Being prayed for

[BuckingFrolics]

I'm an atheist and my DM knows this - indeed she and my DF raised me as one. She "found god" when my DF left in my early teens

She says she prays for me.

AIBU to tell her to stop, as I find it offensive?

Again, God isn't Gossipy Sue down the road.

He already knows you better than you even know yourself. Praying isnt going off to have a gossip. God knows the innermost heart so will kmow the exact intentions behind the prayer.

“He already knows you better than you even know yourself.”

So, no need for you to tell him then.

Honestly, this is just such a perfect example of the “Oh, just a little bit of Christianity won’t do you any harm!” mentality.

Because through prayer, we build a relationship with God. He wants to connect with us in every way. The purpose of prayer is not to give God new information, but to share information with him.

If your daughter or son became Prime Minister, you might read about it in the papers but wouldn't you want to hear it directly from them? That's part of having a relationship with someone.

As an atheist, a private prayer whispered to God doesn't have any affect on your life. I'm not dragging you to church or forcing you to read the Bible. I'm not even telling you about it. However, you want to put limitations on the content of a religious person private talks with their God. You are oppressing someone's freedom to praticise their religion.

Honestly, this is just such a perfect example of the hypocrisy of the cries of oppression from some atheists.

“The purpose of prayer is not to give God new information, but to share information with him.”

But it’s not your information-it’s mine. You are using my data to benefit you.

God isn't Gossipy Sue down the road

But at least some of those doing the praying are.

WhatisFreddoingnow you are praying for the wrong things even by the standards of your religion. Much thought has gone into understanding the conditions of Matthew 7:8-9, most canon follows Acquinas’s analysis that for prayer to be effective it must:

• its subject matter must be essential for the believer’s salvation
• must be about yourself
• must be done piously
• must be done perseveringly

Underlying all this is the idea that you must only ask for things that are possible due to god’s sanctifying grace.

Therefore praying for others is out by the tenants of your own religion.

It’s like saying it’s restricting your freedom of speech to ask you to keep something i’ve told you confidential. “I have the right to say anything to anyone- you are curtailing my freedoms by asking me not to.”

Of course you have the right-but any reasonable person would say you shouldn’t.

But as an atheist you don't believe in God so then what is a Christian doing when they pray, according to you? I guess an atheistic answer would be thinking or talking out loud to themselves. Most people think to themselves, most people have exclaimed something out loud to themselves. What is there to be angry about? Unless the content of their thoughts / exclamations is something you take issue with. But that is not about the prayer per se but their opinions.

“But you don’t believe in god so it makes no difference to you” is often used as an argument in defence things like compulsory prayer in schools and before council meetings. As I said the “Oh a little bit of Christianity does no harm” argument.
Imagine the response to a grandparent giving a baby chocolate and saying “oh, a little bit won’t do her any harm”. Everyone would be saying well no it won’t, but it’s not up to the grandparent to make that decision.

But chocolate is a tangible thing. Religion/faith isn't.

Indoctrination is rather tangible though and many religions have wrecked havoc with their beliefs.

There were prayers at my primary. By Year 5/6 I decided I didn't actually believe in God, but just bowed my head out of respect as it was technically a Christian school with a Church attached across the road. Although I never went to Church outside of school. We had a Jehovah's Witness child who was allowed to sit in the library if they did not want to be involved in any Christmas-Jesus assembly things, and read and do their own thing. You weren't forced to pray actually, but there were a lot of religious hymns obviously.

My grandmother is a deeply spiritual woman, although she doesn't believe in the Christian/Catholic tradition, nor does she subscribe to any other religion. But she does believe in some kind of Afterlife and a Higher Power... Spirits, contacting the dead, evil things that can come through ouija boards. That's her alright. She never forced it on me as a kid, but I asked her as I got older and I find it fascinating when she talks about it, while I don't share her beliefs.

If she prays for me, she doesn't tell me. I don't much care. It affects me about as much as if a bee landed on a flower 20 miles away.

The prayer and hymns etc in schools, far more of an issue than a prayer you don't know about.

I don't buy the 'you're an atheist so it makes no difference to you' idea.

The person doing the praying believes that they are interceding with someone/something that they believe is real, on behalf of the person they're praying for.

It's incredibly arrogant and it's basically saying 'I know best and I'm going to intercede on your behalf and give up this prayer to what I believe in, regardless of what you want or think'.

I don't want someone praying for me, it's their belief, not mine. Pray to your God for yourself and leave me out of it; I neither want not need your prayers.

I really can’t see why people would be bothered by this.

My DGM writes letter to the angels for me. (Eg pass my driving test,

My Christian friend said she said a prayer for me when my family was having a bad time. She also tells me Jesus loves me

My witch friend burnt sage (or something) to get rid of bad energy when I was having a shit time, she also did a spell so I’d sell my house quicker

It has no offensive baring on anyone’s life.

Some folk just love to find offence in anything!

don't buy the 'you're an atheist so it makes no difference to you' idea.

The person doing the praying believes that they are interceding with someone/something that they believe is real, on behalf of the person they're praying for.

But if you don't know about it, and as an atheist you know it's crap and there is no God, then it categorically cannot affect you. The only way it could would be 1) They tell you and you have a reaction to it, 2) There is a God and the prayer worked, making their prayer affect you, but you wouldn't believe that anyway so it still wouldn't affect you. It just seems a weird issue to get this annoyed about. There may be quite a few people who have prayed for me over the years (have some Christian friends and family) during troubled times, I wouldn't know.

OK, say you're a church-going Christian. A Satanist prays to Lucifer for you. Not bothered? You're a Tory. Someone makes a small donation to George Galloway in your name. Not bothered?

Imagine the response to a grandparent giving a baby chocolate and saying “oh, a little bit won’t do her any harm”. Everyone would be saying well no it won’t, but it’s not up to the grandparent to make that decision.

That would be the grandparent giving the baby an actual physical thing. Something which when ingested affects them physically.

Prayer is very different because prayer, from an atheistic perspective, just involves thinking or saying some words out loud, most often in a private setting. How can you expect to actually police what people think and say (as long as it is not defamatory) concerning you? Telling someone not to pray about them is akin to telling someone not to think about them or even utter their name in private.

“Telling someone not to pray about them is akin to telling someone not to think about them or even utter their name in private.”

No it isn’t. It’s asking someone not to talk about me in one specific context and in one specific way.

How is it remotely respectful to ask someone else to revise their prayers to suit your prejudice @Bertrand?

Really telling someone not to pray for them is like telling not to have any hopes and aspirations for them since hopes and aspirations can be so closely tied up with faith.

Because it is about me. My name. My data. Me.

How is it remotely respectful to involve me in something I have specifically asked not to be involved in?

No it isn’t. It’s asking someone not to talk about me in one specific context and in one specific way.

Or think! A huge amount of prayer is silent!

“Really telling someone not to pray for them is like telling not to have any hopes and aspirations for them since hopes and aspirations can be so closely tied up with faith.”

Sorry- that is just ridiculous!

Are you afraid you’ll be brought to the attention of the Almighty, Bertrand? . Maybe he already knows your name...

Me, My name. My data.

All about me, me, me and to fuck with anyone else. Some atheists here really aren’t showing themselves in a great light.