Poll of the Day > People on my Facebook are praying for hurricane victims

(+) Yeah! (+)

Yeah, good job. That'll help for sure. Yup.

Maybe it'll make the hurricanes go away?
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That's an evil thing to do, I'd pray for people's well-being.
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It's the best one can do in lieu of actually going there and helping.
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So they're admitting God has a plan but they think theirs is better?

SunWuKung420 posted...

It's the best one can do in lieu of actually going there and helping.

Better than donating money/food to a charity that helps the flood victims or volunteering your time to a local charity that's collecting stuff to send down there?
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It's a nice gesture.

Pray the Hurricanes away. Surely that will do something.
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*tells people on Facebook that he's praying for hurricane victims*

I'm helping!
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Also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXrB7Y6gVN8
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3edgy5me
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

Maybe it'll make the hurricanes go away?

Rain, rain go away. Come again some other day!
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Jen0125 posted...

AllstarSniper32 posted...

Maybe it'll make the hurricanes go away?

Rain, rain go away. That's what all my haters say!

My pockets stuck on overload, my rain never evaporates
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Some people are Christian. Deal with it. If you think praying is stupid and/or foolish, fine. But why bitch about it on PotD?

Kyuubi4269 posted...

That's an evil thing to do, I'd pray for people's well-being.

LOL
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mipond posted...

It's a nice gesture.

It's a selfish gesture
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Clench281 posted...

mipond posted...

It's a nice gesture.

It's a selfish gesture

Praying for another's suffering to end is selfish? <insert jlawok.gif>
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Zangulus posted...

lmao

SunWuKung420 posted...

Clench281 posted...

mipond posted...

It's a nice gesture.

It's a selfish gesture

Praying for another's suffering to end is selfish? <insert jlawok.gif>

It's mostly just self-gratification. The value of prayer is introspective, not actual power to make a difference on its own. Praying in regards to disaster victims should end with an answer to the question of "what can I do to help?", not "okay I've done enough back to watching my soaps."

have you ever said "good luck" to someone op? it's the same thing
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_AdjI_ posted...

Praying in regards to disaster victims should end with an answer to the question of "what can I do to help?"

For many, this is all they can do and they truly believe that it can help. Does intent count for nothing?

Kyuubi4269 posted...

That's an evil thing to do, I'd pray for people's well-being.

Got me good, made me choke on my drink. 10/10 would laugh again.
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Rasmoh posted...

Does intent count for nothing?

It counts for "you're not an incomparable scumbag who doesn't even feel bad that people are suffering," but that's about it. Intent's not going to rebuild any houses, and the victims knowing that there are people out there who aren't completely apathetic about their plight is only the barest minimum of human decency, not anything that's actually going to help. Might as well use a profile picture filter for all the good it'll do.

I yelled for Superman to go fix it, but I don't think he heard me.
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_AdjI_ posted...

Might as well use a profile picture filter for all the good it'll do.

That's an awfully bitter outlook you have. Again, many people who pray genuinely believe it can help and it may very well be the only thing they can do. It's pettiness at it's finest to disparage people for such a thing.
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green dragon posted...

_AdjI_ posted...

It's mostly just self-gratification

No it isnt, at least not more so than sending supplies. People that are praying believe that they are helping. It's no more self-gratifying than sending supplies down. You could argue that people helping in any way is self-gratifying

If I sent supplies to Bermuda because I believed it would help, should I be lauded for trying to make a difference, or criticized for not caring enough about the issue to learn that Barbuda and Bermuda are not the same place? There is no reason to believe that prayer alone will make a difference. Anyone that actually cares about disaster victims has paid enough attention to realize this, just as anyone who actually cares about the victims would pay enough attention to make sure they sent supplies to the right island. The only ones that don't are the ones for whom "k I prayed for them back to other stuff" is the full extent of their attention to the suffering, and that's not caring about it. That's briefly acknowledging that it sucks, which is the barest minimum standard for human decency.

Again, kudos to them for meeting the minimum standards for basic human decency, since having even minimally decent people improves the world, but praying for disaster victims (especially publicly) and doing nothing beyond that is pretty much the humanitarian version of masturbation.

_AdjI_ posted...

There is no reason to believe that prayer alone will make a difference.

Patently untrue in the eyes of a religious person.

_AdjI_ posted...

just as anyone who actually cares about the victims would pay enough attention to make sure they sent supplies to the right island.

Again, many of these people don't have the means to aid in any other way, but truly believe that prayer can help. It's truly abhorrent how petty you are about this.
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Rasmoh posted...

_AdjI_ posted...

There is no reason to believe that prayer alone will make a difference.

Patently untrue in the eyes of a religious person.

_AdjI_ posted...

just as anyone who actually cares about the victims would pay enough attention to make sure they sent supplies to the right island.

Again, many of these people don't have the means to aid in any other way, but truly believe that prayer can help. It's truly abhorrent how petty you are about this.

Why do you think people advertise their prayers, other than social benefit of influencing others' perspective of the person offering prayers? Does posting about praying for someone have more power than simply praying to yourself? Is it like a tree falling in the woods? If a person prays without posting about it, does it have any effect?
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I'm sure it helps immensely especially for morale, that someone is thinking of you.

I never understood why someone would be so bothered by someone praying that they'd go online to complain about it.
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XlaxJynx007 posted...

I never understood why someone would be so bothered by someone praying that they'd go online to complain about it.

Ikr? It takes a huge commitment to make a post on GameFAQs.
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Rasmoh posted...

Patently untrue in the eyes of a religious person.

Unless it's a rational religious person that understands how to empirically observe cause and effect relationships. The notion of prayer alone having an impact on the world is profoundly arrogant (presuming God does control such events, praying to change them is believing that one's opinion is somehow better than whatever plan God has and that he should change it) and demonstrably false. A person who's rationally incorporated religion into their lives in an effort to actually make the world a better place doesn't treat prayer as a magic cure-all, they treat it as an introspective opportunity to weigh their own thoughts against the will and spirit of God, and use the insight from that introspection to guide their actions.

People that announce a token prayer for suffering people on Facebook are just paying lip service. It's nothing they've put any serious emotion or thought into, it's just a vague hope that maybe this time something will happen and that prayer might help. It's absolutely an example of slacktivism, no more meaningful than putting a Puerto Rican flag filter on their profile picture.

Rasmoh posted...

Again, many of these people don't have the means to aid in any other way,

Everyone can do more than type a dozen words on Facebook. Everyone.

dedbus posted...

I'm sure it helps immensely especially for morale, that someone is thinking of you.

It does, provided that's actually done personally. Nobody cares that some stranger wrote "My thoughts and prayers are with the victims of *disaster of the week*" on Facebook, because that's completely impersonal and effortless. If you want to express sympathy, do it personally.

My favorite people are those that claim praying is pointless and then wish something would happen.
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SunWuKung420 posted...

My favorite people are those that claim praying is pointless and then wish something would happen.

The key difference being that people who hope things work out don't have any expectations in that regard, or feel like they're playing any role in whatever comes. I hope Irma doesn't devastate Florida as badly as it very much looks like it can. Any decent person would hope that. But I don't expect that hope to change anything, and I know that I'm not going to make anything better unless I actually do something to make it better.

_AdjI_ posted...

SunWuKung420 posted...

My favorite people are those that claim praying is pointless and then wish something would happen.

The key difference being that people who hope things work out don't have any expectations in that regard, or feel like they're playing any role in whatever comes. I hope Irma doesn't devastate Florida as badly as it very much looks like it can. Any decent person would hope that. But I don't expect that hope to change anything, and I know that I'm not going to make anything better unless I actually do something to make it better.

I've been actively trying to blow it back out to sea.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feXnZZ2o5ys

Clench281 posted...

mipond posted...

It's a nice gesture.

It's a selfish gesture

It's a selfish gesture if the person is praying to make a show of how "holy" he is. Anyone who does that is going against the teaching of Matthew 6: 5-6.
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The mentality is since God will decide when the world will end, global warming can be considered God's wrath. I've heard this from two people.

So basically people just pray "God quit fucking with us please, please stop, we love you".

It does exactly as much good as complaining about praying does.

Saw this so I decided to post it here.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DJO7T7PUIAAyo1a.jpg
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

Saw this so I decided to post it here.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DJO7T7PUIAAyo1a.jpg

A person can do both.
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SunWuKung420 posted...

AllstarSniper32 posted...

Saw this so I decided to post it here.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DJO7T7PUIAAyo1a.jpg

A person can do both.

This is the internet, of course they can't do both!!! Everything has to be one sided!!!
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Prayer decreased unemployment didn't it?
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I like this topic's ID number. It had something going for it.
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http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/global-warming-god-end-times/

One shouldn't be so cynical about others' beliefs. More often, people demonstrate good gestures and thats more than enough.

When people die, others offer their condolences. Is this helpful at all too? By your logic, you shouldn't accept these condolences as they aren't REALLY PHYSICALLY helpful. But that's not the point is it? The point is that these people reached out and offered their emotional support.

That's all there is to it.
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thecolorgreen posted...

have you ever said "good luck" to someone op? it's the same thing

This, really. Don't know why everyone is thinking of themselves as super-genius by saying prayers aren't gonna help them or build a house of them.
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spooky96 posted...

thecolorgreen posted...

have you ever said "good luck" to someone op? it's the same thing

This, really. Don't know why everyone is thinking of themselves as super-genius by saying prayers aren't gonna help them or build a house of them.

It's not the same thing though. Saying good luck to somebody is letting them know you personally have good intent for them and back them. A prayer in the general direction of a couple states is not only completely impersonal, it's also a sick joke for religious people to hope for your protection against an act of God.
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Kyuubi4269 posted...

spooky96 posted...

thecolorgreen posted...

have you ever said "good luck" to someone op? it's the same thing

This, really. Don't know why everyone is thinking of themselves as super-genius by saying prayers aren't gonna help them or build a house of them.

It's not the same thing though. Saying good luck to somebody is letting them know you personally have good intent for them and back them. A prayer in the general direction of a couple states is not only completely impersonal, it's also a sick joke for religious people to hope for your protection against an act of God.

Completely untrue.

True prayer is powerful to the believers and to the truly devoted. It is very personal. It's an emotional way to reach out to people and their own personal attempt to help them in their own way. It has nothing to do with the receivers of the prayers of being unbelievers.

People can believe whatever they want to believe. Here, intention is key. And I believe that if their prayers are true and their hearts are in the right place, there's no cause for offence. They can choose to just accept the gesture for what it really is: a kind and thoughtful gesture. Or they can twist it into something vile (although I wish people wouldn't....The world can be a kinder place if only people were less cynical).

There really isn't a need to read more into these things. They meant well. That's all there is to it.
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Alexandra_Trent posted...

It's an emotional way to reach out to people and their own personal attempt to help them in their own way.

It's their personal way to reach out to the faceless mass representing good people they want to exist, to help the concept of good people being hurt.

Everybody passively hopes that good people won't be hurt for no reason, it doesn't need saying and certainly doesn't make you a good person for not wanting people to pointlessly die for nothing.

Alexandra_Trent posted...

They can choose to just accept the gesture for what it really is: a kind and thoughtful gesture.

Self-aggrandizing is very unchristian, to imply your wish should defend people you don't even know against God's will places far too much importance on God's several billion subjects.

What they do is self-affirmation that there is a God who won't let good people like themselves die pointlessly like they fear. All their prayers are saying is "Only bad people will be killed by God's will and I'm a good person so if that ever happened to me, I shouldn't die!".
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I go with the man (who was atheist btw) who said that, and I'm paraphrasing here "maybe the Christians are on to something. Sharing the pain and suffering you're going through with other people helps to make it bearable." That is the most honest assessment of the power of prayer and shared suffering that I've heard either Christian or non-Christian utter.

GastroFan posted...

I go with the man (who was atheist btw) who said that, and I'm paraphrasing here "maybe the Christians are on to something. Sharing the pain and suffering you're going through with other people helps to make it bearable." That is the most honest assessment of the power of prayer and shared suffering that I've heard either Christian or non-Christian utter.

I don't really think a quick and trite "praying for you" does much of that. Just like how saying "hello" doesn't mean you're genuinely happy to see someone. It's just one of those programmed responses you have to keep up appearances. It isn't harmful, but it probably doesn't do any good either.