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?

My mother was a lapsed Catholic who turned to witchcraft later in life. My father an atheist for a time although he says he is Christian now.
So yes it sounds like you were brought up in a family & country with confused (but christian) religious beliefs. Had you been brought up in India by a lapsed Hindu and a Hindu with doubts you would now almost definitely be a Hindu. No choice involved just an accident of where you where born.

I dont think my children have ever stepped inside of a church and the only time they heard of jesus was in a school RE lesson. Because I want them to have a knowledge of the world before they are exposed to any religious indoctrination. I would bet a lot of money none of them will ever 'choose' to believe in any of the 10,000 deities around. Its a choice I made for them, not a choice they made.

how apparently contradictory concepts can fit into the bigger picture of how the world around us operates
You mean, either the world is flat or it is an oblate spheroid. Only one is true so we look at the evidence and determined it was an oblate spheroid.

What contradictory concepts are you talking about? because we have a lot of evidence that can answer a lot of questions. You just seem to want to keep saying, "it could be either flat or round we just don't know!"

So yes it sounds like you were brought up in a family & country with confused (but christian) religious beliefs. Had you been brought up in India by a lapsed Hindu and a Hindu with doubts you would now almost definitely be a Hindu. No choice involved just an accident of where you where born.

I find that conclusion of me very reductive and patronising. I think I am more likely too know my own thought processes and what choices I have made than you, as someone who doesn't even know me.

If I made the equivalent conclusions about the reason you are apparently atheist I expect you would not hesitate to criticise those conclusions.

You mean, either the world is flat or it is an oblate spheroid. Only one is true so we look at the evidence and determined it was an oblate spheroid.

You really love your cliches don't you?

How do you, personally, discern which is which in yourself and others Hush?

If you're getting at confirmation bias being subliminally at work to produce a conclusion it works both ways. In fact IME it works the opposite way far more often.

The objective evidence is evaluated and processed subconsciously.

How do you know?

Because brain scans have proved it.

Question for you: do you think there's sometimes a difference in intensity and focus between those who come to a religion as adults and those who are more inured to the message having been exposed to it since childhood?

Being on fire for the lord as opposed to gently smouldering if you like?

Question for you: do you think there's sometimes a difference in intensity and focus between those who come to a religion as adults and those who are more inured to the message having been exposed to it since childhood?

Everybody is different. I don't make generalisations.

In fact IME it works the opposite way for those brought up in it from birth far more often.

Because brain scans have proved it.

Interesting. Can you point me in the direction of some of the research?

it works the opposite way

What works the opposite way?

IME it works the opposite way for those brought up in it from birth far more often.

Why have you done brain scans on them which show this conclusively, Hush?

I think I am more likely too know my own thought processes and what choices I have made than you

I am not arguing I know the choices you have made, I am arguing that its not possible for anyone to choose their beliefs. You have explained yourself that you grew up with the Christian god as the default background religion, so completely predictable that you believe in one of the christian gods.

All the evidence around the world shows that your religion is a reflection of the culture you are raised in.

If I made the equivalent conclusions about the reason you are apparently atheist You can if you want, I am happy to explore these reasons. I don't know why I am an atheist, it was never a choice I made and I have found no evidence in my lifetime that even hints there might be deities up there playing a cosmic game of dice.

I don't know why I am an atheist, it was never a choice I made

I think the nickname you have given yourself quite ironic in that respect.

Sorry the irony has passed me by. I don't see the connection between a fictional American TV show about zombies and a debate about choosing to believe in jesus/praying.

Are you referring to resurrection of Jesus as meaning he was a zombie? Or maybe equating the zombie apocalypse to god destroying the world at the end of the Bible? I dont get it.

I am arguing that its not possible for anyone to choose their beliefs.

On what basis? Your own understanding of your own experience? Why would that be more valid than my own? How does cultural indoctrination explain the occurrence of atheism in Christian societies? Or any people who go against the predominant belief system?

Walkingdead, you've not got it.

Can you point me in the direction of some of the research?

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2882379/

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3032808/

Why have you done brain scans on them which show this conclusively, Hush?

Again not sure what you're getting at . The subject is confirmation bias.

I'm sorry I don't see how that study proves your point, Hush.

The point about sensing danger. Which you said does not involve evaluating objective evidence.

The subject is confirmation bias.

Just because confirmation bias exists does mean it operates in the way you claim in "those brought up in it from birth far more often". Or indeed that it is possible to make these type of generalisations at all accurately.

does not involve evaluating objective evidence

The evidence is not purely objective. It is subjective because it is received through an individual processing information gained from their own sensory systems. Which vary from individual to individual and across cultures.

Just because confirmation bias exists does mean it operates in the way you claim in "those brought up in it from birth far more often". Or indeed that it is possible to make these type of generalisations at all accurately

Which is why I qualified it with 'IME'. I know anecdotal evidence doesn't count but thought I'd put it on the table anyway.

https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/45975Chapterr_3.pdf

I know anecdotal evidence doesn't count but thought I'd put it on the table anyway.

So if you know 'anecdotal evidence doesn't count' why do you believe what you said?

The evidence is not purely objective. It is subjective because it is received through an individual processing information gained from their own sensory systems. Which vary from individual to individual and across cultures.

OK. Next time I'm the first to see a tiger on the loose I'll do the running and leave whoever I'm with to process it in their own way. What could go wrong?

why do you believe what you said?

Because it's my experience.