"powerless"

Hitch on CNN: don't expect a death-bed conversion, and don't pray for him unless it makes you feel better - it won't do anything for him. (Unlike Dan Dennett*, though, he won't ask if you've sacrificed a goat.)

*Dennett:  I have had to forgive my friends who said that they were PRAYING for me. I have resisted the temptation to respond "Thanks, I appreciate it, but did you also sacrifice a goat?" I feel about this the same way I would feel if one of them said "I just paid a voodoo doctor to cast a spell for your health." What a gullible waste of money that could have been spent on more important projects! Don't expect me to be grateful, or even indifferent. I do appreciate the affection and generosity of spirit that motivated you, but wish you had found a more reasonable way of expressing it.