If you pray to your deity for one outcome and I pray to the same deity for the opposite outcome...

[NightWatcher]

and I "win" does that mean that the deity likes me better? Or does it mean that you were on the losing side to begin with?

Also, If you pray to one particular deity for a particular outcome and I pray to a different deity for a different outcome and I win, does that mean that my deity is better than your deity?


Questions inspired by facebook "friends" and family saying that the only thing they do now is go to Pray-Ins for this election at their church. They've already stated that if they lose it's because it is all part of God's plan and is punishment for something or other.

[nichomachus]

1. Here's how it works if you're a Christian

If you pray for an outcome and you get it, God loves you and approves of you.

If you pray for an outcome and don't get it, God loves you, approves or you, but is testing you.

If another person prays for an outcome and doesn't get it, God hates him.

If another person prays for something and gets it, you slash his tires.

[cbayer]

4. That may be true for a narrowly defined set of christians, but it is inaccurate

to say that that is the way it works for all christians.

[nichomachus]

6. It certainly isn't true of all Christians, but

The set it's true for is far from "narrow."

[cbayer]

7. What percentage would you imagine that is?

I know I have seen some statistics relating to this particular concept, but I can't recall the percentage.

At any rate, when we don't distinguish, we do many a disservice by lumping all christians in with fundamentalists.

[dmallind]

12. Well in my adult lifetime it was 93%

I SUPPOSE it's barely possible that somehow after 3800 years of Judaism and nigh 2000 of Christianity, that percentage may have suddenly dropped in less than 3 decades, but without data from more recent polls I can't say.

http://articles.latimes.com/1986-12-20/news/ss-4398_1_answers-prayers

"...93% believe that God hears and answers prayers"

[cbayer]

13. That's a high number and I what I find more recently is still up

there in the 70% range.

[dmallind]

14. Cite would be interesting. Sudden drop there.

Not complaining obviously, but either one of them screwed up the poll or there is a massive drop in belief in intercessory prayer that is way outstripping the drop in similarly naive beliefs such as creationism or a literal Satan.

[cbayer]

15. Fox poll and specific to prayers about sickness/health

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/fox-poll-77-percent-believe-prayer-can-literally-help-someone-heal-from-an-injury-or-illness.php

The difference may be that the poll you cite asks a very broad question and this one is more specific. The first also doesn't ask if people think prayers can result in an action, while this does.

It doesn't look like Pew has asked this question, or if they have, I can't find it.

[Angry Dragon]

21. fundamentalists are as Christian as any other Christian

[cbayer]

25. But not all christians are fundamentalists.

[Angry Dragon]

26. Are you saying not all Christians are equal??

[cbayer]

27. No. I am saying that not all christians are the same.

You know, like not all gay people are the same , or not all white people are the same or not all people from Kentucky are the same.

[trotsky]

30. Did anyone make that claim?

You're very good at blasting people for things they didn't say.

[cbayer]

2. Are you a person who believes that a deity hears and directly answers your requests?

[rug]

3. It means neither of us has a clue about prayer.

[lebkuchen]

5. I'm praying that the San Francisco Giants beat the Detroit Tigers

However, I suggest both teams booze it up the night before the big games since it's all in god's hands anyway. Why try?

[cloudbase]

8. God answers all prayers.

Most of the time, the answer is "NO."

[beam me up scottie]

9. Oh boy!

[struggle4progress]

10. Not all of us regard our religions as cosmic vending machines

into which we can drop magic prayer tokens to collect sweet treats

[trotsky]

16. Not all, but most US Christians do.

It seems a lot of DU Christians are woefully out of touch with what the majority of Christians in the US believe.

[struggle4progress]

17. You carry around a lot of baggage in the form of stereotypes about people you've never met

[trotsky]

20. I carry around data from surveys I've read.

Such as the ones cited above, where a majority state that they believe in a god who grants wishes.

Just because you're out of touch with what your fellow Christians really believe is no reason to be nasty to me.

[rexcat]

23. For the most part...

I would say that most religious people do pray therefore people who pray, at some level, buy into the concept or why pray in the first place. That said some people will pray to be a better person or want a better world but my guess is they also pray to their god(s) as a bargaining chip.

[russspeakeasy]

11. If the other side wins, you didn't donate enough.

[mrsadm]

18. Whose side is God on?

I think it was Napoleon who said,
God is on the side of the big battalions.

[dimbear]

19. Did you remember to include a stamped self addressed envelope? n/t

[Angry Dragon]

22. So many gods

or it is just one god with unlimited faces

[mr blur]

24. Nothing wrong with talking to yourself, I guess, if it makes you feel better.

If you do it nice and quietly, the rest of us won't even know when to laugh.

[LeftishBrit]

28. I remember that after the 2006 Senate elections...

someone posted a picture of Rick Santorum making his concession speech surrounded by his grieving family, which was headed SADNESS, and had the comment underneath, 'Because sometimes someone else prays twice as hard for the opposite result'/

[MineralMan]

29. That deity has outsourced its prayer center to a high-rise call center in Mumbai.

To pray, please dial 1-866-NOW-PRAY

If you wish to pray in English, please press 1 now. Para Español, oprima dos ahora, por favor.

<Boop>

I'm sorry. All of our prayer takers are busy with other prayers at the moment. Please remain on the line and a prayer representative will be with you shortly. Your prayer is very important to us.

<Click>

"Hello. My name is being Biff. You may be speaking any prayer at this time. Someone will be calling you back presently with a response. If this is an emergency prayer, please be striking with a hammer on your head to restore your brain to its manufacturer's default settings. Please be caution-taking, however, since you may experience some loss of personal data. After speaking your prayer, you may disconnect your telephone receiver and be waiting for a response."

[ZombieHorde]

31. This would be interesting to propose to a group of people who worshiped a

"vending machine" type of god. I would be interested in what they had to say.

[jeepnstein]

32. I just pray for the strength and wisdom and courage to handle the situation.

And I've had that prayer answered when I do my part. I figure there's really no sense in me bothering God with all these silly requests for winning lottery numbers or whatever. If He wants me to have it he'll send it my way. What I need to do is work on my listening skills so I don't miss the opportunity when it arises. Why should I go around asking God to treat me better than the next guy? It's not like I mean more to Him than anyone else.