Atheists, Agnostics: Do you still pray?

Eh

For people who left, not only the organization, but also the Canaanite/Judaic/Christian/Islamic/Bahai God, do you still pray?

Before we left the group we (my wife and I) were questioning The Bible and the existence of God. Being Witnesses, we were uneducated and never heard of things like Pascal's wager, but we (my wife especially) had come to a similar idea - even if the whole thing were ballocks, there was little harm in continuing. So my wife continued to pray after I had stopped.

She still does. She doesn't hold out any possibility that this guy is real, but she still prays. It's no longer a Pascal's wager thing at all, but I think that's fine because prayer probably has some positive psychological effects and there doesn't need to be a receiving end for some good to come of it.

I decided to follow her original idea though. I'm kind of covering my bases, so to speak. If he were to exist, I guess I'd want to have a dialog with him. And I don't see it hurting anything if he doesn't. So you know, every time I see a particularly sad situation (crippled or mentally handicapped person, kids getting shot up, genocides, etc.) I say a little prayer.

And you know, it doesn't always make sense (the content of the prayers). I mean, Jehovah doesn't have a mother so certain titles I bestow on him have little meaning. He isn't a physical being so there's certain things he can't do. To be sure, I do add things in like, "Why don't you materialize a body and go..." And I don't know Hebrew so I can't talk to him in his native tongue, but I know lots of single word Yiddish phrases so I throw those in sometimes too.

And it makes people feel better. I'll be with my family or some friends and maybe we pass some sad situation and I pause a minute from my conversation and when I return I say, "Sorry, I just had to say a little prayer." And they'll be like, "Oh cause of that kid in the wheelchair back there?" "Yeah," I confirm. And I think they feel good about it cause they say, "That's so nice."

So I still talk to God. How about others here... Do you still pray?

Paralipomenon

Imagine if you were God and someone was praying to you to "hedge their bets". Would you view those prayers as sincere?

I don't pray, I'm comfortable with my beliefs.

Awakened07

I dare not pray any more, of fear that Oklaphant, the God who does not tolerate that humans pray, may strike me dead if I do.

nvrgnbk

I have.

Just to check in, so to speak.

I really think He's not there.

But what do I know?

If He is there, he can read my heart and knows why I don't believe anymore.

I have good reasons.

stevenyc

every time I have a hangover.

steve

RunningMan

No, although I have been caught talking to myself. But then, I exist.

lonelysheep

Not at all. When I stopped believing in Santa Claus, I stopped writing letters to him, too. Some thiests close to me (who mask themselves as agnostic) do pray when things are tough in their lives.

ex-nj-jw

Nope - why bother? He/she/it never answers

nj

Blueblades

2,000 years of praying the prayer Jesus taught, the model prayer, etc. The deafening silence shouts out to the billions of prayers from Christians facing heavenward going to "Our Father", the Jews have the "Wailing Wall" faces to the wall, the Muslims have the rug, carpet, faces to the ground.

Worldwide religions of all sorts cry out to God, Creator, He, She, It, etc. They pray for all kinds of things, personal help, help for those sick and suffering humanity, for the dead and the living. What does this history of prayer tell you?

For some prayer has a therapeutic effect and this is good.

Do I still pray? No!

Blueblades

changeling

No. Duh...

Atheists, Agnostics: Do you still pray?

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