Please, enough of this praying nonsense.

a reply to: JDmOKI

I can respect that.

I do that a lot around here myself.

a reply to: DumpMaster

I guess I'll just copy/paste my thoughts from essentially the same thread you made a few days ago.

In that thread I wrote....

"Personally, I can't stand hashtags in general. Same goes for all the generic "type amen" memes on social media.

That notwithstanding, why do you think that praying for victims/survivors of fill-in-the-blank and performing physical action are mutually exclusive? My parish is not alone in that whenever any catastrophe happens anywhere, whether it be an earthquake on another part of the globe or a house fire down the road, parishioners immediately begin to offer whatever aid they can. If geographically possible, people with the appropriate skills offer direct assistance. If not, people gather food, clothing and all other supplies/necessities to send to ravaged areas.

I would also like to point out that my parish is not alone in that the church provides a whole host of other services such as people volunteering to teach people how to speak/write/read English. There is also a food bank that people keep stocked all year long. In fall of each year, there are winter coat drives that directly help people not only in our community but people in surrounding areas as well. There are also regular blood drives hosted by the church (in our case in the school associated with the church for logistical reasons).

The church also provides what I would consider emergency services in some instances. Before our son was old enough to attend nursery school, my wife would take him to a play group at our local library. There, my wife befriended another mother. Almost like out of a movie, the woman started showing up with odd scratches and bruises that she would explain away... until she finally confided in my wife that her husband beats the stuffing out of her from time to time. She was too scared to run off to a relatives house because he could easily find her. As in many places across the nation, the shelters around here are (apparently) no place for a woman with a two year old son to be. My wife took her to our Parish Outreach office and they immediately took her and her son in and provided them with food and shelter until she was able to find a job and a decent place to stay. (For the record, this woman is not Catholic and nor did anyone try to convert her).

Quite frankly, I find that the church, in many cases, in many areas are often much better and more efficient at aiding those in need of help than governments and municipalities could ever dream of being.

You stating that "all religious people do is pray" shows that you are a bit ignorant regarding what religious people actually do. I would only suggest that you do a little research that goes beyond the fantastical headlines of the media."

a reply to: JDmOKI

Me too

People sometimes call me a Christian apologist. Which is hilarious. I have had to formally debate them in college so sometimes I use their arguments that destroyed me in order to show a bad arguement. Then I get called an apologist.

a reply to: luthier

The way I see prayer is that if hoping for the best makes you feel better or helps you cope with a loss, go for it. I don't see any problem asking your personal creator of choice for guidance or for the well being of others. The average prayer has to be less then 10 mins.

a reply to: JDmOKI

I agree. Could care less what other people do as long as it doesn't effect everyone's else.

I think the op was just showing frustration as he was able to rationally admit that as well.

You apply the categorical imparitive and prayer doesn't come out negative.

When I hear the word "Pray"I always get the spelling confused with prey..i.e so called "religious" prey upon weak minded folk to convert them to their way of thinking..Btw I'm agnostic,and proud of it.

the god of christity was made to kill and steal land from palestine.
the good of islam was made to kill and bring back what was theirs.

if praying to your fellow american soldiers to hope they come back, thats when you're in also the wrong.
if musliums who were wrongfully treated and had their land stolen, then they should be in the right.

if you think praying (on any party) is bad, think about what you are currently doing. you're asking for christians to exorcise you from the 'demons' you have, in by that, they pray.

since you're an atheist why should you worry about them killing each other? in the end, dont you '"believe"' in nothing?
if that is true, then you have faith in a non-existence afterlife. why you care if religious people kill themselves?
if you aren't doing anything wrong, at least make it right. just think
they go to hell for that lack of love they send.
you go to..... wherever the heck you want to after this life.

trust me, those who say they are jews and are not, will be sent to hell. a jew is not outwardly, but inwardly.

a reply to: mOjOm

Actually, I use it as a tool of self-reflection as much as anything. What did I do today that I should maybe rethink or seek forgiveness for from others? What things should I seek to do better in the future?

And when you say seeking outside myself ... well, another way to look at it is a form of letting go. I recognize that some things are simply outside my control and prayer helps me to understand this and let go of it, so it doesn't directly worry me by making me seek to try to control things I can't.

You can look down on me all you want for believing this is in the hands of higher power, but the effect is what matters. I am less stressed in my day to day because it's not mine to worry about.

star and flag for post,couldn,t have put it better myself but still people have to believe

what is it they say on here,no proof then no story and if you ask me that applies here,theres absolutely no proof,just a story we,r programed to believe.

I'm agnostic. I'm very skeptical of the notion of an intelligent creator, as well as of prayer or focused intention. I simply have yet to see any compelling evidence, so while open to the possibility, I am skeptical.

That said, I'm also very skeptical of our existences having any meaning whatsoever, of "love" being anything more than neurotransmitters, hormones, and behavior, of us having free will at all except in an illusory context, and of there being any point to anything short of maybe laying down, doing nothing, and waiting for death. I simply have yet to see any compelling evidence, so while open to the possibility, I am skeptical.

Yet... people pray every day. Likewise, people get up every day and live their lives as though anything they're doing matters, and love the people they love as though that's a real, meaningful thing beyond just neurology and behavior. Most, even staunch atheists, without even realizing they're doing it, do ascribe "love" some degree of magical, mystical meaning. They love their children, they love their spouses, they love their parents, and they believe this means something more than just empty meat and chemicals and electrical pulses, because it subjectively feels like it does unless they stop to question it or defy their natural tendencies... just like it feels subjectively intuitive to those of religious or spiritual inclination to infer the existence of a creator or spirit unless they stop and question it or defy their natural tendencies.

All human behavior is natural. That subsumes and includes religiosity and belief in the mystical. Since before we were drawing pictures on cave walls and dying beads, we were imbuing things with meaning that, intrinsically, have none save for their utility to us. It is our natural, inherent nature to create and assign meaning. To each other, to activities, to ideas, to images, to symbols, to systems, to ideologies, etc. They are all equally contrived and arbitrary at the end of the day, consequent to our neurology and behavior and needs and wants.

The universe is vast, cold, and dark. And it will be darker and colder as eons pass. Earth is a surging, writing heap of organic competing entities vying for survival with time-limited, finite resources. Horrible, atrocious things most of us never think about happen every second on this planet. Unspeakable, unimaginable things have happened to someone somewhere while you've been reading this. For all its occasional pleasantries, beauty, creativity, and harmony, it is ultimately chaotic and violent and terrible if we're honest about it.

All of that simply to say:

If people want to pray, with the exception of when it's for even more suffering, or when it prevents actually acting... let them pray. It might not do any good, but provided those two conditions are met at least... it can't do any harm. Other than - arguably - to people's grasp of reality. Which none of us really has anyway ultimately. We just like to think we do.

I'm not religious, and I'm skeptically agnostic. Nevertheless, I pray myself, in my own way, in private, for my own purposes. I have no clue if it matters at all. But it's not hurting anything, and it makes me feel better. Which is the only reason any of us do anything, whether we want to admit it or not.

Your illusion isn't better than my illusion isn't better than their illusion. Thus, I say let it be.

Peace.

Now how about We address this from another angle?

Now let Us call these prayer sessions "Directed Meditation" and let Us 'ass/u/me' that the leader of the Prayer Session is a learned man of the cloth and He is able to "log in"..

Now that this "leader" has made a connection He then directs the prayers. He starts out by saying words to the effect "Let us think about those killed or maimed in combat..." This then has all those in attendance thinking of murder and mayhem.. So When the prayers are 'read' they show that war is wanted, not hardly ever do these Prayer Leaders ever talk about anything positive...

Of course I'm just typing this to further the conversation as I'd really dislike a bunch of folks I don't know or will ever meet think I'm weird.. hahahaha

namaste

P.S. If'n Y'all could at least move Your cell phone to vibrate as to not disrupt the Prayer/Call to Arms? Thanks

a reply to: DumpMaster

One group is right and the other wrong. If it was the same religion then the problem is even worse.

originally posted by: luthier
a reply to: DumpMaster

You just made a very similar thread a couple days ago.

Prayer is a version of meditation. Meditation has been proven to be beneficial. Prayer as far as a magical power sure I can say its pretty big stretch. There are literally all kinds of prayers Tibetan Budhists have prayers. They stop you from texting and slow down your thoughts with a mantra.

Could it be to a doorknob and be effective probably. But relax it's harmless

If it is harmless or not depend on the practitioner but normally the people who are advanced have a very advanced view on objective morality and do not break the golden rule since they are aware of the cost to themselves. I am not one of the very advanced ones.

Reiki (laying of hands) is when it is real a energy redistribution tool that can relax the biological body causing micro vibrations that manifests as tingles/heat and cold in the body. These energy distribution do cause placebo effect healing but how effective it is, is still for me not quantified (a mystery that can be solved by observation/science). And if it is manipulation on the nerve system or on the quantum level inside the cell connected to microtubules need to be clarified/quantified by science.

With the right sound treatment the placebo effect increases.
www.quantumconsciousness.org...

a reply to: LittleByLittle

Maybe.