Brother Jeff Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 From http://alaskanatheist.com/2009/03/10/prayi...nd-on-facebook/: Several of my friends on Facebook are religious - either Catholic or fundamentalist Christians. I usually do well at not letting the religious nonsense I see posted get to me, but for some reason this friend’s status post really rubbed me the wrong way. Here’s what she posted: (Name Removed) is praying for all sick and afflicted, Jesus please give them healing, grace, mercy, and peace,in Jesus Name, Amen. This is the cold, hard reality about prayer: The sentiment of my friend’s prayer is nice. Sure, it would be great if there actually was a loving God who could and would heal all of the sick and afflicted, but there isn’t. Faith healers (con men/scam artists) come and go and they bilk gullible believers out of lots of money while selling them false promises of healing and “Divine Health”, but not one single genuine, documented healing of a real physical disease has ever occurred. Jesus can’t do shit because he isn’t real. Millions of Christians around the world could be praying for Jesus to give the sick and afflicted healing, grace, mercy, and peace, and guess what would happen in the real world? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Because Jesus ain’t real. He and Superman have a lot in common, starting with the fact that they are both fictional characters in fictional books. My friend has religion really bad, and I feel sorry for her. Been there, done that. And if she ever comes to her senses and realizes that she’s wasted years of her life believing myths and nonsense and talking to/praying to fictional beings, she’s in for one hell of a disappointment. Been there, done that too. It baffles me why religious people continue to believe in the power of prayer when it always accomplishes absolutely nothing, except perhaps making the person doing the praying feel good. But, I know why they do it. They ignore the 999,999,999 “misses”, or unanswered prayers, and rejoice over the 1 prayer out of a billion that appears to have been answered. And they rationalize prayer as well, as this video demonstrates: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyqBLticqLA You would think that the millions of Christians praying prayers similar to my friend’s and then observing that sickness and afflictions continue unabated and that Jesus doesn’t give them healing, grace, mercy, or peace (or anything else) might get a clue. But… they don’t. But… that’s the mind-numbing and reason-numbing power of religion for you. Belief is more important than anything else… even… REALITY… which frequently isn’t even close to being as rosy as religion is. I pray that Christians and other religious folks all over the world will WAKE UP and See the Light of Reason and Rational Thought… and REALITY. In Reason's Name. Amen. Do I actually expect anything of the sort to actually happen? Of course not. End of rant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CynthiaBelle Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 I hate when people tell me they'll pray for me or that they've been praying for me. I know it's meaningless, but the condescention gets to me... And they actually think they are doing me this great favor! Ugh...all their praying won't feed a child, won't wipe away a tear, won't offer warmth. Hmph... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 It's the same as all those people who join groups like "end genocide in Darfur" or "help starving children in Africa" and feel like they're doing something to help the cause. They're too lazy to do anything real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazycatlady Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 It's the same as all those people who join groups like "end genocide in Darfur" or "help starving children in Africa" and feel like they're doing something to help the cause. They're too lazy to do anything real. I'd say there is a slight difference in that these groups show up in the news feed and briefly remind people that something needs to be done, whereas prayer (though obviously not this particular example) is supposed to be "in the closet." However, I agree that both are the same way of doing nothing and feeling like you're helping. Unfortunately, it's just so much easier to do nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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