On the lunacy of prayer

[slartibartfast]

Nobody ever prays just so others can see/hear them pray. That's stupid. This is a delusion you made up to justify your lack of faith.

Now that's a delusion.  In fact, I began to consider this before I ever thought about leaving the church.  Excessive showiness in religion has little to do with actual faith.  In some churches it's expected that attendants behave as if they are possessed or inhabited by the spirit of Jesus to demonstrate their faith.  I've had lengthy conversations about this with actual members (again when I was a full on believing Southern Baptist myself).  In fact, this is just one of the many, many problems that eventually led me away from belief in Jesus.  Just so many irrational and indefensible problems.  To some degree, many, probably most, Christians use prayer in this way, to communicate or demonstrate to other people, Christians and non-Christians alike, whether they do this consciously or not doesn't matter.  Prayer in the Catholic church has for a very long time been largely an act of theater, with the clergy carefully plotting and researching the right material for a prayer.  For important occasions they are for all practical purposes well written and rehearsed productions.  I'm not going to discount the act of private prayer, but it just demonstrates the fact that the need to pray publicly is clear evidence that Christians want others to witness them praying.

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We should start bashing people who pray in public the way they bash gay couples for holding hands.

I'm not advocating anything of the sort so you can unwad your panties.  But of course your ignorant comment only buttresses my assertion.  Gay couples most certainly hold hands in public with the intent on being seen and are proud of it.  I'm happy for them and if people want to pray in public I'm fine with that as well, but it does not harm to point out why they do it.

Ever consider that gay couples hold hands in public simply because they want to hold hands, not because they want other people who might disagree with their sexuality to notice and rile them up? Do you and your wife / husband / partner hold hands in public with the intent of being seen?