God, trust in God, and lean on God, THEN tell him how to do His job? sooner09. This was God's plan, don't interfere.
You need a new editor, he's not helping you either Max.
Cambrian 2 years, 5 months ago
Best column ever! The Daily should give Avery a daily column, because it's the only column worth reading. And if the hard-core bible belters can't take the criticism, then screw them. Why don't they just go to Uganda like some U.S. senators from Oklahoma I know and fight for killing gay people. That's the Christian thing to do, right?
jssooner4 2 years, 5 months ago
I imagine that hindus would be excellent students as they have numerous gods who can team up to help a student ace every class. I bet they even have a god of mathematics, science, humanities, etc. Christians would obviously be at a disadvantage having only their one god. The same applies to any other monotheistic religions. So I would have to agree that religion in general can create disadvantages for students of various religions. Thus I am proposing that grades be on a sliding scale based on the number of gods you believe in. (This comment was meant in no way to be offensive, unless of course you take offense to it).
intelligirl 2 years, 5 months ago
Wow. This article was very obviously intended to be satirical. Not only can one tell by the tone of the article that it was a joke but by the very fact that it was published in the Oklahoma Daily. Ha.
swosuprof 2 years, 4 months ago
Come on, fellow Christians! The Bible advocates praying for God's will to be done, not your own! Praying for a good grade is ridiculous, not to mention selfish--just like praying for your team to win. God has bigger fish to fry! Praying might make you feel calm, which might help on the test, but God created in you a mind--you need to use IT, not a miricle! Max, good job! Point well taken.
Radiohead 2 years, 4 months ago
"Your an idiot. Get a life Posted by anonymous / Flysooner on December 10, 2009 at 1:26 p.m. "
The correct spelling is you're. You + are = You're. Your = possessive. Here are some examples.
Correct use of 'you're': You're an idiot. Get a life.
Also, funny article. Very good satire. I'm glad I don't pray, I could be expelled.
Correct use of 'your': Your intelligence is in question.