New atheism is of course nothing new. What may be "new" is the vitriol and borderline hatred that is expressed and encouraged by people like Richard Dawkins and others.
On another thread the opinion was expressed that religious people should be put in institutions for rehabilitation and their children taken away. Now, this is surely an extreme position (with good and decent motives) but it does not arise in a vacuum. It is the extreme of a tide already present in our society.
There are times when extremes become the accepted position of the majority. Fear and economic depression may cause the majority to jump on any band wagon that offers relief...even the oppression of people who have nothing to do with the problems at hand.
Prayer is a religious act. People are free to ridicule prayer. The religious are free to continue to pray. It must remain this way if we are to have a free society where each individual is free to believe or not believe. The majority must be willing to support freedom of religion otherwise what other freedoms will be at risk once that freedom is taken away?
So much for the political point of view.
-----The topic is the stupidity of prayer.-----
I can see where it may seem that way to those who do not believe.
If God exists then prayer is an attempt to communicate with a power, an intelligence, greater than ourselves.
SETI is attempting to communicate with advanced intelligent life somewhere in the universe. NASA has sent out our address and other information about us into space. Yet, they have never spoken to, or visibly seen, intelligent alien life. But no matter, they feel it must be out there and so the search continues.
There are some who believe in the possibility of parallel universes. Others believe that traveling at the speed of light can effect time itself. They are respected scientists who command the respect of many though no one has seen, or been in touch with, a parallel universe or has traveled as fast as light to check out the effects for themselves. But they trust their calculations and "see" though they do not see.
But when it comes to a search for God- an intelligent life which is not of this world and lives not on our physical plane but on another plane, perhaps a parallel plane not observed by our senses. A place free from time itself. A place and time which have had their own calculations in the ancient past...their own sightings... visible proof is expected.
God, unlike alien life or parallel universes or speed/time effects, is expected by unbelievers to provide visible proof of his existence. This makes sense because the God of the Bible requires something of men. If NASA should receive a radio signal that claims to be from a powerful intelligent alien life and they demand that all wars on earth cease and all weapons destroyed or there will be a price to pay- no wars will cease, no weapons will be destroyed. The natural response from the nations would be "show us your cards first" then maybe we'll talk.
It's the same with God. He must "show his cards" before all mankind will believe he exists.
This is logical, natural.
Frank
