Why Isn't Human Society A Paradise?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Religionists are forever yakking about the power of prayer. You know the sort of thing - ask and it shall be given, all things are possible through prayer, etc.

It's a safe bet that people who believe in prayer actually pray, and pray sincerely. And I don't doubt that well-meaning religionists pray for the good of other people ('Lord, please cure auntie Leticia's cancer') more than they pray for themselves ('Lord, please tell me the winning lotto numbers'). Since this is obviously the case, why hasn't 'the power of prayer' yielded any results?

Millions of people right round the world are at an almost constant risk of starvation. Weather events destroy hundreds of villages - and cost tens of thousands of lives - every year. Hundreds of thousands of people live with curable diseases that will eventually kill them, because they have no possible access to decent medical care. The list of human horrors goes on and on and on. The constant praying also goes on and on, and things continue to get no better.

Robert Heinlein once opined, 'You can pray hard enough to make water run uphill. How hard? Hard enough to make water run uphill, of course.' He wasn't touting the power of prayer, but the pathetic answer that theists always give to explain the failure of prayer - you simply didn't pray hard enough. Well, since prayers are 'answered' at a rate no better than that of chance, it seems rather pointless to pray at all, no matter how hard you do it. Auntie Letty's cancer is going to get better or not, irrespective of your appeals to a deity.

Given the (literally) never-ending cacophony of prayers offered up for every thing from an end to war to a cure for AIDS, it seems clear as crystal that prayer doesn't work. I don't think it's because gods don't listen to prayers, I think it's more like ringing the doorbell when there's no one at home.

Boru

[Minimalist]

Since this is obviously the case, why hasn't 'the power of prayer' yielded any results?

Because prayer is nothing more than talking to yourself.

[Jackalope]

It appears to me that in actuality, it might be bullshit.

[Zen Badger]

Prayer is a passive aggressive way of telling god his plan sucks.

[Anomalocaris]

Prayer is sanctified insanity.

[StoryBook]

Praying is hope and wishful thinking. If the prayer comes true they are mentally "rewarded". They think god is listening to them. If it doesn't come true they think god has another plan, but they continue to pray in hope that the next prayer will come true.

It's like training a dog to sit. You give a dog a treat for sitting. The dog thinks that sitting will get him a treat. You ask the dog to sit, he does, but you don't give him a treat. You ask the dog to sit again he does sit thinking that he will get a treat this time,he does. So the dog will sit every time hoping to get a treat.

[Ryantology]

Maybe there are a few people who pray for violence and misery and the OT God is answering.

[scoobysnack]

Well the obvious answer would be that everyone is conscious, and has their own ego, then factor in difference of beliefs including political, and the fact that power corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. If you want to bring prayer into it, everyone knows we have free will, and all religions believe in a time where a being that comes to bring war or peace depending, or one before the other. Look at communism for example, was supposed to be perfection, and the government ended up killing millions of their own people in an attempt to eliminate undesirable thoughts from the minds of the people so they look to government to solve their problems. Same with all forms of government, since there is always corruption. Ironically communist governments always ban religion, because they need to eliminate the belief their is a higher power than the nation state, or government, so the people rely on them etc. Not picking on atheists, but ever wonder why communism promotes atheism?

Religious people believe this is a place for all to exist, so how could you have harmony with all points of view?

I don't know if any of you have read info from either of the Huxley brothers.

Not that anyone is interested, here's an interesting book from a commander in the Canadian Navy who used to work with what was called the world revolutionary movement, to bring in their version of utopia.

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Books,%20..._world.pdf


"No one will enter the New World Order unless he or she will make a pledge to worship Lucifer. No one will enter the New Age unless he will take a Luciferian Initiation." - Quote from David Spangler in reflections on the Christ book. This guy is a new ager, not a Christian by the way.

[GodCherry]

I meditate and find it relaxes me and puts me in a better frame of mind and I think there's something to be said for the power of positive thinking.

Negative people often tend to create self-fulfilling prophecies.

That being said, the difference between positive thinking and prayer is that I'm not asking for someone else to fix my problems for me. I try to figure out ways to do it myself.

[ignoramus]

Scooby, I'm a believer now.
Anyone who can ressurect dead threads has a gift!

And I was going to ask Zen Badger where he'd dissapeared to!