I'll pray for you because:
- If I'm honest and say I hate you people won't think I'm a kind, caring person. Tweet
- I want you to think I have some power over you that you can't do anything about. Tweet
- I like to think I have some power over you that you can't do anything about. Tweet
- I like to think I have an invisible friend who hurts those who won't agree with me about everything. Tweet
- I can't be bothered to learn stuff but I want people to think I'm better than you in some way. Tweet
- I want you to feel guilty about beating me in an argument with facts I didn't like, because I should be allowed to win every time even though I can't be bothered to learn stuff. Tweet
- You won't agree with me so I'll try threatening you with my really powerful imaginary friend. Tweet
- I want people to think I'm religious because I'm hoping to get away with people thinking I'm someone they can trust. Tweet
- I can't counter your argument so I want to threaten you whilst making other people think I'm your moral superior. Tweet
- I want my friends to be impressed by me and admire my smugly self-satisfied piety. Tweet
- I want people to think I'm so special I have a close personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe who makes my wishes come true. Tweet
- It costs me nothing and is much easier than doing something practical to help. Tweet
- Pretending to be other people' moral superior makes me feel good about myself. Tweet
- If there really is a god I'm hoping to impress it with my piety, so I show it off at every opportunity. Tweet
- What use is religion if you can't use it as a weapon when you need to? Tweet
- What use is religion if you can't use it to try to elevate yourself above other people? Tweet
- I'd really like to hurt you physically but I can only use words and make-believe in this medium and I'm a coward anyway. Tweet
- Just like a rapist, I want to have power over you without any responsibility because I'm inadequate. Tweet
Isn't it great the way religion can be used against other people in so many different ways? Has mankind ever devised any better source of excuses for the morally bankrupt than religion? Tweet
Well put Rosa, you cut to the chase of what piety in prayer can be used for. It's a sham far too often.
ReplyDeleteI have done all of those. But that is not what the Bible commands Christians to do nor is it what we are to strive to do.
ReplyDelete"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full."
I don't recall ever seeing you admonish your co-religionists when they use the threat of prayer as a passive-aggressive threat, but then it seems those who use phoney piety in the name of Christianity to excuse their behaviour are rarely picked up for it on Twitter or elsewhere. Pretending to do it for Jesus seems to confer some sort of protected status on them.
DeleteIt reinforces the impression that Christianity (and Islam for that matter) is not so much a source of morality but a source of excuses for antisocial behaviour.
God knows all,can do all,is all good, and yet He requires you to ask Him "pretty please" to enact His plan. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteSometimes prayer helps man
ReplyDeleteYep. Sometimes they help the person praying feel smug about themselves without doing anything to deserve it.
DeleteI usually just tell these pious hypocrites, "Pray away. At least it'll keep you off the streets."
ReplyDeletePete Moulton
I think I should start using that phrase.
ReplyDelete'I shall pray for you.'
'But you're an atheist!'
'I'm sure my prayer, to a God I don't believe in, will do as much good for you as your prayer would for me.'
in the end, all of those are just variations on something my fundamentalist aunt told my mom once:
ReplyDelete"I hate it that on the Day of Judgment, I am going to be looking down on you and saying, 'I TOLD YOU SO!'"
Prayer is an important tool for conservatives, anti-progressives, and those of lesser intelligence. Since man first appeared, it has served to limit or calm their fear in the face of things they do not understand. And although it is often used as described above in modern society, its basic function remains the same - a blankie for those afraid of the dark.
ReplyDeleteI've met some religious people wanting to pray for me, since I'm not believing in any God. I strongly agree with the view taken by the religious ones that they feel they're better than me, morally and in many other ways, and definitely seem to feel they have a higher value than me in God's eyes.
ReplyDeleteAn atheist is obviously one to pity - and blame. Look at this Pew Research Center statistics from the U.S.: http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/section-3-political-polarization-and-personal-life/ .Scroll down to the section "Marriage to an Atheist [Is] Upsetting to Most Conservatives". Take a look at the table "How would you react if an immediate family member were to marry someone who doesn't believe in God?"..
Among consistent/"strong" conservatives in the U.S. almost three ouf of four would then become unhappy, if such a scenario came true. And approximately one out of four consistent/"strong" liberals would be unhappy.
Unfortunately i can't find any figures showing how atheists would answer when asked this question: "How would you react if an immediate family member were to marry someone who believes strongly in God and worships God at a daily basis.