Welcome to the discussion... Somehow, religion makes it so very easy for people to link two things as cause and effect without any proper justification. They do not need any evidence, can never show any proof, and invariably only demonstrate sheer coincidences. Christians, for example, can offer nothing to show any relationship or linkage but instead paint the false picture that since they “have found Jesus” their lives have changed for the better, and only good things have been happening to them since. Any bad thing that happens to them is assumed to be just Satan trying to test their faith, which of course contradicts their other theory of God being all-powerful and in control of everything that happens.
Yet, it always turns out that the only thing that has changed is their perception of reality. And so, faced with a tremendous lack of evidence to support their theory, these persons invariably choose not to find answers to the questions: “Could it all be just a coincidence?” and “Would these things have happened to me whether I did ‘X’ or not?” If God is all-seeing and all-knowing then He can read all our minds, so there is no need for prayer, especially doing so aloud. Unless, of course, it is not really intended for His benefit but instead is being done for some ulterior motive such as to generate mass hysteria or to impress other people. This latter explains the baseless nature of most crusades for public prayer.
As another example, if you are a Christian who is mediocre at sports and is competing to win an athletic race, your religion permits you to pray for God to let you win even though based upon the skills and preparedness of the competition you should come in dead last. If we assume that as a result of prayer God causes the leading contender to stumble and twist his leg giving you precious seconds enough to let you win, you, the triumphant Christian, would then claim the victory and thank God for answering your prayer, totally ignoring the evil that God did in interfering in the race to enable an undeserving person like you to win. However, if you were the one who stumbled you would of course blame the Devil for the same deed.
Somehow, religion makes it so very easy for people to link two things as cause and effect without any proper justification. They do not need any evidence, can never show any proof, and invariably only demonstrate sheer coincidences. Christians, for example, can offer nothing to show any relationship or linkage but instead paint the false picture that since they “have found Jesus” their lives have changed for the better, and only good things have been happening to them since. Any bad thing that happens to them is assumed to be just Satan trying to test their faith, which of course contradicts their other theory of God being all-powerful and in control of everything that happens.
Yet, it always turns out that the only thing that has changed is their perception of reality. And so, faced with a tremendous lack of evidence to support their theory, these persons invariably choose not to find answers to the questions: “Could it all be just a coincidence?” and “Would these things have happened to me whether I did ‘X’ or not?” If God is all-seeing and all-knowing then He can read all our minds, so there is no need for prayer, especially doing so aloud. Unless, of course, it is not really intended for His benefit but instead is being done for some ulterior motive such as to generate mass hysteria or to impress other people. This latter explains the baseless nature of most crusades for public prayer.
As another example, if you are a Christian who is mediocre at sports and is competing to win an athletic race, your religion permits you to pray for God to let you win even though based upon the skills and preparedness of the competition you should come in dead last. If we assume that as a result of prayer God causes the leading contender to stumble and twist his leg giving you precious seconds enough to let you win, you, the triumphant Christian, would then claim the victory and thank God for answering your prayer, totally ignoring the evil that God did in interfering in the race to enable an undeserving person like you to win. However, if you were the one who stumbled you would of course blame the Devil for the same deed.
What do you think?