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Post by Magnizeal on May 6, 2009 13:59:34 GMT -5
I kinda do. I was raised pretty fundie, and really believed it, so the quick things like "Oh God let her be okay" are more or less habit to me now. On the other hand, I tend to do more "Oh gods, let her be okay!" these days, and that's usually followed by a "Oh, right. There's no-one to pray to..." a moment later. It's usually when I'm falling asleep or otherwise not able to actively help right now. Some times I turn it around and pray to Primus... who I freely confess is imaginary. Actually, I'm more likely to pray to Unicron, or other fictional 'bad deities'. It seems like they'd be far more willing to help... if they were, you know, real.
On the other hand, I still have a very active fantasy life and can make shopping a grand quest for treasure. So... maybe you want some salt?
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Post by Jedi Knight on May 6, 2009 15:01:22 GMT -5
Anyway, I don't think that I pray. I don't make any conscious effort to pray. If I were in a foxhole I'd hope for my safety and I would probably express that hope in words, but to me I'd still be an atheist in a foxhole. But others would say that I pray, according to their definition of prayer. That! I may express hopes and wishes out loud when noone's listening. But that's the point! Noone's listening, and I can't bring myself too imagine someone is, and there is certainly noone answering. Of course, this expressed hoping and wishing may be reminiscent of prayer and basic magic, and certainly confused with them. The difference is whether you believe it may have some actual effect, and personally I don't do faith.
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Dio Fa
New Member
Forgive me Lord for I got caught
Posts: 43
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Post by Dio Fa on May 6, 2009 15:01:57 GMT -5
As a child, I either prayed for something to happen or for something not to happen, when I was anxious about a situation.
The result would almost always be the exact opposite of what I prayed for. Eventually, I gave up praying altogether when I could stop feeling guilty about not praying.
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Post by Tiger on May 6, 2009 15:28:48 GMT -5
I never really did. I said the Lord's Prayer every night as a way of showing God how devoted to him I was, but I always figured that since God a. had this big plan for all of us and b. knew everything I needed before I asked, that praying wasn't going to have much effect.
Now I'm an atheist who's read the studies that have been done on prayer, so I know that praying won't have much effect.
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Post by shiftyeyes on May 6, 2009 15:47:11 GMT -5
I occasionally have an undirected hope/wish such as "please don't let the test be difficult" but I don't consider that prayer as there is no entity I direct it at. On other occasions, when there is a situation I want to go a certain way that I have no control over, I may do something good that I have control over in an attempt to score some Karma points. I don't believe it actually does anything, but the illusion of control is nice.
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Post by Sigmaleph on May 6, 2009 16:32:36 GMT -5
Like many others, I do sometimes express hope as if I was making a request, in the "Please let this thing happen/not happen" sense. But I don't really believe there's some mystical entity that devotes itself to listening my thoughts and will alter reality just because I ask. So, I reckon it's the same basic instinct for prayer, but it's not prayer in itself, and I don't expect it to do anything.
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Post by incognito on May 6, 2009 16:50:13 GMT -5
I did a couple times when i was younger, then when none of it worked, i gave up.
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Post by Vypernight on May 6, 2009 20:34:56 GMT -5
When I was a Catholic, I used to pray nearly every night. These prayers included the usual prayers we recited every day in Catholic School, followed by asking God either to help someone sick or in need or to take care of someone who had recently died.
Now, I just meditate, which might be how some approach prayer, but not all.
For some, I can see why prayer is important to them. Last year, when one of my coworkers thought she might be pregnant, another coworker said she was praying for it to happen. I was going to point out that, at this point, the prayers would be too late anyways, but I remained silent since she's a sweet lady, and I respect her beliefs.
The times I think prayer is stupid is when people pray for things like sporting events, as if God is going to take one side or another (unless it's hockey over other sports). I have to fight from laughing out loud when I hear a boxer thanking God for giving him the power to punch a dent in another man's face.
Finally, I do get annoyed when people project their judgments into their prayers;
"Please, God, make the abortion doctor get hit by a truck."
"Jesus, please cause a hurricane to hit the heathen church so that gay couple won't marry."
As I said, I have no problem with people praying in general, except in the above two cases.
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Post by BenderBRodriguez on May 6, 2009 20:43:18 GMT -5
What The L said.
I do it occasionally after I've exhausted all other options and even then I feel pretty useless.
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Post by Sigmaleph on May 6, 2009 21:39:25 GMT -5
Finally, I do get annoyed when people project their judgments into their prayers; "Please, God, make the abortion doctor get hit by a truck." I have a slightly different problem with prayers like that and it's this: if you really believe that praying works, praying for someone to die is essentially attempted murder.
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Post by CtraK on May 6, 2009 21:44:14 GMT -5
I prey regularly. But prayer, rarely if ever.
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Post by Paradox on May 7, 2009 1:43:05 GMT -5
Prayer is not magic. When I pray, I ask God for strength to do what I need to do. Things aren't just going to magically happen. If there is a God, and I think that there is, He doesn't seem to be zapping people's problems. It's up to us to get things done.
Some fundies seem to treat prayer like black magic. I recall a pastor who prayed for the deaths of the leaders of Americans United for Seperation of Church and State (who are themselves Christians, and damn fine men at that, but apparently they're not Real True Christians (TM)). I half expected the fuckwit to be dancing around a boiling cauldron chanting in rhyme or some shit like that. I'll have to tell you guys about the Magic Jesus Prayer some time. I can rant on that for hours.
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Post by lunarxero on May 7, 2009 3:50:47 GMT -5
I don't think I've ever prayed in my life. I say things like 'for gods sake' and all that but I'm never actually directing it to anyone or anything. Like 'please don't rain'. It's like me screaming at my computer 'don't you fuck up on me!' I don't actually think it will work but it feels good.
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Post by alwimo on May 7, 2009 4:17:55 GMT -5
I say things like 'for gods sake' and all that but I'm never actually directing it to anyone or anything. Like 'please don't rain'. It's like me screaming at my computer 'don't you fuck up on me!' I don't actually think it will work but it feels good. I can't think of any times that I even do that. It's probably happened (and I'd be surprised if it hasn't) but it wouldn't be very often at all.
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Post by Deimos on May 7, 2009 5:13:59 GMT -5
I do more of a meditation thing and wish for positive energies when I feel like like. Sort of like prayer, but pagan-esque
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