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Do you think prayer is real? Your opinion?

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Your thoughts on Prayer
Prayer is heard by a God (or something else) and can be answered 28%  28%  [ 15 ]
Prayer is heared by a God, (or something else) but unanswered 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Prayer has no effect, and answers are coincedental. 37%  37%  [ 20 ]
Prayer has a meditation effect, and is beneficial. 33%  33%  [ 18 ]
Prayer is answered by extraterrestrials 2%  2%  [ 1 ]
Total votes : 54

Vigilans
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28 Jan 2012, 2:56 pm

Bun wrote:
I thought that if someone's an atheist, they won't believe in the affects of prayer, only theists will. But I've been proven wrong by this thread.


Prayer has been investigated with MRI scans and other methods and shows it has a brainwave signature, possibly similar to meditation. So it does have an *effect* but there is nothing supernatural about it. Its just a form of meditation


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Bun
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28 Jan 2012, 3:00 pm

Nice. :)


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ruveyn
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28 Jan 2012, 3:19 pm

1. Prayer is real. People pray every day.

2. Prayer is a waste of time, except as it functions as a Jedi Mind Trick for the person doing the praying.

Talking to the sky or the wall will not change the external physical world one little bit.

ruveyn



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28 Jan 2012, 3:40 pm

ruveyn wrote:
1. Prayer is real. People pray every day.

2. Prayer is a waste of time, except as it functions as a Jedi Mind Trick for the person doing the praying.

Talking to the sky or the wall will not change the external physical world one little bit.

ruveyn

It sure beats dissolving your brain cells with drugs, alcohol, or both.

Most of the time, anyway... ;)



TeaEarlGreyHot
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28 Jan 2012, 3:40 pm

Prayer is a form of meditation, depending on how it's done. I find most people tend to just speak the words and not really do much else. That's not prayer, if you ask me.


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ruveyn
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28 Jan 2012, 3:50 pm

Fnord wrote:
ruveyn wrote:
1. Prayer is real. People pray every day.

2. Prayer is a waste of time, except as it functions as a Jedi Mind Trick for the person doing the praying.

Talking to the sky or the wall will not change the external physical world one little bit.

ruveyn

It sure beats dissolving your brain cells with drugs, alcohol, or both.

Most of the time, anyway... ;)


Some wastes of time are less harmful than others.

ruveyn



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28 Jan 2012, 4:59 pm

TeaEarlGreyHot wrote:
Prayer is a form of meditation, depending on how it's done. I find most people tend to just speak the words and not really do much else. That's not prayer, if you ask me.


Repeating a mantra is like stimming, which does also have a calming effect on the brain.


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28 Jan 2012, 5:47 pm

We are Q.M. beings in a entangled universe of course prayer works.
Besides the universe was created in a 1/0 moment - who knows what is going on - it's undefined/censored.



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28 Jan 2012, 6:15 pm

puddingmouse wrote:
TeaEarlGreyHot wrote:
Prayer is a form of meditation, depending on how it's done. I find most people tend to just speak the words and not really do much else. That's not prayer, if you ask me.


Repeating a mantra is like stimming, which does also have a calming effect on the brain.


Indeed - then it is meditative. If you're just talking to thin air, the health benefits are minimal.

I've never managed to get into that form of meditation. Focus on breathing works better for me, though I prefer doing the washing up - it shuts my brain up AND it gets the dishes washed.



artrat
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28 Jan 2012, 6:49 pm

When I was Catholic I used to prey to a death,dumb and blind God.
Thanks to Catholicism I am turned off completely by prayer.

There are people that waste their time praying to a god and then they are blown away by a bomb.
That's proof that it does not work.

Buddhist meditation is useful and relaxing. Reciting a catholic ritualistic prayer is useless since I don't believe a word of it.
I have become very angry with everyting associated with an all powerful god.
If there is a god he has left and will never return or he is a metaphor for nature.


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28 Jan 2012, 7:54 pm

artrat wrote:
If there is a god he has left and will never return or he is a metaphor for nature.


Nature started it all. I think that's where the idea of God first came from; our ancestors hearing thunder claps, seeing the vast ocean, etc, and interpreting all these things as somehow alive, and in charge.



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28 Jan 2012, 8:55 pm

I picked the first choice, but it's not entirely accurate. I'm an idealist when it comes to theory of mind, and I think, at least in a small way, our thoughts influence the reality around us. So having positive thoughts might in some cases make positive outcomes more likely. But none of the choices really match what I believe is likely.

I don't think any God is 'answering' prayers, but I think no matter what your religion is, there's a pretty good chance your thoughts are telekinetically influencing reality in a positive way.

If that is true, than voodoo might have some truth to it as well?



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28 Jan 2012, 9:23 pm

donnie_darko wrote:
I picked the first choice, but it's not entirely accurate. I'm an idealist when it comes to theory of mind, and I think, at least in a small way, our thoughts influence the reality around us. So having positive thoughts might in some cases make positive outcomes more likely. But none of the choices really match what I believe is likely.

I don't think any God is 'answering' prayers, but I think no matter what your religion is, there's a pretty good chance your thoughts are telekinetically influencing reality in a positive way.

If that is true, than voodoo might have some truth to it as well?


So in a sense, you think we're answering our own prayers through the influence our minds have?



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28 Jan 2012, 9:26 pm

CaptainTrips222 wrote:

So in a sense, you think we're answering our own prayers through the influence our minds have?


Pretty much! Good way to look at it.



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29 Jan 2012, 5:20 am

donnie_darko wrote:
CaptainTrips222 wrote:
So in a sense, you think we're answering our own prayers through the influence our minds have?

Pretty much! Good way to look at it.


Ah! This is that peculiar branch of deism called "The Secret".



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29 Jan 2012, 6:08 am

Prayer is a deeply personal thing. I believe that there are all sorts of prayers; Christian, Pagan, sincere, fake, etc,etc, etc. There is something to be said for prayer, but it is the same thing that can be said for being grateful, thinking good and wholesome thoughts, and letting your mind clear every once in a while. To me, it doesn't matter what it's called (praying, chanting, meditating, singing, playing instruments, writing, etc.), if it creates a calm feeling of well being, it has done it's spiritual purpose (or for the scientific types, it has effectively created electric signals in the part of the brain that controls feelings of calm) . It has benefited the person who did it. That's what matters. Words are words, but that feeling of doing what you needed to do to get to that place of pure tranquility has way more meaning than anything that could be written or said. So, since that's the case, thank you for reading this. I'll stop now and go do what I do that sends me to a tranquil place.