You are aware of the fact that it was humans who said or decided what was of God and what was not, so one believes in a human not any God.
Well sure, some of us believe in God and Christ but don’t believe people go to hell or that Atheists won’t go to heaven too if they’ve lived moral lives.
But OP, your prayers are fine. If God exists he won’t be bothered by them even though they’re not backed by any particular belief. And if he doesn’t, what does it matter?
It is a whoosh, of sorts. The entire book of genesis is like unto a poem. It was never meant to be taken literally, so the details are not very relevant.
But as far as your point goes, Noah counts as the actual nexus, the singular sire to all mankind that followed, so if you want to believe this hereditary corruption, it would have be delivered to the world off the end of his dick.
Way ahead of you, one has to point to them that ancient Egypt just ignored that “universal” flood bit.
Called it.
I would say it’s not particularly different than knocking on wood. Seems to be somewhat in our nature to try to perform magic every now and then, even when we know it won’t work.
For what it’s worth, I don’t see any harm in an agnostic or atheist praying. It seems somewhat axiomatic to me that if you pray to a God who isn’t there, He won’t mind.
Unless you’re suggesting that your prayer might be the last one needed to cause the God of the Hebrews to suddenly spring into metaphysical existence. In which case, maybe you should really try to stop, because He’s an asshole.
It just occurred to me that your agnostic prayer seems to have something in common with masturbation–in which case you’re pretending to have another sort of relations with a person who isn’t there (hopefully, with less begging). And they usually don’t mind either, unless that’s part of the fantasy…
The point is, prayer and masturbation are both harmless activities that mostly take place in your head and make you feel better. You shouldn’t feel guilty about either one, but I think masturbation is generally more effective at making you feel better.
However, if you insist on *talking *about it, you’ll find people will feign more interest in your prayer stories than your self-love escapades.
-VM
I thought I could let this lie, but I find that I can’t. Here’s the thing about praying for other people: It’s really easy, and probably does them no good whatsoever, but allows you to feel better about yourself. If these people really are important to you, and you really want them to be happy, then you could try to DO something to improve their lives. But that might be difficult. However, silently wishing good things for them is unbelievably fast and easy. Plus, if the magic works, then you’ve just done a good deed and can give yourself a hearty pat on the back.
“I’m so happy to hear about your good news. You know, I’ve been praying for it.” So, really, you should be thanking m**e.
I can’t help but believe that this kind of thinking explains all the damn colored ribbons we see–most notably the pink ones in the fall. The ribbons are cheap, contribute virtually nothing to efforts to eradicate breast cancer, but allow you to tell yourself that you’ve joined into the fight. “See this? I’m fighting breast cancer right now. What are you doing?”
As for me, I’m still thinking about getting a custom T-shirt, with a picture of a great big colorful ribbon, along with the text, “THANK ME. I made a token gesture today.”
-VM
Man, this thread wandered a little bit from the OP. I kind of expected the first few postings to include the Agnostic’s Prayer.
[QUOTE=Roger Zelazny]
Insofar as I may be heard by anything, which may or may not care what I say, I ask, if it matters, that you be forgiven for anything you may have done or failed to do which requires forgiveness. Conversely, if not forgiveness but something else may be required to ensure any possible benefit for which you may be eligible after the destruction of your body, I ask that this, whatever it may be, be granted or withheld, as the case may be, in such a manner as to insure your receiving said benefit. I ask this in my capacity as your elected intermediary between yourself and that which may not be yourself, but which may have an interest in the matter of your receiving as much as it is possible for you to receive of this thing, and which may in some way be influenced by this ceremony. Amen.
[/QUOTE]
Buns
I also was brought up in a Christian religious environment and taught to pray. Now in my sixties, I realise I wasted a lot of time identifying with theism’s reasons for quiet reflection and being confused about it’s value.
Instead of saying the word prayer, why not say, meditations or reflection or getting in touch with my/your real feelings. It doesn’t matter wether there is or is not a god for you to include in these moments. It only matters that they are important for you and bring clarity.
Humans are complex beings, the road to being truly oneself has no ending. You deserve clarity without the un needed myths and theist dogma.
I don’t know if I am a thiest or agnostic. I tend to believe that something started all of this. On a concious level I tend to accept a Christian Diety. I like having a running around God I can talk to on a regular basis. On a deeper level I don’t believe that any religion has anything to do with reality but it doesn’t seem to bother me. I figure I am doing the best I can with what I have to work with.