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"GOD EXISTS" is the reigning and defending, undefeated Champion...it is upon any other concept to dethrone the CHAMPION CONCEPT OF THE WOOOOOOORLLLLLLLD!
Indeed, pummeling your minority religion into a sad and tragic defeat. I believe atheism/agnosticism comes in second, just ahead of Hinduism. Of course, if you split Christianity and Islam (although they believe in the same god that is NOT your god), then we are third and Hinduism fourth.
I must laugh at you shooting your self with your own argument ad populum.
***GOD EXISTS*** has been Champion for thousands of years.
The burden is upon the Challengers to dethrone the reigning and defending, undefeated Champion ***GOD EXISTS***!
And until then ***GOD EXISTS*** will retain the status of Champion.
THAT is how it works in this world. The few that don't like that, notwithstanding.
The champion belief. The champion discovery of how the world actually works based on evidence is naturalism, and has been for over 2000 years.
So while religion may do some good, that is nothing compared to the use of rational tools.
We are playing in the major league. You are playing a different game in the school yard.
I wonder how we would know if those prayers are answered? For that matter, how specific are the prayers?
God bless us, one and all?
Somewhere tonight I guarantee you that someone is saying we need to pray for peace now more than ever, yet, they are saying that because we have a situation where we are impoverished of peace precisely because previous prayers for peace were clearly to no avail. It is the same with disease, poverty, and all the other many problems of humanity.
So while the brothers doubtless mean well, forgive me if I am not relieved that they are praying tonight.
For me, it's not so much that prayers are answered. I don't know for sure what they are actually saying.
It's that people of good will are thinking of other people positively.
That this type of ritual even exists, I find comforting
Prayer is not asking for favors for oneself. Those who pray regularly would not think this. Prayers from religious texts, be it from the Bible, Quran or the countless number of texts of Hinduism is not just about “give me†although it is one aspect. What one is asking for also matters.
Prayers open the doors and windows of the mind to let in the light of Divinity in. It takes one to a different realm from the mundane activities of eat, sleep, work, eat, procreate.
I love this verse from Sri Rudram which is a long prayer of 12 parts, to the Cosmos that we shrink to a manageable size of Ishvara, Lord Shiva, who creates the world and is the world. He rules the world and all the forces, he is the shelter and the giver of consequences, he is the law and the order, he is love and beauty. He is the destroyer of the ego and delivers freedom. Even as we chant the verses we are enabled to keep both duality of the world and the self, and also the non-duality, the Oneness of Brhman as the Self within. That we are empowered to do this is itself a blessing.
Religious texts instructs one how to envision Ishvara and these are some of the most beautiful verses that bring joy and awe to the heart.
He is the sun at dawn that paints the sky in copper hues.
He is the same sun that traverses the huge sky and turns the light white and later golden, and He is seen in from every direction by all beings.
He is seen in the morning by the humble shepard, and those who carry water. He is seen and adored by the whole world and are delighted.
We pray to you, the Lord with the Blue Neck, (signifying the mystical blue) and with a red hue, with the light of a thousand suns, and we bow to the powers you wield (conditions seen and unseen beyond our control) and ask for your protection.
For me, it's not so much that prayers are answered. I don't know for sure what they are actually saying.
It's that people of good will are thinking of other people positively.
That this type of ritual even exists, I find comforting
I agree that the existence of decent humans doing decent things is an encouraging counterpoint amidst a welter of venal humans doing awful things. I think that if some people want to devote personal time to thinking positive things about other people and the world, that is great and will probably elevate their thinking and acting in the word even further.
My only real problem is with the general assertion usually made that "prayer changes things". I do not hang my hat on that, because given the lack of evidence for it, prayer with the intent of changing anything tends to substitute for more effortful things one could doing, to actually change things. And in that fashion actually is a mild harm.
I agree that the existence of decent humans doing decent things is an encouraging counterpoint amidst a welter of venal humans doing awful things. I think that if some people want to devote personal time to thinking positive things about other people and the world, that is great and will probably elevate their thinking and acting in the word even further.
My only real problem is with the general assertion usually made that "prayer changes things". I do not hang my hat on that, because given the lack of evidence for it, prayer with the intent of changing anything tends to substitute for more effortful things one could doing, to actually change things. And in that fashion actually is a mild harm.
One can pray AND act. They are not mutually exclusive. Prayer in fact IS an act. Prayer does not change anything, that is an erroneous understanding that limits thought. Prayer is for the enlightenment for the self, to be a better person, to enlarge our minds instead of locking it, to be enabled to see the goodness, feel the goodness that exists. There is no evidence other than what one perceives in his own actions and thoughts.
do you not know what it means? "people of goodwill" or to be a "person of goodwill" ?
I know that the ASSUMPTION is made about groups of people as being of goodwill. And I know that ASSUMPTION is often wrong.
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