Someone dear to them asked them to?
Your mother believes in God. You do not. She knows you do not and you know that she believes with all her soul
Suddenly she falls deathly ill and asks you to pray for her. What do you do?
Do you
Pray?
Don't pray, but tell her you have?
Tell her right then and there her beliefs are crap and you won't bother praying?
Other?
Would atheists pray if . . . .
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achilles12604
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Would atheists pray if . . . .
Post #1It is a first class human tragedy that people of the earth who claim to believe in the message of Jesus, whom they describe as the Prince of Peace, show little of that belief in actual practice.
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McCulloch
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Post #2
Oh, mom, you know that God won't listen to the likes of me.
Examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good.
First Epistle to the Church of the Thessalonians
The truth will make you free.
Gospel of John
First Epistle to the Church of the Thessalonians
The truth will make you free.
Gospel of John
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Furrowed Brow
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Post #3
I’d not pray. I have a good relationship with my mother who is still young for age. She is not a formal believer. Religion does not play a role in her life but If pushed I think she’ll probably come out as agnostic. However she knows I’m an atheist.
Lets say mom was deeply religious, she would still know I'm a strong atheist. She could ask. I’d decline. If she knew me well enough then she would know the answer. If she didn’t then what kind of mom is that?
Also there is a mile wide black streak of irreverent humour that runs through our family. So it is probably something we would crack a completely inappropriate joke about that only we would find funny.
I'm more likely to tell her: quit the crazy talk the morphine is making you delirious.
Lets say mom was deeply religious, she would still know I'm a strong atheist. She could ask. I’d decline. If she knew me well enough then she would know the answer. If she didn’t then what kind of mom is that?
Also there is a mile wide black streak of irreverent humour that runs through our family. So it is probably something we would crack a completely inappropriate joke about that only we would find funny.
I'm more likely to tell her: quit the crazy talk the morphine is making you delirious.
Re: Would atheists pray if . . . .
Post #4achilles12604 wrote:Someone dear to them asked them to?
Your mother believes in God. You do not. She knows you do not and you know that she believes with all her soul
Suddenly she falls deathly ill and asks you to pray for her. What do you do?
Do you
Pray?
Don't pray, but tell her you have?
Tell her right then and there her beliefs are crap and you won't bother praying?
Other?
Pray. It might not hold much meaning for me, but if it provides her with comfort, who am I to deny this?
What we do for ourselves dies with us,
What we do for others and the world remains
and is immortal.
-Albert Pine
Never be bullied into silence.
Never allow yourself to be made a victim.
Accept no one persons definition of your life; define yourself.
-Harvey Fierstein
What we do for others and the world remains
and is immortal.
-Albert Pine
Never be bullied into silence.
Never allow yourself to be made a victim.
Accept no one persons definition of your life; define yourself.
-Harvey Fierstein
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The Duke of Vandals
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Re: Would atheists pray if . . . .
Post #5Your mother converts to Islam. She falls ill and asks you to pray to Allah. Or maybe she turns Hindu and asks you to pray to Vishnu. Would you do it?achilles12604 wrote:Someone dear to them asked them to?
Your mother believes in God. You do not. She knows you do not and you know that she believes with all her soul
Suddenly she falls deathly ill and asks you to pray for her. What do you do?
Do you
Pray?
Don't pray, but tell her you have?
Tell her right then and there her beliefs are crap and you won't bother praying?
Other?
-
achilles12604
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- Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2006 3:37 am
- Location: Colorado
Re: Would atheists pray if . . . .
Post #6Pray to God. After all Allah is simply the Arabic word for God.The Duke of Vandals wrote:Your mother converts to Islam. She falls ill and asks you to pray to Allah. Or maybe she turns Hindu and asks you to pray to Vishnu. Would you do it?achilles12604 wrote:Someone dear to them asked them to?
Your mother believes in God. You do not. She knows you do not and you know that she believes with all her soul
Suddenly she falls deathly ill and asks you to pray for her. What do you do?
Do you
Pray?
Don't pray, but tell her you have?
Tell her right then and there her beliefs are crap and you won't bother praying?
Other?
It is a first class human tragedy that people of the earth who claim to believe in the message of Jesus, whom they describe as the Prince of Peace, show little of that belief in actual practice.
Post #7
For the love of it all.... Can you guys actually answer the OP? Kudos to McCulloch for addressing it. But the rest, good God, is this really that difficult?
What we do for ourselves dies with us,
What we do for others and the world remains
and is immortal.
-Albert Pine
Never be bullied into silence.
Never allow yourself to be made a victim.
Accept no one persons definition of your life; define yourself.
-Harvey Fierstein
What we do for others and the world remains
and is immortal.
-Albert Pine
Never be bullied into silence.
Never allow yourself to be made a victim.
Accept no one persons definition of your life; define yourself.
-Harvey Fierstein
-
achilles12604
- Site Supporter
- Posts: 3697
- Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2006 3:37 am
- Location: Colorado
Post #8
I think Furrowed did well. That only leaves one. Of course there were only 4 responses thus far.Confused wrote:For the love of it all.... Can you guys actually answer the OP? Kudos to McCulloch for addressing it. But the rest, good God, is this really that difficult?
It is a first class human tragedy that people of the earth who claim to believe in the message of Jesus, whom they describe as the Prince of Peace, show little of that belief in actual practice.
Post #9
Gotta disagree. The OP has the presupposition attached, not one that fits neatly in with his real mother. Can't say " well, my mom is X so I wouldn't have to Y". Totally irrelevant to the thread.achilles12604 wrote:I think Furrowed did well. That only leaves one. Of course there were only 4 responses thus far.Confused wrote:For the love of it all.... Can you guys actually answer the OP? Kudos to McCulloch for addressing it. But the rest, good God, is this really that difficult?
What we do for ourselves dies with us,
What we do for others and the world remains
and is immortal.
-Albert Pine
Never be bullied into silence.
Never allow yourself to be made a victim.
Accept no one persons definition of your life; define yourself.
-Harvey Fierstein
What we do for others and the world remains
and is immortal.
-Albert Pine
Never be bullied into silence.
Never allow yourself to be made a victim.
Accept no one persons definition of your life; define yourself.
-Harvey Fierstein
-
Furrowed Brow
- Site Supporter
- Posts: 3720
- Joined: Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:29 am
- Location: Here
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Post #10
achilles12604 wrote:I think Furrowed did well. That only leaves one. Of course there were only 4 responses thus far.Confused wrote:For the love of it all.... Can you guys actually answer the OP? Kudos to McCulloch for addressing it. But the rest, good God, is this really that difficult?
My waffle was giving a bit of context. I can say stuff like that without it hurting mom's feelings or disappointing her. But lets give mom a personality transplant. It's still going to be: quit the crazy talk mama or I'll turn the morphine off. If she expected a different answer then she don't know me very well and had probably tried to put me up for adoption years ago.
