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There's a South Carolina thread asking for "prayers" for flood victims.
I almost posted there saying "Prayers? Seriously?", but I knew the OP was indeed serious and would probably, well, be offended by my question.
Somehow he/she doesn't see the idiocy and utter lack of logic in asking for prayers for something awful that happened. I guess god couldn't keep flooding from happening, BUT if we pray really really hard he may step in now. Or maybe not. It's all God's will, right?
I think they can be that desperate and helpless. And the same cognitive dissonance used to accept the religious doctrine gets used as the coping mechanism for a situation that they feel they can't directly influence.
As atheists it's the least rational thing to do for all of the reasons you noted. But it's simply a coping mechanism...albeit an unhelpful one in the direct sense.
Well clearly they can be this conditioned and compartmentalized.
When you are not given an intellectual framework for understanding and responding appropriately to tragedy, you have to work with what little you have. Even if it is the notion that you should pray for safety and protection, then when you find yourself in a dangerous and threatened situation anyway, simply widen your view to pray for safety and protection "in the long run" or even in the ultimate (that is, pray for faith to hold fast until the afterlife when for some reason, despite god not providing promised safety and protection when it's actually needed, he will provide it in the form of an environment that is allegedly free from any danger or mishap).
What people in SC should be doing instead of praying is dialing 911. Which I suspect they are doing anyway, just to hedge their bets.
Nobody deserves to have their life interrupted by such a tragedy but if prayers were ever answered most of us would be living a long healthy life on our Lottery winnings.
It just so happens I live in SC and we experienced the awful weather where I am but escaped all the horrible flooding that happened in Columbia and the coast. We were supposed to get it just like they were but all of sudden it passed over us and stalled in Columbia. It's all a crap shoot as far as the weather is concerned and I know that here in the Upstate we have been doing our part, like collecting water and donations, to help out the folks in the worst hit areas and honestly these people who ask for futile prayers are making themselves feel useful without actually doing jack to help in other ways. It's sad but that's the way these crackers operate. Pray - it's the answer to everything!
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He/she meant to send them to drought ridden California.
Nobody's listening
