God thread

[disappoint]

What's up with people who pray? Do they really think they have any business telling God what to do?

Let me get this straight. They know fuck all about how the universe works considering their education largely stems from a 2000+ year old textbook and they have the arrogance to tell what they believe to be the creator of the universe what to do?

Are these people delusional or what?

 

[soulcougher73]

What's up with people who pray? Do they really think they have any business telling God what to do?

Let me get this straight. They know fuck all about how the universe works considering their education largely stems from a 2000+ year old textbook and they have the arrogance to tell what they believe to be the creator of the universe what to do?

Are these people delusional or what?

Yes. In before lock.

 

[SlowSpyder]

My sister is a born again Christian. She only prays for things that have a good chance of happening anyway... like she called on a bill she couldn't afford and found out that it was mostly an error, she only had to pay a small percentage of what she was billed. To her, that is a miracle, that's the type of thing God can provide. But I've noticed that, even though she and others claim prayer works, they only pray for that type of thing - something that has a good chance of happening anyway. No one ever prays for laser eyes, the ability to fly, etc. Even though the bible says you can do anything, move mountains. I guess God is fairly limited in what he can provide afterall..?

 

[JM Aggie08]

IBTL.

 

[Pardus]

What's up with people who pray? Do they really think they have any business telling God what to do?

Let me get this straight. They know fuck all about how the universe works considering their education largely stems from a 2000+ year old textbook and they have the arrogance to tell what they believe to be the creator of the universe what to do?

Are these people delusional or what?

 

[Mixolydian]

:thumbsup:

 

[SamQuint]

I know your trolling but...

you assume people only pray to ask their chosen God for something. They also pray to praise their chosen God or to thank their chosen God for what they have.

 

[JM Aggie08]

Your points are both original and are very in-depth, OP.

 

[dabuddha]

What if he was one of us? hmm? What about it?

 

[AstroManLuca]

IBL

 

[disappoint]

I know your trolling but...

you assume people only pray to ask their chosen God for something. They also pray to praise their chosen God or to thank their chosen God for what they have.

Not trolling, why would you think it's trolling? It's a legitimate question. So many people around the world do it, do they stop to think about what they are doing and why?

Your second point about praising God. Why would God need praise? Is God so insecure that he needs you to tell him he's doing ok? It's like a human feeling better about himself because some ants built a shrine to him and praise him.

All I'm saying is prayer doesn't make sense. I'm not saying there is no God, just that prayer doesn't make sense to me so I hope someone can explain why they do it.

 

[disappoint]

What if he was one of us? hmm? What about it?

Sadly if certain people ever found out they'd probably try to kill him. They already did that with what they thought was his kid.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

you assume people only pray to ask their chosen God for something. They also pray to praise their chosen God or to thank their chosen God for what they have.

1) Only to a limited degree. The thanks and praise are mixed in with the requests.

2) The people who praise are doing it for a reason, sucking up. They believe in the jealous, insecure, needy version of god whose ass needs to be kissed constantly. They're trading that praise in exchange for something they want, reward in the afterlife. It's all just a shell game, they're screaming "GIMME GIMME GIMME!!!" in a slightly different way, but the message is the same. Just greed by a different name.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Not trolling, why would you think it's trolling? It's a legitimate question. So many people around the world do it, do they stop to think about what they are doing and why?

Your second point about praising God. Why would God need praise? Is God so insecure that he needs you to tell him he's doing ok? It's like a human feeling better about himself because some ants built a shrine to him and praise him.

All I'm saying is prayer doesn't make sense. I'm not saying there is no God, just that prayer doesn't make sense to me so I hope someone can explain why they do it.

The answer to all your questions is because it makes them feel better.

/thread

 

[exdeath]

We are all just descendants of a terraforming interplanetary super weapon with bio-genesis capabilites that crash landed on our planet 10,000 years ago...

 

[crashtestdummy]

Note that I'm an atheist, and so have only an outsiders perspective on this.

I feel there are two important but separate elements at play, one social and the other theological. The social aspect is more well-defined. While prayer can be private, it is very often a public action. Families pray together, people pray in churches/mosques/synagogues/temples, people announce that they're praying ("I'll pray for you"/"You're in my prayers"). In these instances, prayer acts as a way to gain recognition of your situation/problems/beliefs.

An example in Judaism (in which I have the most experience), every service has the Mourner's Kaddish towards the end, where those grieving stand and offer a prayer for their loved ones that passed. In doing so, the rest of the congregation is made aware of their grief and knows to comfort them. It's actually an ingenious and unobtrusive way to accomplish that (much better than going around telling everyone you just lost a relative).

The theological aspect is a little trickier, but I never bought the "God doesn't care" idea. Think of it this way: most monotheistic religions believe in a god that is:

• Omnipotent
• Omniscient
• Benevolent

If you truly believe all of these, then it really doesn't matter how insignificant the topic is. God will have a part in it. Furthermore, if it is benevolent, it won't want any harm to those who are good. Where prayer always strikes me as a little misplaced is with the omniscience. If God does see everything, then there's no need to call it attention to any of your problems. It already knows you have them.

 

[Dirigible]

But I've noticed that, even though she and others claim prayer works, they only pray for that type of thing - something that has a good chance of happening anyway. No one ever prays for laser eyes, the ability to fly, etc. Even though the bible says you can do anything, move mountains. I guess God is fairly limited in what he can provide afterall..?

1) I prayed for that stuff.
2) God is not limited in what he provides, turns out.
3) Don't mess with me.

 

[Mxylplyx]

When I was a kid I closed my eyes and prayed really, really hard for a million dollars.

God disappointed me, which I guess is understandable. I also prayed that my grandfather wouldn't die, and surprisingly he screwed me on that too.

I can appreciate religion as a tool of social cohesion and a way of motivating people to charity, even if I do think it's mostly bullshit. It's about time it step into the modern age though.

 

[JD50]

What if he was one of us? hmm? What about it?

Like a stranger on a bus perhaps?