Show of Hands

I'd say both

And a brief glance over the comments shows the young immature atheists are in full force so that's my queue.

Leave while you still can!

Yes, because the 60-70 percent of people not praying are the productive ones...riiiiiiight.

You're a whore

This was not suppose to be here.

That's why he said "or."

But it's kind of like asking, "Do you wash your car or listen to music?"

they're both spiritual, relax

Meditation doesn't necessarily have anything to do with spirits.

I quit

You should. You don't know what you are talking about.

Who cares? We're not physically harming each other. So why not be honest through words

I'm just saying they should be respectful, you don't see me on SOH insulting other people, and ridiculing them.

You see me doing it though

It's therapeutic

Therapeutic to you, not to me

Good thing I'm not forcing you to match my behavior then

Good

He has a really low self esteem

We're not puppets. We have free will.

l1b3rtar1an I need Jesus and am changed. I've had tons of crap in my life (and tragedy) and get that we're not puppets. If you're right, nothing lost. If I'm right, eternal life with Jesus gained. I hope you would at least give it some thought.

I don't remember the poll saying anything about begging.

My brain won't allow me to believe in a magic man on the off chance not not doing so would mean hell. It's essentially a terrorist threat, and I just don't respond to that stuff

This jesus changed my life is a textbook definition of the placebo effect.

But to comment on you pointing out my options if I'm right or wrong. I can't become unconvinced that there is no God solely off of a "what if I'm wrong" scenario.

If I did I'd be lying to myself, because for me to change my opinions I need EVIDENCE, not just some threatening idea of eternity in hell. What if you are wrong about all the other possibly true Gods?

You believe in the Christian God so strongly yet it's only because you were born into it. Most Christians have not looked at the possibility of other religions because they have been brainwashed from a young age.

You could convince anyone if you taught them something from infancy to adulthood, especially if everyone around them, friends, family, teachers, etc, all also believe it is true.

First off, do you believe that Jesus even existed?

And blueoctopus, no, begging was not in the question. I'm commenting on the basic idea of prayer to save a loved one. "Please! Oh Heavenly Father. Save this woman dying of cancer" That's begging.

To me, there's a reason for everything that happens. Sometimes, I have no clue why until years down the road.
Praying is more of building a relationship with God/Jesus. I guess the closest scenario is like children to parents. The child wants...

Cont'd... something, but the parents don't always say yes because they know better than the children. That's the easiest way I can put it.

The children can scream and shout about the things they want/need etc. but they might now always get it.

Correction: *not

I don't know. He may have, or maybe not. We'll never know

@blueoctopus. People use prayer in an attempt to save someone from illness just as much as they do to just talk to God. Its not just a small group of people either,.....

........ everyone who prays usually throws in a line like "Please God, help ____ through his/her illness.", including pastors! So prayer is definitely considered a means to save someone from dying of an illness, whether you consider it or not.

Believing in God isn't like a trade agreement: I'll continue to pray to you (and believe in you) if you save this person. That's not how God is or how he works. Praying is showing you have faith in Him. If the person dies, then we move on with life.

And the life of a person isn't based on a prayer. We're not praying to a genie in the sky who does whatever we say, that's not how it works. Your personal belief on how our religion works is wrong.

I always find it amusing when people tell me what god is thinking. If there is a god, you have no idea what he's like. It certainly won't be anything like he is in the bible, unless the creator of the universe is a petulant child

@blueoctopus I didn't say people pray as if it were a trade agreement, however, it is a FACT that people pray in hope that their loved ones get better. Whether or not that's how you view it is irrelevant. It happens all the time.

"it is a FACT that people pray in hope that their loved ones get better."

Or that their sports team wins the championship

Exactly @logicman81.
A perfect, omnibenevolent God shouldn't want or need you to worship him like a king. And definitely shouldn't send you to an eternity of hell for not worshiping/believing in him.

It's like going to a charity and donating $100,000 and saying "Now WORSHIP me, for I am your philanthropist. If you don't I'll take my money back"

Holy shit, I just realized god is a lobbyist

It is very difficult to talk with someone who is so unwilling to think about what someone says and continues to bash them regardless of what they say. Maybe if you open your mind you might understand more of what Christianity is.

"Maybe if you open your mind "

My brain hurt from the irony of this statement

I've made my decision and you've made yours. Can we just stop arguing over this topic?

Lol. It's like a comedy routine. I bring up a good analogy showing my point and you say "it's difficult to have this conversation with a close minded person" instead of addressing the statement.
Yeah my brain literally is experiencing pain.

Blue it's interesting how the brain works. Even when it knows it is wrong, it will defend an idea because it has held onto it for too long.

You were raised a Christian. How'd I know that? Even if you pretend you weren't now for convenience

You were. And it was imprinted on your brain. And you now cannot see what I can see...that you are a tool.

You are beyond the point of no return at your age. You will never see the world how we do. You will always be contained in your mind

I think it's the saddest thing I've ever heard of

I don't get how someone has so much hatred for a religion. It literally blows my mind.

Well why don't you explain why He isn't real if you're so confident.

Nah. The burden of proof totally lies on you. If you make a claim that there are fairies it's your job to prove it, not the people who deny your claim.

Although I could point out many reasons why the Christian idea of an omnibenevolent and omnipresent being cant exist in our reality.

I shouldn't say "can't". I mean very unlikely. Like the possibility of fairies being real.

First off: Do you believe Jesus even existed?

First off: how about you address what I'm saying instead of changing the subject.

Maybe there was a Jesus. But maybe there was also a Mohammed. And even if he existed that doesn't prove he was the son of god/god.

I cannot explain my reasoning further unless I know your answer to this question.

Here's my explanation outside of the bible. I can't explain it here (would take too long) but here's something you can google: Blood Moon Tetrads & 9 Harbingers. On the blood moon tetrads, look at the historic events that happen during a tetrad.

There's a lot of information on both of these topics. NASA also has dates confirming these blood moon tetrad dates if you need further proof.

Ok so I looked up this blood moon theory. So basically this sequence of blood moons have happened 7 times since the coming of Christ totaling to 44 blood moons. Each of these blood moons have been attributed to a historical event or Jewish holiday.

Most of them are Jewish holidays like Yom Kippur, Passover, and the feast of the tabernacle. The later two are multi day events. The historical events are completely random, having no connection to each other...

....everything from Pope Leo coming to power to the Spanish Inquisition.
It is fairly obvious that religious historians took the dates and found the most important event that happened in the planet at that time.

This all comes from two lines in the bible that simply say "when the moon turns into blood there will be a horrible event". It's all cherrypicked and it's all fallacious.

But regardless, the final blood moon that apparently will happen on the day of the apocalypse is 9/28/15. So in 66 days I'll make sure to post back in this comment section when nothing happens. Lol

Well I have to say I am quite surprised that you actually did some research. Usually when I tell anyone about this they don't care at all. Could, perhaps, these events have major connections with the Jewish/Christian people?

Well anyways, this is all I can really do. I'm done arguing. I'm glad you were willing to listen though.

Ok no problem. The answer to your question is no. But I guess the deciding factor will be in 66 days. See you then.

Blue instead of playing a victim and pretending you're oppressed, try actually answering questions posed to you without deflecting

I wish you could see how ridiculous you're coming off, but I know you can't

In other words, praying is a waste of time and meditation actually helps the body and mind.

You never cease to pray? How do you sleep? How do you eat? Mother of jesus ball sucking christ, you're a wizard harry

I'm going to take a wild stab and guess you are an atheist.

Or a wizard

This isn't exactly a scientifically conducted poll and the latter part is just silly

Well no of course none of the polls on here will mean much of anything scientifically. It's just interesting to do casual polling. As for the last part, take it as you may. Just my opinion.

Yup

Turtles all the way down

I hope you are referring to prayer. If you listen to a soothing meditation tape or go into trance it's bad news ;)

The soothing tape keeps the road rage down, but yeah I meant prayer.

Lmfao

I made a post how appalled I was at the White House putting the rainbow colors on it and I got the nastiest foul mouth comments because of my beliefs. Democrats are so intolerant of others.

BREAKING NEWS: All democrats are not intolerant of others. When your comments are that ignorant, people are less likely to respect your beliefs.

Sorry for sounding a little rude, but I'm not a big fan of when people believe all democrats or all republicans act the same way. While some democrats are intolerant of others, many aren't. The same goes for republicans.

You shouldn't care whether or not other people pray. They have the right to do whatever the fuck they want. You shouldn't care what the white house looks like either. None of this stuff has any affect on you whatsoever. Live and let live.

NEWS FLASH: Not everyone is religious.

they hate christians

Annabelle- I share many democratic beliefs and I am also a Christian. So, once again, you're bleeding ignorance.

Oops, Annabeth was the one who said that. Very similar names with very similar beliefs!

'I made a post of how appalled I was at the White House showing their support for interracial marriage and I got the nastiest foul mouth comments for my beliefs. Democrats can be so intolerant of others.'

That's what you sound like. Same thing.

I'm a socialist, the reason people like me want your god to die is because it is a crutch. You have no proof of a diety, yet you cling to it and call it the one true god among thousands of others. Your religion is foolhardy and detrimental to society

Socialism and religion....both horrible ideas

I don't believe that most wars were caused by religion. But I have the right to mock whoever I want, whenever I want. Your beliefs, whatever they may be, are not exempt from criticism.

Vayl, don't be a dick.

How am I being a dick? Nothing is exempt from mockery.

I find it strange that you call me a dick for pointing out that anyone has a right to mock or criticize anything, while I didn't even mock anything myself. You're not even making sense.

If you don't want to be mocked, dont believe in magic

The arrogance of believing in talking snakes and thinking no one is going to laugh at you is just...special

Yawn. Take it back to the Dawkins forums.

But you agree right?

Do you not agree Alex? It's nothing but the truth. Asking the clouds to help you won't solve anything.

Unless you ask the clouds for rain

Exactly. I like to do progressive relaxation meditation, or guided meditation but don't see it as spiritual.

I'm not a Republican or Democrat but I am glad to see Trump doing so well. It is refreshing to finally see someone with guts get into the fight. I am tired of the limp wristed Dems and the spineless Repub's destroying this nation. Go Trump!

But can you really do those independently of each other?

Yes, that's the only way they can be done. Praying, implies looking outward to an external deity, for me that is God. Meditating involves looking inwardly to the self.

Agreed.

And puppies are better than carrots.

Meditation is simply a state of relaxation, with the purpose of releasing tension and easing stress in a person's life. It has nothing to do with "looking inwardly to the self."

The state of relaxation already has a word - relaxed.
"During meditation the attention flows inward instead of engaging in the outside world... You connect with a deeper level of yourself, the stillness within..." - American meditation society.

There are many different forms of meditation. The simplest, most well known one, is nothing more than a state of relaxation.

I disagree. Prayer can definitely be a form of meditation. I'm Catholic and pray the Rosary often. The point of the Rosary is to meditate on Christ's Passion and pray for petition from Mother Mary. So I believe prayer and meditation go hand in hand

Prayer really isn't a waste. It allows an individual to learn about his needs, wants, fears, desires, and struggles. Whether he gains outside help or inside change may be debatable, but something does happen. It's proven. And what's the difference?

Yes to the individual that is praying giving them a positive state of mind or maybe even letting someone know that you are praying for them to give a positive vibe but it is not proven that anything supernatural effects the course of life in any way.

We already know what our needs, desires, fears, and struggles are. We don't need to pray to find that out. I mean, you have to be able to know what those things are in the first place in order to pray about them. Prayer doesn't help you learn that.

@Think, certainly you can't prove anything that would be pointless. But the internal change people experience is enough proof for some people of supernatural influence. As well as outside change.

@vayl, I disagree. At times in our lives, we are so preoccupied with random stuff that we lose sight of what is important to us. Taking time to reflect on that, reveals things that we may not have considered or forgotten.

Then literally all you have to do is exactly what you said -- take time to reflect on that. You don't need to pray to do that. Now you're saying that prayer is just a complicated way of doing something we can already do without it.

....You do know that prayer is just a form of meditation, right? The only difference is that there is someone else/ the thought of someone else answering the other half of the conversation. Prayer is encouraged meditation because someone is listening

Of course, only yourself and your thoughts are listening, unless you're in like a church saying a group prayer.

Prayer is nothing like meditation. At least, not a typical Christian prayer, in which the person gets on their knees and clasps their hands together, then takes a minute to ask something. Meditation involves releasing tension and entering a state...

...of deep relaxation for extended lengths of time. It is very different from prayer.

@Think, you really can't claim that no one is listening. You may not believe in a higher power for whatever reason, but that doesn't mean one doesn't exist. And those who pray to one definitely believe in the existence of one. Don't be so ignorant.

@Vayl, there really isn't a "typical Christian prayer" There are many types of prayer, and while some of them are quick, pre made, and not very meditative, they serve the same reflective, calming purpose. And most prayer is deep and meditative.