Sometimes, the only thing that can bring a person back to God is God, Himself. If both you and the suffering person are religious, promises of prayer might be appreciated. So I don't know about other gods but Yahweh minds His own business cos to Him you are a god in your own right! Imagine the trauma on the young girls experience in that situation?! Andy Now before you accuse us of piety, let me just say this, none of us are that religious. I understand what the bible says about god. The prayer campaign was started by Spiegel and Holly Ordway, author of Not God's Type and a former atheist. I have another friend who is a Christian. What a wonderful piece of writing, heartfelt and so moving. Humanity has taken a huge turn away from God and toward doing whatever pleases them with total disregard to consequences. David Niose’s latest book is Fighting Back the Right: Reclaiming America from the Attack on Reason. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. . We have to admit that prayer is unfortunately, a one-sided conversation. Shes not necessarily wrong here either. [psychologytoday.com] I especially like the statement near the end "In all of this discussion of manners, it’s easy to overlook the issue of prayer’s efficacy (or more accurately, its lack thereof). Build a database of online answers to atheism. Whenever I'm going through emotional turmoil or have a tough decision to make, she'll say, 'I'll pray for you.' • Pray for prejudices, hurts, misrepresentations of God, and intellectual hurdles to be overcome by the Truth. I told him I'd pray at Mass. As an atheist with devout friends belonging to several different religions, I have often been told I'm being prayed for. Ultimately, the key factor in considering the unsolicited prayer is the intent of the prayer-sender. Its not just Atheists across the pond who are shocked but I assure you we Christians can't help being shocked as well. Or bring over dinner tonight? Share the gospel with them. We'd all be much healthier if prayer could be scientifically demonstrated to cure disease, but of course it doesn’t. HEAR A FORMER ATHEIST'S STORY. ", As a child raised in Catholicism, we prayed only in Church and perhaps an awkward on Easter. However she refused to read the bible because in her opinion, because it was not written by God himself but by man, how can it be 100% true when mans emotions and situations could have swayed Gods word? Too many bad things have happened to her throughout her life that caused her to have a huge disbelief in God. Birthplace: none. Still, it's undeniable that atheists are picking up habits traditionally found among the religious. Its limitless and always yields results. People have to define good, and then be responsible, because there's no god to do that. Much appreciated! After all, if an atheist feels a need to pray, that itself is an indication of a deep searching, a small opening into a place so intimate to the human soul it simply cannot be expressed in anything other than a silent prayer to something unknowable. "Whatever god does is good, and not to be questioned" is a facade people who desperately want there to be a god have slapped onto an arbitrary and unfeeling universe. All I see is a room full of older men essentially fondling a young girl in the name of religion. Pray for an Atheist. We're about to eat dinner when we stop for prayer and my wife's parents ask my brother if he'd like to say something before we eat. Prayer for others (not self-righteous condemning prayers) IS powerful. Pray with us for the conversion of the boys at this high school. In several years of debating atheism and theism, I have made an observation. Praying for Atheists Mark Shea. or "Hope he will be okay soon" and you just want to utter… You can't pray for or with them, but you can express how much you care about them, how much you want things to improve for them and promise to be there for them in their time of need. And I can assure you they don't single you out because of your religion. Now if believers pray for Hitchens and atheists come out and say that that is inappropriate one can score points with ones home crowd. We’ve been astonished by the levels of concern and generosity that have been directed toward us, and we are most grateful. Also understandable. After a three week series on the flaws of atheism, it's not hard for an atheist reader to conclude that I have nothing good to say about atheists and for a certain sort of Christian to conclude that I assume the damnation of atheists. They still need to be persuaded that Jesus is the Son of God, Who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the … It is like a placebo. How do you explain to an atheist friend that when your loved one is in the hospital and you're scared, confused, and worried and that you want them to pray for them.When they tell you, "anything you need please let us know." But I'm not talking about using whether or not to pray. Forty percent would refuse to vote for an atheist. Take care all. People have to define goodness and evil, and then be responsible for it, because there's no god to do that. Fourth, be willing to simply plant seed. We just don’t have many different labels. Reply. Dreams have been described as dress rehearsals for real life, opportunities to gratify wishes, and a form of nocturnal therapy. And 11 percent pray weekly or monthly. They can't even follow their own rule book. Stay in touch with your atheist friends, love them and pray for them. I immediately offered to say a prayer, because I knew that would be important to him. Memorize names and facts about your community members to show that you care about them. Six percent of them pray every day, we’re told by the Pew Research Center. It is our commitment to keep these individuals in our prayers until the day each one of them is either saved or passes on. However if I get a call from my neighbor's son who knows me well that they need help I feel free to jump over and help. So, while it WOULD be rude to tell your devout friends, "Knock off the prayers," feel free to tell them, "The prayers are nice, but in the meantime, could you pick up my kids from school and watch them a few afternoons this week? • Pray for Atheists to experience and know the undeniable presence of God. I am a Christian and I get irritated by the type of people you just described! His love is all consuming. The American press is in remarkable agreement that it is appropriate to pray for an atheist. Which is hogwash. • Pray for heart barriers that separate faith and science to be shattered. It is an act of judgement. "We want you to select an atheist friend or relative and pray for them by name each day during the month of April, 2010 (and beyond!). I'd like to hear about those details! Some of J’s family believe. It is still a very needed thing to do, even more than arguing with atheists, besides being a sample not a sermon, as you say. Think about it, before the advent of Social Media where a single message can be seen by 1000's of people with a simple press of "POST", most people did not let people they were praying. It's not unusual for me to get emails from people who say that they intend to pray for me — but as often as I hear such things, I continue to have trouble understanding why people would do so and, if they must pray, why they would feel the need to tell me about it. I have those same 2 people in my life. Whether or not I Think the prayers might have been Heard (why not?) If you agree with him, then you should act like it. Then I could appriciate their concern and answer “yes” or “no”. We don’t strain our voice toward a hypothetical supreme being with cosmic powers, but wonder of all wonders, we pray with confidence to the God we know by name. We love you; its that simple. To open ourselves up to some change, to pray heartily, and to learn something. Amen . According to a 2015 Gallup poll, 74% of Americans would vote for a qualified gay or lesbian for president. Keep any prayers for your friend private. That's arbitrary and unfeeling. Amen! In fact, we may want to pray a little more for them. It doesn't even touch me let alone mean anything, for as an atheist it doesn't even register. I have a friend, used to be a very close friend, who is an atheist. There are people I have know for many, many years who I am more relaxed around, where my sentiments do slip out in this regard, and well, let's just say they feel comfortable enough around me at other times to voice their frustrations with my religion or co-believers as well, We give each other room for that. . ] An old story from Plato: The ancient Greek scientist Timaeus is getting ready to narrate his Theory of Everything, his theory of the origin and structure and purpose of the universe. If a friend of mine is troubled, I send a private message saying if they need anything at all, they can count on me. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Which is what our godless universe is. Finally, remember that for an atheist to believe that God exists is only the beginning. I took the pains to explain that the first three chapters of the Judaeo-Christian Bible basically has an alternative to their supposition:- Religionists knowingly offering to pray for an atheist may also possibly be acting in a passive-aggressive manner (while hiding their condescension behind the "veil" of righteous caring). I didn’t become an atheist because that’s what I wanted; I became an atheist because I believed it was the truth. I take it with a common courtesy that it was well meant. And every week I would see God do something unusual to answer her prayer. I'm simply asking the question of how to pray when you're an atheist because I loved to pray as a Christian and I still love praying as a nonbeliever. There is no condescendtion meant. Every time we eat lunch, we say a blessing over the food. They seem to think if you are Atheist or a man of faith it means you should not give an inch to the other side. Pray all you want on your own, but there's no need to tell the person you're praying for, unless you're doing it for recognition. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Pray for them. One of the key tenets of Judaeo-Christianity is that judgement -the ability to determine what is good or evil - is what constitutes original sin hence Christ's injunction for us not to judge. The world is a better place when we cut people slack and are not so easily insulted. Thanks. We’ve had a serious health issue in our family this year, and as such we’ve seen an overwhelming response from friends, co-workers, and extended family, all of whom wish us well and want to help. If anyone is passively aggressively saying prayers for me it does not signify anything to me. You can't and won't pray, but this doesn't mean that you … It would be untrue and therefore would come across as disingenuous sympathy. We’ve been friends since high school. I never post condolences publicly. It’s sometimes better than writing in a diary. It's the intensity of it that's special. Now, if a religious friend says, "I'm praying for you," I don't expect you to turn cartwheels. David Niose, former president of the American Humanist Association, is an attorney and author. Prayer is comforting!