On a regular basis christians claim that their god had answered their prayers and helped them get a raise, cured their dog of a trivial ailment or even, in what can be only described as ungratefulness, surgery which which was actually done by a dedicated professional who trained for years. Thank the surgeon you ungrateful asshole.
I was recently directed to a website where these so called "christians" post their answered prayers. let's have a look at what these parasites claim their god done for them - notice no amputees saying "thanks for the new leg, god!" and nobody saying "thanks for curing the 30% of pregnant women in Africa who are infected with HIV". Their god doesn't have time for crap like that, not with all the car keys he is helping people find, loans he is arranging and rental agreements he puts in place.
Praise the Lord for the mighty things he has done.Over the past year I have asked for prayer for the financial problems of my family. My son-in-law went back to work today and my sister that has been struggling with back problems and couldn't work ,has a part time job at home.
just a couple days ago i asked to be prayed for that i would find a home of my own for me and my kids ...i just signed a rental agreement for a 3 bedroom house in a nice area with a huge yard for my boys to play in
i was praying fr a raise , to reach my goals to get the raise, and to get a credit on my utility bill, and voila, god does answer prayers, Thanks be to God Jesus mary the angels saints and my mom for all blessings and intervention. these were truly miracles
please pray that God's doors of prosperity are opened to Jacquie, Brady, Harry, Ritchie and Erin. I ask prayers that funds will come erin by the end of January 2009. I also ask that Jacquie's house be fixed, Harry find a job and Brady have no more car problems and be surrounded with happiness and good fortune thank you
Thank you GOD for allowing me the chance to start over. Thank you for helping me to get my drivers license and for sending me the money I needed to pay my bills this month.
thanks to the almighty Lord for getting a loan sanctioned for me at the time of needBy now you should get the picture. These so called "christians" mostly pray for money, For themselves. Anyone with even a shred of decency would be too ashamed to make it known that they pray for such selfish, trivial things.
I looked for some time over these "answered prayers" and didn't see a single one that couldn't be described as selfish and trivial.
Oh geez. The first one I saw when I clicked the link made me think it was a spoof site:
ReplyDeleteJanuary 24, 2009
Dear lord GOD, I thank you for helping me get my materialistic neighbor fired from his job as a drug counselor. in JESUS name AMEN! hopefully this will make him have to sell his new car which he don't even need and will stop him helping sinners to carry on sinning. Also thank you LORD for getting my compensation check through after i fell in walmart and hurt my knee. i don't have to work for a few years now and i will be able to fix my house and spend more time praising your great self in JESUS name amen!
But apparently those folks are for real. Makes me sad.
Well... Every person on this earth is selfish! The 'Christian' prayers that you picked for you blog, of course, were all exactly what you wanted to find. You see only what you want to see! You didn't post any of the prayers from the website of unselfish caring people praying for people with needs, illnesses, or losses, because that would not help you in your discrimination against Christians. I hope that you can try to be more open towards people and their beliefs. And I pray that God will bless you as much as He has blessed me! God Bless!
ReplyDeletePrayer is totally ineffective. The only (dubious) benefit is that of its placebo effect.
ReplyDeleteNone of the "answered prayers" can be found to be anything other than coincidences at most. Many are not even unremarkable coincidences, just normal everyday occurrences. People attributing these things to divine intervention are completely and utterly delusional.
KristaJill, in your comment you stated, quote, "You see only what you want to see!" - Might I suggest that this logic applies more accurately to people like yourself, who see something in nothing. You want to think that prayer is actually effectual, so you convince yourself that any fortunate occurrence is the result of prayer, rather than simple coincidence.
I see one prayer on that website thanking God for returning their missing cat. The cat was found stuck under a house, and needed to be rescued. Well, praise the Lord, that could never have happened without the POWER OF PRAYER!
Some of these the "prayers" are obviously trolls, but even the ones that aren't are baffling beyond belief. These people are so anxious to convince themselves that their imaginary friend really is helping them that they attribute any fortunate everyday occurrence to divine intervention.
And as the article pointed out, why is God fannying about helping people find cats, rather than doing something about HIV, congenital birth defects, famine, cancer, or other such ailments?
Many of these are not caused by humanity - and one presumes that as part of nature, God is actually responsible for creating these things.
KristaJill, you also stated "You didn't post any of the prayers from the website of unselfish caring people praying for people with needs, illnesses, or losses, because that would not help you in your discrimination against Christians." - While there are indeed people there 'praying' for the ill, they are just as pointless, merely less amusing. And there's no specific discrimination against Christians, other than that being a Christian website. Anybody who prays to a god may be subjected to just as much ridicule. If you have ridiculous beliefs, expect to be ridiculed for them.
One prayer from the website says "Thank you for praying for George heart surgery. It was successful, but he is still in a coma after 48 hours. Pray for another miracle. Thank you". This person obvious attributed the 'miracle' success of surgery to divine intervention by God, rather than the skill and effort of the surgeon; and yet at the same time, they don't blame God for not bringing him out of a Coma. This is absurd.
It really pisses me off when people attribute life-saving surgery as a Miracle of God. Credit for "medical miracles" is due entirely to advanced medical science developed by humanity, and the immense dedication and skill of human doctors. God had nothing to do with it, and claiming that he did just short-changes those who really deserve the respect for the accomplishments.
Ditto for a child rescued from a burning building - it's not "Praise the Lord" for her safety, it's "hail the hero" to the genuine heroism of the human who actually performed the rescue. God is nowhere in evidence, and claiming otherwise really takes credit from the real heroes.
Every advance in knowledge, every act of heroism, all pinnacles of human accomplishments come from us. Humanity's great achievements have been achieved by humanity itself. No divine interference from any supernatural entity is anywhere in evidence.
As for actual "Acts of God"... Well, presumably he controls nature, so we get hurricanes, tsunamis, and other natural disasters. People saved from these events are saved through human endeavours. Yet for some baffling reason, we always see God praised for those who survived, and somehow not held responsible for the tragedy occurring in the first place.
Humans have no control over the natural disasters occurring, we do what we can in the aftermath. Presumably God has control over the whole thing. But he doesn't magically save anybody, everybody who is saved is done so through their own fortitude, or through being assisted by other humans.
Prayer is completely and utterly useless at everything except making you think that you're helping in some way. Grow up, people. Your imaginary friend is not helping you, any more than Santa Claus is clambering down your chimney with presents.
Anonymous said it all. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI belong to an atheist vs fundie website, which shall remain nameless, and most of the people on there are praying that their girlfriend or their best friend be converted to Christ. It's obvious that their GF or BF support these people's lifestyle already, but that's not enough. They want to make them change into their lifestyle rather than let then accept them for who they already are. More selfishness in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteWay to make completely unscientific, un-researched (a website on the Internet ... scholarly), sweeping generalizations. Apparently that's perfectly acceptable if you're an Atheist though. Heh, hypocrite.
ReplyDeletePrayers are never answered - instead, once in a great while, somebody pesters the Great Will o' the Wisp in the Sky for some trivial dips*** and gets what was requested, by a fortuitous coincidence. There is a French proverb that a blind hen can occasionally find her corn.
ReplyDeleteHow many parents have begged for their terminally ill children to get well, only to cry their eyes out while a little white coffin was lowered into the ground? How many unemployed people have wasted their time beseeching heaven for jobs - when they should have been searching the want ads and Career Builder - only to wind up on the streets? How many wives have prayed their hearts out for their husbands to return from war, only to be given gold stars? If prayers really worked, the Cubs would have ended their World Series drought years ago, when Harry Carey was still alive.
The notion that one has the ability to beg, cajole, inveigle, or otherwise manipulate an all-powerful Creator of the Universe into doing one's bidding - what arrogance!
ReplyDeleteThe notion that one's will is superior to that of an all-knowing, all-wise, all-loving God - what hubris!
Praying for one's wishes and desires to be met isn't merely selfish, superstitious, prideful and otherwise hypocritical, it's theologically unsound. It's a manifestation of a believer acting as if he or she is greater than God. That's the hypocrisy of the Pharisees that Jesus spoke against so strongly and so frequently, and it's still rampant within Christianity today.
Christians, for your own sake, keep your prayers constrained to praise and thanksgiving. Otherwise, you have made a false idol of yourself.
I was sent this today by my very Catholic mother (out)law and it really p*ssed me off. I dont go to church or believe in virgin births (well, not back then) but it's disgusting that someone could call themselves Christian and perpetuate this kind of sh*t. Even Jesus would be disgusted. Here is the email, and my translation follows.
ReplyDeletePrayer for Finances (it works).
I claimed it for you - now claim it for me.
God has more than a thousand ways to provide for us, that we know nothing about.
Here is your financial blessing!
It's a simple prayer, you got 30 Seconds?
Don't sleep on this...Someone recently read this for the first time and received exactly enough for a $0 balance on all credit cards.
If you need a financial blessing, continue reading this e-mail.
Heavenly Father, most Gracious and Loving God, I pray to you that you Abundantly bless my family and me.
I know that you recognize, that a Family is more than just a mother, father, sister, brother, cousin, husband and wife, but all who believe and trust in You.
Dear GOD, I send up a prayer request for financial blessing for not only the person who sent this to me, but for me and all that I have forwarded this message to.
And that the power of joined prayer by those who Believe and trust in you is more powerful than anything!
I thank you in advance for your blessings.
God, deliver the person reading this right now from debt and debt burdens.
Release your Godly wisdom that I may be a good steward over all that you have given me GOD, for I know how wonderful and mighty you are and how if we just obey you and walk in your word and have the faith of a Mustard Seed that you will pour out blessings.
I thank you now Lord for the recent blessings I have received and for the blessings yet to come, because I know you are not done with me yet.
In Jesus name Amen...
TAKE 60 SECONDS and send this on quickly and within hours, you will have
caused a multitude of people to pray to God for each other. Then sit back and watch the power of God work in your life for doing the thing That you know He loves. Peace and Blessings....
Have Faith
8 angels are sent 2 you,
You must send them to 8 people .
In 8 minutes you will receive something you have long awaited.
“We pray for these material things. We have everything we need but we still want more. We need personal favors. We truly deserve it, because we believe. And that makes us special and worthy. If we all pray for each other we will have a better chance at hitting the jackpot, kind of like a Lotto syndicate. And we pray for it in Jesus’ name because He sacrificed Himself for our financial betterment.”
Mind you, I had sent her back my transation within 8 minutes so I guess the prayer sort of works. Sending it to her was probably like pearls before swine, though.
These people are like children wishing on stars for trips to disneyland or whatever.
"Sh*t in one hand, wish in the other and see which gets filled first".
this is really making me sick
ReplyDeleteyes all you americans!! I'm a dirty communist because I don't pray for money, or I don't pray to get my neighbour fired. You see atheism and communism are EVIL!!!
If prayer worked, word would spread quickly until there would be no more problems in the world.
ReplyDelete