Praying for an Athiest

[EvianBaby]

I have thought long and hard about venturing into this topic as I usually do my best to avoid it but I would be interested to hear others thoughts on something.

If as an athiest, you (or someone close to you) became ill, how would you feel about someone religious saying they will be praying for you?

Would you take any comfort from it or would you be annoyed/offended by it and maybe even ask them not to?

Or as someone with religion, would you pray for someone even if you knew they were athiest? Would it make any difference to you?

I'd really appreciate it if answers could just be kept to personal opinions on the question and avoid any arguments over who's right and who's wrong, etc.

Thanks!

[mibn2cweus]

//dave, sith has it right, muslims do not agree with suicide. but they do agree with martyrdom. and self-death whilst killing infidels is ok.//

Martyrdom . . . be careful what you pray for.

[FranticTraveller]

If we were to remove the words 'religion' and 'G-d' from the equation, yet we're directing our thoughts towards an individual, might the affirmation of a 'connectivity' with others be beneficial? Some scientists and physicians believe so.

Well-being is often derived from emotional support. Emotional support provides comfort, ergo, calm or peace and when we are within that circle we undoubtedly are capable of feeling better. Feeling better allows the body , when it can, to heal.

This is more of a rhetorical thought. Personally, I indeed would pray for anyone I felt compelled to - the vehicle that carries that will can be called anything one chooses - the name is only a word, but the power behind it to this day remains a mystery.

Even a Bible passage paraphrased alludes to this - 'I lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help...' Then the writer states '...My help cometh from the Lord.'

And from an entirely different perspective I suppose you could run up to the bed of a dying atheist and shout as they're taking their last breath 'Na Na Na Na Na Na, I said a prayer for you and there's nothing you can do about it!'

The great psychoanalyst Carl Jung, as well as Sigmond Freud closely studied the science of 'connectivity.' Dr Jung stated that the science was such that he could not discount the fact there was an anomaly to the statement there is no ability for people to connect. He died with those very notes being on his desk.

If we interject humour into it, I remember the story of the late WC Fields, an avowed disbeliever. His agent came to visit Mr Fields when he was dying and was surprised to find him sitting in a chair with an open Bible in his lap. Shocked, his agent asked 'Bill, what are you doing with a Bible> You're an atheist!' To which Mr Fields replied in his inimitable style, 'I'm trying to cover all bets!'

Finally, if I 'were' to find myself compelled to pray for an atheist, whether requested or not, I suspect my prayer would be that the individual did not leave this world alone or frightened.

[sith123]

yes naomi, i would say god. Just as you would say its not god. Is that a fact? how do you know there is no god, yet you still cling on to saying there is no god, hence i can say there is.

[naomi24]

FranticTraveller, //the name is only a word//

Why won't you type 'God' in full then? Are you Jewish?

Sith, I don't say there is no God. I say I doubt very much that a God exists. What I don't do is attribute one unknown to another, which is what you're doing. How can you possibly say 'God is responsible' when you don't know if your God exists?

[sandyRoe]

Is it haraam for Jewish people to mention the name ?

[naomi24]

That's an odd way to put it Sandy, but yes, for strictly observant Jews, I believe it is.

[jomifl]

Sith , it could be argued that taking medecines shows to god that you do not have faith in him, so he will let you die out of pure godly spite. On the other hand if as you say, everything is made by god then even 'non-natural' things are made by god so taking them should cure you. Drawing a distinction between 'natural' ingredients and others is a bit naive as neither of the two extremes actually exist, they are just concepts, like god.

[FranticTraveller]

Naomi - No,I'm not.

Sandy, it bears the same observance as might a Muslim mention 'The Prophet' then PBUH -

Rgds

[naomi24]

FranticTraveller, so if not Jewish, what? Despite your 'PBUH', you don't strike me as Muslim.

[maggiebee]

If I heard someone was ill, had hit hard times, had problems of any kind in fact then I would pray for them. It doesn't matter to me if they are Christian, Muslim or Bumbee Tartan - they are human beings. It might not do any good, but then it certainly can't do any harm. I would get some comfort from the thought that others were praying for me.

[FranticTraveller]

Naomi - Nope. Not Muslim either.

Maggie - here here! Well done. Boils down to that old psychological mantra: How I see it, How you see it, and the way it really is! We each do what we're driven to do. And if someone doesn't like it, then they should just step off our part of the planet.

[naomi24]

^^ Oh gawd! Another one!

[seadogg]

It depends on what you mean by praying for someone. The same sentence "I will pray for you" could mean entirely different things according to the kind od emphasis the speaker put into it. It has been said to me in a vindictive manner by a disgruntled evangelist at the door. It has also been said in entirely different circumstances with no offence.

What I do know is that there are better ways of helping people in trouble.

[flobadob]

You would be a real doosh to stop someone from praying for you. They are not hurting anyone even if technically they are not helping anyone either. However, I also feel that you don't know how you'd react to a situation until you are placed in one, myself included. I pretty much am sure that there is no God but I can't 100% say that I won't change my mind nearer my time of death or whatever and I think anyone who says otherwise are slightly deluding themselves, most likely behind the anonymous mask that is the internet.

On a different note EvianBaby you should never worry about venturing into this topic as at the end of the day, it's the night. Also "I before E except after C" does not apply with atheist. I used to do that all the time too.

[EvianBaby]

Ha ha Flob, I cant believe its taken 94 posts for someone to point that out :)

I dont really undersand whats going on in here most of the time, i was just interested on peoples thoughts on this.

[flobadob]

EvianBaby, Ive been on this site and this section for years now, both asking questions and answering them. It probably runs into the hundreds. But my point is, that not once can I remember anyone coming out of a debate having changed their mind nor their beliefs, not once. So post your questions and put your points forward but don't expect to change the world.

[ladybirder]

It must be very tiring to endlessly attempt to get closed minded people to be objective and look at the facts instead of clinging to their fear-based beliefs.

[RATTER15]

One pair of hands working will do far more than a million hands clasped in prayer.

[naomi24]

Flob, there is one person that I know of on AB whose beliefs have been changed by these debates - and that person has now found peace of mind.

[flobadob]

Naomi, did you ever see the Life of Brian scene when they are having a meeting of the Judean People's Front and John Cleese is saying "There's not one person here who would not gladly die for the cause", then someone pipes up "Ah, there's one" and then John Cleese goes "What, oh that's right, there's one". That just reminded me of that for some reason. We watched The Holy Grail the other day so I must stick on Life of Brian soon.