Why do human beings pray?

Discussion in 'Religion' started by JBrentonK, Sep 29, 2015.

  1. JBrentonK Banned Banned

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    This is a thread for a question to atheists. That's all. ... I find it astounding that you can possibly be an atheist as a human being, and hopefully I'll be enlightend as to how that is possible in this thread. But it's just a question, it should get pretty interesting.

    Why do human beings pray?

    I figure that's simple enough.

    Good luck.
     
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  3. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    Asking atheists that question is like asking non-smokers why people smoke.

    That's because you're essentially clueless.
     
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  5. JBrentonK Banned Banned

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    Perhaps you can fill us in then Dywyddyr?
     
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  7. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    On what?
    Given that my first reply was "Asking atheists that question is like asking non-smokers why people smoke" why do you think atheists know why people pray?
    Atheists belong to that section of the human race that doesn't pray, and don't see any need for it[1]. Why, therefore, do you expect them to know why others do so?

    PS: I fail to see what the (badly-spelt) thread title has to do with the OP.

    1 Personally I find it not only ridiculous but also somewhat hypocritical - theists often claim that "god" has a plan, but somehow they also seem to think that asking will get that plan changed in their favour.
     
  8. JBrentonK Banned Banned

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    Well non smokers know the reason why people smoke is from peer pressure, so that is what dywyddyr. You're making an amateurish assessment of that.
    This part of your text is also "atheistic" if you don't mind me saying. Why? Why??? Well, people pray because it is a part of nature imho. But as an imho, it also stands as a fact.
    I had no idea that was possible dywyddyr. Afterall, every human being prays, which is why the thread was actually started. It's in our nature, and if you don't see any need for it, you are defying that nature.
    This is pretty obvious.
    Spidergoat called my other thread a thread from the arguement from authority, so quite naturally again, that is what this thread is called.

    Dywyddyr, you're almost there, you can almost feel the truth of the arguements from the theists! You will get there one day dywyddyr, I promise!
     
  9. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    Then they don't know at all.
    They're just guessing.

    And you're wrong here too.
    Do animals pray?

    Then, obviously, you don't know anything about atheists.

    Completely wrong. Which part of "Atheists belong to that section of the human race that doesn't pray" did you not understand?

    This is an unsupported - and apparently self-evidently wrong - claim.

    Um, no it's not. That's why I asked. Can you you actually answer?

    Got it. You're incapable of coherent thinking.

    Really?
    Pointing out that A) I find it ridiculous and B) I consider it hypocritical leads you to think that?

    I doubt it, I value my rationality too much.
     
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  10. JBrentonK Banned Banned

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    Looks like we can leave the arguement of smokers out completely.

    I am sure they do dywyddyr. But we will leave this out too, most likely, because praying belongs to rational. You have to use more than your heart to pray dywddyr, or did you forget that? You have to use your mind, which is a process that belongs to rational thinking.



    Absolutely not. Prayer is a part of life, you're supposed to say your prayers before you go to bed for example. What is a prayer dywdyyr? A prayer is a rational thing, not possibily capable of being considered in terms of irrational. This is your self evidently wrongness dywddyr, not mine.

    Idk. See above.

    That would be you and the rest of atheists.

    No. That you consider God ridiculous just leads me to believe that you think prayer is a ridiculious act, which is A: Atheistic and B: Childish.

    Perhaps you would like to change this to:

    I doubt it, I value my atheism too much.
     
  11. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Do you agree that sometimes we get what we want without praying?

    Yes? So, people are taught to pray, and their belief in prayer is reinforced when their prayer comes true. Is their belief in prayer negatively discouraged when their prayer doesn't come true? Interestingly, no. This is ignored or rationalized away (God works in mysterious ways). This is human nature, we have selective attention when it comes to reward, but a non-reward is not recognized as significant.

    Another word for it is superstition.
     
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2015
  12. JBrentonK Banned Banned

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    Another atheistic remark. You must recognize that you have to pray first, before you magically get what you want, because if you don't put praying first, you can't recognize that prayer must occur in order to get what you want.
     
  13. Sarkus Hippomonstrosesquippedalo phobe Valued Senior Member

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    Since when did the cesspool get so full that it flooded the religion forum?
     
  14. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    I get what I want sometimes.
     
  15. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Some little turds float to the top.
     
  16. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    Why? It's relevant - as illustrated by the wrongness of your claim.

    In other words you're just making sh*t up.

    Nope.

    Um, one more time: atheists don't pray. Please provide evidence that praying involves rationality.

    You are, once again, wrong.
    Praying plays no part in the life of atheists, for example.

    Why?

    This is incorrect.
    Praying is nothing more than an appeal to an as-yet-unproven deity. One for which there is no evidence. it is also, as noted, hypocritical. Thus, it is NOT rational.

    Really? Didn't I actually say that?
    I agree it's atheistic (which I said earlier). But could you explain why it's "childish"?

    I'm not in the habit of writing what I don't mean, therefore no, I wouldn't like to change it.
     
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2015
  17. JBrentonK Banned Banned

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    This is not a thread for atheists that flood the religion forum.
     
  18. JBrentonK Banned Banned

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    The magical question spidergoat, is do you truly?
     
  19. JBrentonK Banned Banned

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    I see you edited your post spidergoat. No you are incorrect about superstition as well sadly. We are rewarded based on the non rewards value as well. This is as I had stated to the atheist dywdyyr, a consequence of the word "prayer". Prayer is different than praying you know. And btw prayer is obviously religious, however not obviously religious a thing to atheists.

    Which is quite halarious. Don't you agree?
     
  20. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    Please provide some evidence, or, at the very least a rational coherent argument.

    By whom?

    Please define the differences.

    Since, as you have admitted, prayer is religious then why (again) do you think atheists know why it happens?
    Oh, and atheists are well aware that it's a religious thing.
     
  21. JBrentonK Banned Banned

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    Dywdyyr that was directed to spidergoat...
     
  22. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    So what?
    Can you answer the questions or do you wish to continue making unsupported and nonsensical claims?
     
  23. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Yes. Everyone does sometimes. I thought this would be a given.
    Yes, you can fool yourself into thinking that a non-answer is God judging that what you wish doesn't fit with his plan. I can also imagine some value in the delusion that someone up there is thinking about you. So we play all sorts of psychological tricks with ourselves.
    No, I don't know. Is this the fallacy that theist say, if your prayers don't come true, it was your faith to blame, not God? Another way to avoid the reality that god doesn't answer prayers.

    In fact there is the famous Harvard Prayer Study that showed scientifically that prayers don't work.
    http://web.med.harvard.edu/sites/RELEASES/html/3_31STEP.html
    I know it's religious, otherwise it's just called wishing.

    There could be some power in positive thinking, so if you are optimistic that your prayers will work, you might be more positive about doing the things required to make it come about on your own. But that doesn't have to be religious.
     

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