A recent announcement revealed that Chicago’s Cardinal George has a recurrence of cancer. Not good. Sorry. And a number of people are interviewed on the “news” to give their responses to hearing of his health problems. And many of them say they are going to pray for him. And I’m wondering what the hell these people are thinking. Are they going to pray that his cancer disappears? And if they don’t pray, he’s done for? Nice God who runs things that way! Are they going to pray that he goes to heaven when he dies? Where the hell else would a Cardinal go? What did all the previous prayers do for the guy? Just got him a recurrence of cancer, that’s all. Just what do these idiots think that talking to the invisible guy in the sky is going to do for the situation? Might God say, “Hey, I didn’t realize I gave cancer to someone you care about. I wasn’t paying attention. Ok, I’ll take it back.” If they don’t pray for his health, is he a goner? Is God going to smite him a shot to the head if He doesn’t hear from the parishioners? Is God waiting to get the vote from the masses before making a decision on the guy’s health? What do these people think they’re doing? Jeezus - religion makes idiots of people. Or, idiots are drawn to religion.
I think prayer is redundant. If you believe, when you pray, you’re telling God what you want. But if he’s all-knowing, he already knows. So what’s the point of praying?
I don’t understand it.
A question I long to have answered: A car plowed into a group of specators at a race. Someone on FB spewed the usual tripe about praying for them.
My though was that wouldn’t it have been awfully nice of God to keep the car from running them over in the first place.
The standard answer is that he doesn’t do that, it’s mysterious, etc.
So what…he just sits back and lets it happen, then waits for the prayers to roll in? All the while thinking ‘If I don’t get enouch prayers, those people are fucked?’ Kind of a dickish move, if you ask me.
You know, because it’s horrible when people who don’t believe the same things you do, engage in activities you don’t believe in and which do you no harm. :rolleyes:
Edit: In response to OP.
Like start threads in message boards?
Except when those people try to get everyone else to do it their way, such as in school, at a baseball game, at a graduation, etc. If some of these idiots had their way, we’d be forced to participate in group prayer at any public gathering - like going to a concert. They’re idiots, I tell ya.
Goddamned fucking right. I don’t believe in starting threads on message boards.
“Do not look forward to what might happen tomorrow. The same everlasting Father who cares for you today, will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either he will shield you from suffering, or he will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.”
Saint Francis de Sales
Peace be with you, CC! 
Because it will make them feel better, because they have been told, by people they trust, that it will help, and because it’s a kind of paying-forward… if they pray for this guy, then maybe someday people will pray for them when they’re in trouble, and because it might work.
How about if we say “we are rooting for Cardinal George?” That is what prayer amounts to IMO. I am a non-believer yet I often try to send some sort of mental help to my favorite sports team or to friends I want to do well. It isn’t prayer and I know it is useless so I wouldn’t normally tell anyone I am doing it, but I do urge my team to win. The difference with believers is that they have a name for it and don’t mind telling people they do it.
Mods, could we force a group prayer here in the Pit, please?
I’ll bet if you were on the Titanic on that fateful morning, you’d have found a little prayer anything but offensive.
What about all the people who pray that someone recovers from some illness or injury, but the person dies? The shrug their shoulders - “It was God’s will.” So why the fuck did they pray in the first place? They’re idiots, I tell ya. And if I were on the Titanic and someone was praying, I’d suggest they shut the fuck up and put on their life vest. Shiftless, the important similarity between you and them is that you both think that hoping/praying/rooting will actually affect the outcome. Such superstitious thinking is troubling in modern society, although it IS everywhere.
Yeah, but there was no indication in your OP that any of the people who said they were going to pray for Cardinal George want to force anyone else to participate in prayer, group or otherwise, so I’m assuming that that wasn’t what you meant to Pit.
As for why people would pray for Cardinal George: well, maybe he’d appreciate it, him being a well-known religious figure and all.
Personally, although I’m a non-praying atheist, it makes sense to me what some religious people say about prayer being a spiritual exercise that “opens the heart and mind to God”. Translating that into my atheist-speak, I think it means that if belief in God is emotionally comforting and/or spiritually uplifting for you, then prayer is a process of getting into a frame of mind that’s most receptive to that comfort or uplift.
I doubt that most believers think that prayer is literally a matter of giving God instructions for carrying out your wishes.
Everybody dies far as I know.
What part of shiftless’s statement “I know it is useless” gave you the idea that he thinks hoping/praying/rooting “will actually affect the outcome”?
What I really hate is all the bullshit prayers/praises over sports. If God isn’t gonna prevent widespread famine in other parts of the world, why the fuck does he care if Tebow throws a touchdown? Either he has a messed up sense of priorities, or Christians need to acknowledge that not every single thing that happens each day is part of God’s plan; otherwise, we have no free will and if we have no free will, then get off my back since it’s not my fault that I don’t believe.
Exactly why I can’t get too worked up about this. I mean, if I were the (or even a) Cardinal, I’d hope for a lot of prayer. Hell, I’d be doing a ton of it myself.
I haven’t yet. Ergo I am Immortal.
Umm you mean like at work.. right after the initial meeting of the day? Yeah.. this yankee just kinds of looks around..