(August 15, 2014 at 3:48 pm)Michael Wrote:(August 15, 2014 at 3:33 pm)JesusHChrist Wrote: You're conflating the *act* of prayer and it's efficacy with the *actions* of humans and those action's associated efficacy.
The point being, the *act* of prayer is indistinguishable from doing nothing at all, vs. the very real and tangible results from humans actually doing something.
On the contrary. It was me that made the distinction in the first place, suggesting that one could debate the mechanism of prayer while still acknowledging the beneficial effects. You might not have noticed it, but I was giving atheists a way into examining what may be positive about prayer without having to believe in the divine realm. It's not unlike how psychology has sought what is good about mindfulness mediation without embracing Buddhism (though my Buddhist friends do feel it has been hijacked for selfish reasons, and the 'mindfulness movement' has totally failed to grasp the essence of selfless transformation at the centre of Buddhist beliefs).
We've been there and done that ten times in this thread. So prayer makes the person praying feel good. The title says 'Does prayer work?' Do you have anythin else to say about that? Does it heal the sick or win soccer matches, or do anything else? The answer is no, by the way.
