AngelThMan Wrote:And how many times must Christians point out that the effectiveness of prayer cannot be proven with scientific studies or tests?
What a load of crap. We can do studies to determine if prayer is effective. And these studies have shown that prayer has no effect whatsoever. But keep telling yourself that these studies are meaningless. I'm sure it makes you feel better.
Quote:God will not allow it to happen.
And you know this..... how?
Quote:Think about it: If God wants belief in him and prayer to be based solely on faith, why would he allow any scientific test to yield accurate results?
So your deity won't answer prayers to a statistically significant degree because he doesn't want to let us know he's answering prayers? So if you're praying for something and "God" has met his quota, you're screwed?
Quote:In fact, even if a test wasn't specifically conducted, but a random sample was taken later of people who prayed and people who didn't, God would know ahead of time and would nullify such study by equalizing the results.
So "God" knows everything that will happen? Then what is the point of our existence? Obviously, your deity knows what each and every one of us will do during our lifetime. What is the point in having people be born when "God" already knows which ones will be packed off to an eternal firepit?
Quote:Even if everyone died, it's because God had determined that their time on earth was up.
So when "God" decides your time on Earth is over he sends a bunch of lunatics to hijack the plane you're riding in and drive it into a building full of people?
Quote:If God wanted to save you, he would have found a way to keep you from getting on that plane.
How comforting for the people who lost loved ones on 9/11. "You see, God didn't want to save your son/daughter/brother/sister/husband/wife/friend. Otherwise, he would have found a way to keep them off that plane."
Quote:Uhh... 'possible scenarios' don't need any evidence because they are in fact... 'possible scenarios.'
Here's a "possible scenario".... There is a community of devils playing Yahtzee, and every time one of them hits a "Yahtzee" they get to choose a person for death. There are billions of these devils and they play Yahtzee all the time. This is why so many people die every day. And if a devil hits TWO yahtzees in a row he gets to cause some cataclysm that kills hundreds (or thousands) of people! So when a plane crashes, or a bomb goes off, or a mine collapses, you can be sure some devil got a double Yahtzee!
And this is just as likely as any scenario of yours.
Science flies us to the moon and stars. Religion flies us into buildings.
God allowed 200,000 people to die in an earthquake. So what makes you think he cares about YOUR problems?
God allowed 200,000 people to die in an earthquake. So what makes you think he cares about YOUR problems?