What Is The Point Of Prayer?

[Silver]

To worship something is to greatly venerate a revere it.

And you would be making the semantic mistake of confusing religious worship with the secular definition of the same word.

[Captain Colostomy]

Erroneous statement. I worship nothing.

You will have something you revere in your life more than anything else. It can be person possibly. I don't mean Carl Sagan someone important to you personally.

Lets have a look at what Jesus himself said.

"Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Matthew 10:37

Now clearly here he was speaking with the authority of God. And he's telling his followers not to put anything before God.

It's asshole verses like the above that ruins families. Children get disowned for the most mundane things on the strength of a deluded mythman. And for what? Why is the rantings of a lunatic worth the sufferings imposed? Heaven?

Get the fuck outta here.

[CleanShavenJesus]

Erroneous statement. I worship nothing.

You will have something you revere in your life more than anything else. It can be person possibly. I don't mean Carl Sagan someone important to you personally.

Lets have a look at what Jesus himself said.

"Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Matthew 10:37

Now clearly here he was speaking with the authority of God. And he's telling his followers not to put anything before God.

Firstly, SoC, I'd like to thank you for not responding to my post. It lets me assume you had no counterargument.

Secondly, you bet your damn ass I'll put my love for my family over my love for a guy who didn't even exist. Your God's a pretty selfish dude.

[discipulus]

You will have something you revere in your life more than anything else. It can be person possibly. I don't mean Carl Sagan someone important to you personally.

Lets have a look at what Jesus himself said.

"Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Matthew 10:37

Now clearly here he was speaking with the authority of God. And he's telling his followers not to put anything before God.

Firstly, SoC, I'd like to thank you for not responding to my post. It lets me assume you had no counterargument.

Secondly, you bet your damn ass I'll put my love for my family over my love for a guy who didn't even exist. Your God's a pretty selfish dude.

How can a person that does not exist be selfish?

The person would have to exist in order to be selfish right?

[Silver]

How can a person that does not exist be selfish?

The person would have to exist in order to be selfish right?

When an atheist mentions god, he is mentioning the fictitious character from the boring fiction book that should be retitled The Unholy Babble.

The character does not have to be real to be discussed, just as countless people discuss Harry Potter and sparkling vampires.

[discipulus]

How can a person that does not exist be selfish?

The person would have to exist in order to be selfish right?

When an atheist mentions god, he is mentioning the fictitious character from the boring fiction book that should be retitled The Unholy Babble.

The character does not have to be real to be discussed, just as countless people discuss Harry Potter and sparkling vampires.

Ahh, yes, thank you for the clarification.

I will assume that the gentleman I was posing the question to will agree with your response.

I take issue with what you said however.

You said that when an atheist mentions god, they are specifically referring to the God of the Holy Bible which you believe should be retitled.

Since you are a writer, and no doubt pride yourself on being unambiguous in communicating with others when clarity is necessary for fruitful discourse, I am sure you realize that your statement is false.

[Silver]

I am sure you realize that your statement is false.

Not at all. An opinion can never be false.

[discipulus]

I am sure you realize that your statement is false.

Not at all.

Allow me to explain then, my fellow writer....

You stated that when an atheist mentions god, he is mentioning the fictitious character from the boring fiction book that should be retitled The Unholy Babble.

There are several reasons why this statement is not true.

1. You cannot possibly know what every atheist's conception and understanding of the word "god" is. This is knowledge you would have to possess in order for your statement to be true.

2. It is demonstrably false in that I can supply you with at least one quote from an atheist who understands "god" to refer to any supernatural entity, irrespective of a particular religious conceptualization.

To sum up, you would have been more accurate in stating that some atheists, or many atheists are mentioning the fictitious character from the boring fiction book that should be retitled The Unholy Babble when they mention god instead of atheists without a specifier.

Your statement was ambiguous and demonstrably false. Although I will be charitable and give you the benefit of the doubt when I say that I do not believe it was your aim to make such a broad and sweeping claim to knowledge as you have made. I will just take it as a mistake on your part.

I now see, you have edited your initial reply to include the statement that "an opinion can never be false".

Well now, how does this change things?

You are of the opinion that atheists are referring to the God of the Bible when they mention "god".

But not every atheist understands "god" to be the God of the Bible. So you are still wrong.

Saying something is your opinion does not mean that what you say cannot be false.

You can be of the opinion that the earth is actually a flat table resting on a turtle's shell. You would still be wrong even if it were your opinion. It would still be a false proposition.

[Silver]

I meant my comment the way I stated it. Plain and simple.

Since this was my comment:

When an atheist mentions god, he is mentioning the fictitious character from the boring fiction book that should be retitled The Unholy Babble.

Do you see mention of all atheists or even a pluralization of the word in that statement?

[Gil Gaudia]

We are exhorted to pray at every turn. We have National Days of Prayer, prayer breakfasts, prayer vigils, legal cases brought to allow prayer to be returned to the public schools and thousands of clergy in houses of worship throughout the country beseeching God to answer their prayers daily. Yet when someone actually demonstrates that they believe strongly enough to put their child’s life on the line, they are accused of murder!
The prosecution of Herbert and Catherine Schaible whose children died after they prayed for their illness to be cured is a wonderful example of the hypocrisy of those who are reverently referred to as the “religious” in America (as opposed to those of us atheists who recognize that it is all a myth).
They are accused of murder for doing exactly what every politician, clergyman and religious person, from the President of the United States on down, advocates whenever the country or any of its citizens faces danger.
The Judeo-Christian, God-glorifying tale of Abraham offering his son as a sacrifice is the ultimate example of trusting in God enough to put your child’s life on the line.
So Abraham is glorified for putting his faith in God ahead of his child’s life and Herbert and Catherine Schaible are accused of murder for doing essentially the same thing.
To the hundreds of millions of hypocrites who claim to believe in the power of prayer (and of course, God) Do you believe in God and his powers or don’t you?