Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyboosh
Surely you're not simply praying that god will do what he was gong to do anyway and that what he wills be done, that seems a little pointless. The net result is the same as if you hadn't prayed at all. What do you believe happens when you pray to your god? Do you believe that prayer can actually change anything? If so, how?
A few people have already commented on prayer and I agree with a lot of it. One thing I will add is - The bible says that God does not will that anyone perish. With that in mind, why did Jesus send the twelve out to make disciples of their own? Why did Paul go to great lengths to spread the message of Christ? It is Gods will, after all, so by your logic, they don't need to do anything.
The thing I would emphasize the most is that prayer is more than just petitioning God for things (petition-prayer). Well named described this in one of his first posts itt.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyboosh
So if you were in a hospital in an Islamic country, and you asked your doctor 'will I be ok doc?', and he replied 'Insha'Allah, Insha'Allah', you would be content with that? It would worry me greatly that my doctor thinks my fate is in the hands of a god that I don't believe exists but for me, this applies to all religions, not just all of them but one.
Of course that would worry me, it should worry anyone. If I ask the doctor a medical question and he answers me by ignoring my question and replacing it with religious terminology, I would be worried because it is extremely unprofessional. If the same doctor would treat me professionally, and at the end add "Insha'Allah'" then it would not phase me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyboosh
I didn't say that I wanted a nurse fired. As for your praying for me, yes, it would be part of perpetuating a system of belief that I think our species would be better off without, so I would see it as a negative although you wouldn't be causing me any direct harm (depending on what you pray for of course).
It's your right to view religion as harmful, a lot of it is. It is also your right to refuse prayer and find it an irksome request. I can even concede that is your right to refuse a Christian doctor.
I disagree with your general view on religion. I believe you've constructed a strawman of sorts, to yourself, which you're constantly knocking down. It's easy to knock down this caricature, and you're sometimes right in doing so, but there are other times when you're not. You think religion is bad across the board, even just in principle, but you should be aware that this is just your opinion, and having such an opinion can be just as dangerous in it's own right.
I'll name one viewpoint as to give you a point of reference. There are some conservatives who don't believe in God, per se, but still support religion because they admire the values of the system. The principles of doing good to your neighbour, not stealing and being honest and so forth. This is not to say that the only way to have these values is to be a Christian, that's not the idea, but conversely, to knock the system that does support these values, can be seen as counter-productive. Some people even believe that religion was setup in the first place, to try to promote a more civilized society. That the point of it was for well-being. Anyway, just food for thought for you, I think you know by now where I stand, and I hope you know that I respect you.