(January 7, 2015 at 6:04 pm)Godschild Wrote:(January 7, 2015 at 7:46 am)watchamadoodle Wrote: Of course we know that prayer never "works", but the result requested in the prayer might happen naturally, and then the OP might be expected to thank Yahweh for "answering" the prayer.
So if he OP makes a show of requesting help from all kinds of supernatural sources, then maybe the Christians friends will be less likely to expect the OP to thank Yahweh for "answering" the prayer. Maybe the OP can thanks Yahweh, Thor, Lucifer, the lucky rabbit's foot, ... (Of course I know this wouldn't actually work - just making a silly suggestion.)
Realistically, maybe the OP will be so happy after a successful outcome that giving some acknowledgement to Christian friends and their God for imaginary assistance will seem trivial?
You do have proof that it doesn't work right, please share.
GC
I haven't read these links, but they might be a place to start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studies_on_...ory_prayer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficacy_of_prayer
As far as I know, all the well-designed experiments have shown a null effect. Of course there are all different types of prayer and maybe someday an experiment will show a positive effect. That hasn't happened yet, so we should assume prayer doesn't work IMO.
