Prayer...

[hyebruin]

right now there's a study being conducted that's due out in a couple of years where they're looking at the power of prayer BUT!!! here's the thing: the subjects who are being prayed for (long distance by those who do not know them) do not know if they're among the experimental or the control group! neat huh?they're going to look at objective measures such as health and disease assesment of these patients who are critically ill btw; i don't know if they're all cancer patients or if there are other patients afflicted with a life threatening illness; i guess it's also a multi-center experiment such that patients from diffferent centers around the country are participating in the study; it's great how this experiment has good control and is double blind randomized placebo; hopefullly it will have enough subjects to give it statistical power; i can't wait 'till the results come out!!!

[Sip]

... You're badmouthing a prayer, and yet it helps so many people.

People have believed in elixirs, potions, youth formulas, magic, witch doctors, exorcists, witch burning, supersition, UFOs, cosmic forces, alignments of planets, and many other things ... but that doesn't change the fact that they have all been idiots.

This is not to down play the power of the mind in the healing process and the health of the body as I have absolutely no doubt that a lot of healing actually begins in the mind. But to think that any of those things listed above have had any real impact is nothing but dumb.

My point in "badmouthing" prayer is not as to whether or not it can have any positive effects on the person who prays or the person whom the prayer is about ... the point I am making is about the rediculous nature of the activity itself and the lack of intelligence shown by those who engage in it or are fooled by it's "magical" powers. The magic that happens is in our MIND ...

... as anon said and I strongly agree with him, the meditation and focusing aspects of prayer are what is important. But majority of people don't think like anon and use prayer as a tool to feed their egos and essentially make deals with their "God" on human terms.

[nairi]

Well, I don't know who you've been in contact with and what "prayers" you've observed but I'll tell you now, that asking for favors as you call it, is not what prayer is.

The Armenian church

Hayr mer, vor yerkins es,
Surb yeghici anun qo.
Yekesceh arqayutiun qo
Yeghicin kamq qo
Vorpes yerkins yev yerkri.
Zhac mer hanapazord tur mez aysor.
Togh mez zpartis mer,
Vorpes yev meq toghumq meroc partapanac.
Yev mi tanir zmez i pordzutiun,
Ayl prkea i chare.
Zi qo e arqayutiun
yev zorotiun yev parq, haviteans.
Amen

Eatsern Armenian:

Hayr mer, vor yerknqum es,
Togh surb lini qo anune,
Togh qo arqayutyune ga.
Togh qo kamq@ lini yerkri vra,
Inchpes vor yerknqum e.
Mer hanapazorya hac@ tur mez aysor,
Yev nerir mez mer hancankner@
Inchpes vor menq enq nerum nranc,
Vor hancank en gortsum mer dem,
Yev mi tanir mez pordzutyan,
ayl prqir mez charic,
Vorovhetev konn e arkayutyun@
yev zorutyune yev parq@, havityans havitenic.
Amen.

English:

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory, forever.
Amen.

[dusken]

What a boring thread.

[Sip]

Nairi jan, thanks a lot for that as that is exactly the type of prayer I was talking about! Our standard "Hayr mer" starts of with some Lord ass kissing, then moves to a bunch of demands as you highlighted, then back to some more ass kissing to wrap it up.

When I was in kindergarten they taught us to say that every night and I like an parrot would just repeat it every night before going to sleep. I am so glad I grew out of that!!!!

... and Dusken, why don't you go pray for a more interesting thread?

[patlajan]

Notice the people that pray the most are in the worst situations. Maybe God just needed some space in the last few hundred years. Like the father that threatens to "turn this car right around" if the kids in the back don't shut up.

[spiral]

I was talking to this one weird guy in my class yesterday, about religion, and the existence of God, and he said-- "Oh ya, I do believe in God, no doubt. I mean like the other day...like, I had a 600 dollar parking ticket, and like, I was like dudee how am I gonna pay for this??? And like I prayed to God, and I was like God, you gotta help me get outta this somehow, and like I went to court, and the judge dismissed the case/ticket, just like that, for no reason.... Uh, hu hu, I mean you can say it was luck, say it was chance, but I say it was God..."

[dusken]

He is human. I am ashamed.

[hyebruin]

What a boring thread.

not as exciting as being a registered embalmer i know, i know ...life's a biiiiiitch!

[dusken]

not as exciting as being a registered embalmer i know, i know ...life's a biiiiiitch!

Judging from your impressive display of intelligence, your far more exciting contribution to society would probably be bikini waxer or garbage collector.

Roll your little eyes to your death little girl. Then maybe I will get a hold of you and turn you into the clown you are.