by Eh 33 Replies latest jw friends
I would pray, but no one is there, it's a pointless exercise in futility, and I rather waste my time doing something else.
But if by chance someone did answer, I would check myself into the psych ward.
So either way, I'm screwed. If god actually responded, I wouldn't believe it was him anyways.
No prayer for me, I'm afraid. I can talk to myself by name.
I should probably point out that I get a bit of a bad 'tude when people evangelize to me. Especially if they don't think I know they're evangelizing at the time. Ahem.
No offense, but I think you know where my suspicions lie on comments questions like that.
IsaacJ
It is obviously pointless for atheists to pray to someone they believe does not exist, it would be a waste of time and energy so I can't see them doing it, it would be an oxymoron.
We do the traditional candle lighting and Sabbath prayers on Friday evening in our home. The prayers are Jewish tradition. Do I think the prayers make it to heaven to be heard by a personal creator? No.
For people who left, not only the organization, but also the Canaanite/Judaic/Christian/Islamic/Bahai God, do you still pray?
It's very ingrained in me, praying. I left the Tower in 83 but fooled around with the bible till about 2004. Then I realized that God drops the ball on a lot of my big prayers. And if you take God out of the picture all together many of the things I ask for have a 50/50 chance of coming to be. At least from a yes or no perspective. The scriptures infer as part of their confusion that anything you ask for will be granted. I can tell you that aint so. So if one scripture is wrong, they might as well all be wrong.
I still find myself from time to time asking god for things, particularly a positive outcome on a daily situation.
Sometimes I call the prayer reciever God, Jesus, or power of the universe.
I consider myself an agnostic, because in my mind no one can know. I have extreme doubt about Jesus and the bible probably 99% barring some extreme mental malfunction on my part that I figure a loving god would have to forgive.
I'm technically agnostic, with a very very slight tilt towards deism, but most worshipers in the Abrahamic tradition would consider me an atheist because I don't believe in Abraham's god (or at least I don't believe in its divinity.)
Nevertheless my wife and kids believe in Jehovah. They expect prayers and meals and before bedtime, and while I am pretty lousy at it I still do it because it is expected of me. I rationalize it this way: it would be very disturbing to them if I stopped, and that kind of shock makes my wife LESS likely to eventually leave the Society, not more.
And also, prayer does "work" in a way, even if no one is listening. Let me explain. Prayer essentially boils down to two basic forms: praise/thanks (god you're really great, thanks for the wombats) and supplication (god please give me a new robot wife).
When one gives thanks, one is taking a moment to appreciate their blessings. Appreciating and enumerating one's blessings is a healthy activity that combats depression and prevents people from taking the good things in their lives for granted. It results in better mental health and a better outlook on life. If prayer is a vehicle for my family to accomplish these goals (and even for me, whether I believe someone's listening or notm) then fine.
When one supplicates, one asks for things to happen. This is a harder sell for me as being in any way useful. Usually Witnesses ask for things like "please help us to not be persecuted, please help brother so and so get better, please make paradise come faster". These topics aren't worth a hill of beans to me. But perhaps praying for better personal behavior, for better mental health, for better relationships--in other words, personal topics--does some good. Perhaps this helps the person praying to self-actualize these topics, to keep them on their mind and in the forefront of their personal development.
I don't know. I don't pray for myself, ever. But it seems to do my family some good.
Hi, no I never pray. I would feel a hypocrite for doing so. I don't know whether anyone is there. I prayed to escape my abusive husband, and I ended up doing it myself. Praying about it didn't give the motivation to leave, the motivation I got from elsewhere.
I don't think about God. I plan for tomorrow, I think about today. I remember the good things about the past. I enjoy life, but if I died tomorrow I wouldn't care about what happened to me.
"The body is but an empty shell" Klingon saying
rose petal
I never prayed. I always felt praying was ridiculous and my father made it seem even more so. During field service, we may stop for coffee or lunch. Wherever we were, he has to pray before we eat. Always embarrassing.
I am an athiest, and no, I do not pray.
Who would I pray to?
If He is there, he can read my heart and knows why I don't believe anymore.
I have good reasons.
Well put Buddy.
