praying to...

[waitasec]

That's your belief and you have a right to it, as I do to mine. With that, I'm off this Mobius strip.

it has nothing to do with belief...this has to do with the way things are.
prayer, imo...i'll give you that...gives one a sense of undue importance...
and why would anyone want to justify that to themselves? we are all in the same boat, aren't we?

 

[Quagmire]

Why don't you look at the sky on a sunny day?

How do you know you aren't strapped to a hospital bed somewhere imagining all of this?

 

[confused453]

How do you know you aren't strapped to a hospital bed somewhere imagining all of this?

It's possible, but extremely improbable.

 

[confused453]

Sometimes I wonder if prayer comes from ignorance.
"I don't know why my village got flooded, or destroyed by volcano eruption, and I'm extremely terrified. Therefore, I'll try to establish communication with whoever rules the water, or whoever rules the fire". 1000 years in the future: "The water and fire gods do not listen, and don't care about people. But I heard there's this single God who loves people and answers the prayers". The village gets destroyed again. And the answer given by the church (filthy rich) rulers. "Do not despair, god is only testing your faith"....

 

[Quagmire]

It's possible, but extremely improbable.

Why/how is it improbable?

 

[Quagmire]

Sometimes I wonder if prayer comes from ignorance.
"I don't know why my village got flooded, or destroyed by volcano eruption, and I'm extremely terrified. Therefore, I'll try to establish communication with whoever rules the water, or whoever rules the fire". 1000 years in the future: "The water and fire gods do not listen, and don't care about people. But I heard there's this single God who loves people and answers the prayers". The village gets destroyed again. And the answer given by the church (filthy rich) rulers. "Do not despair, god is only testing your faith"....

Well, you've made it as far as the Middle Ages. . .

 

[ChristineES]

Sometimes I wonder if prayer comes from ignorance.
"I don't know why my village got flooded, or destroyed by volcano eruption, and I'm extremely terrified. Therefore, I'll try to establish communication with whoever rules the water, or whoever rules the fire". 1000 years in the future: "The water and fire gods do not listen, and don't care about people. But I heard there's this single God who loves people and answers the prayers". The village gets destroyed again. And the answer given by the church (filthy rich) rulers. "Do not despair, god is only testing your faith"....

We see things differently than you. Two people are going to have a totally different outlook on the same events. Natural disasters happen- we just pick up the pieces and move on- whether we believe in God or don't believe in God. A theist's different belief is that God is there to help us rebuild and pick up the pieces . But, no matter if a person is a theist or atheist, life will go on.
I talk to God through prayer- that is it's purpose for me. I am repeating myself when saying that prayer will have different purposes for different people. :shout

 

[waitasec]

We see things differently than you. Two people are going to have a totally different outlook on the same events. Natural disasters happen- we just pick up the pieces and move on- whether we believe in God or don't believe in God. A theist's different belief is that God is there to help us rebuild and pick up the pieces . But, no matter if a person is a theist or atheist, life will go on.

funny how that works.

I talk to God through prayer- that is it's purpose for me. I am repeating myself when saying that prayer will have different purposes for different people. :shout

imo, prayer is a chance to reflect...
even non theists reflect.

 

[Quagmire]

funny how that works.



imo, prayer is a chance to reflect...
even non theists reflect.

I was always told that non-theists didn't have reflections.

(jk)

 

[The Sum of Awe]

I was always told that non-theists didn't have reflections.

(jk)

That's only because we don't come out in the light :bat:

 

[waitasec]

I was always told that non-theists didn't have reflections.

(jk)

hee hee

:dracula:

 

[The Sum of Awe]

hee hee

:dracula:

Dang, I was looking for a vampire smiley, ahh well

 

[confused453]

Why/how is it improbable?

Because I would sense it. And others would confirm it.

 

[Quagmire]

Because I would sense it. And others would confirm it.

If you're strapped to a hospital bed in a state of delirium, or if you're in a coma, how would you "sense it", and what "others" would there be to confirm it?

 

[confused453]

If you're strapped to a hospital bed in a state of delirium, or if you're in a coma, how would you "sense it", and what "others" would there be to confirm it?

I don't see a reason to care, since I don't have a way to verify your claim. And if this is true, then you are not a real person, and just a fragment of my imagination.

​

 

[Quagmire]

I don't see a reason to care, since I don't have a way to verify your claim. And if this is true, then you are not a real person, and just a fragment of my imagination.

Of course I'm just a fragment of your imagination. I mean, duh. Look around you: does any of this really make sense to you?

Take the "internet" for instance, I mean, come on: "Hi! We're going to take everything in the world and turn it into light beams that we can shoot out into space where they'll just happen to bounce offa these big shiny metal things that just kind of hang there in mid air, and then these beams of light will ricochet offa these metal things and somehow wind up landing inside these boxes on peoples desks that'll turn them back into pictures, and music, and words where everybody in the world has complete control over them and can watch/listen/read them all at the same time".

I mean, really now. Where did you come up with that one? And why did you call it the "internet"?

I'm embarrassed to be one of your fragments.

 

[confused453]

Of course
I mean, really now. Where did you come up with that one? And why did you call it the "internet"?
I'm embarrassed to be one of your fragments.

This only proves that this world is real and I'm real, and you're real. Because I never created any of that stuff. It all comes down to evolution of civilization. Some of us refuse the change, some accept it. What are you going to say when extraterrestrials arrive with their ideas and dogmas, and when humans will be able to genetically modify their bodies as they see fit? I think it's only a matter of time