There was a study not too long ago that found that when people knew they were being prayed for, they actually did worse. The theory was that they assumed that they were going to have a poor outcome, and that's why everyone was praying for them. Not that pointing it out at the time would have things less awkward.

Well, if prayer works, it's dangerous because people could be praying against you. "Dear God: Steve is a very bad man and he doesn't believe in You. I think You should send him to hell right away. Thanks. Amen."

Arlington:

Well, if prayer works, it's dangerous because people could be praying against you. "Dear God: Steve is a very bad man and he doesn't believe in You. I think You should send him to hell right away. Thanks. Amen."

Hehe. If prayer worked that way I'd be a believer again.

IF that type of prayer worked what type of person would want to be a believer in that type of 'god'!

Also, would you rather be with the people who ASKED god to send people to hell OR with the people that were sent to hell by the prayers of these people?

Frankly I would NOT want to be with people that asked God to do nasty things to people! So I would take hell!

When someone prays to send someone to hell, who answers that? God or Satan?

If prayer worked that way I'd be a believer again.

If prayer worked in *any* way we'd be able to use it prove God and for economic advantage. Before too long people would be measuring which prayers are better and worse.

Science is pretty good about measuring the effects of things... we just don't like the answers on this subject.

I have always considered Slate readers to be a well-educated, rational, discerning bunch, but I am shaking my head at the lack of understanding and the pettiness displayed in the original letter and all the posts thus far ...for the original writer to claim she has "lost" her faith following a friend's death certainly suggests a shallow and immature understanding of what "faith" is supposed to be. Yes, bad things happen to good people, and no, we will not understand why, but to love God is to trust His plan and not to pout and turn your back on Him when things don't go your way.

Atheism is such a fallacy--refusing to believe in God doesn't make him nonexistent. That's like you standing in front of me while I say, "I refuse to believe you're standing in front of me--therefore, you don't exist." Self-proclaimed "atheists" are so self-absorbed and small-minded that they refuse to accept that there is something larger and wiser than themselves, something that requires a level of submission and patience and, yes, faith, they they are unwilling to sustain.

As far as the posters...for literate adults to believe that it's possible to pray to "send" someone to hell--come on! People choose to accept Christ as their Savior and accept His gift of eternal life; if they choose not to accept that gift, the alternative is hell.

DBuss:

If prayer worked in *any* way we'd be able to use it prove God and for economic advantage. Before too long people would be measuring which prayers are better and worse.

The function of prayer is not "economic advantage"...no wonder people are disappointed when they try to use it as such and it doesn't work. They ask to win the lottery, and when they don't, they decide there is no God. Prayer builds our relationship with God...when we "talk" to Him, we let Him know our hearts are open to His will. It's not like placing your order at Starbucks...

for literate adults to believe that it's possible to pray to "send" someone to hell

Well, it isn't possible to actually pray to send someone to hell, but that still doesn't stop alot of people praying for that.

Remember, in the Lords prayer it is not our will but as Christ said "Thy will be done"

Again in the garden when Christ was praying he prayed that he not have to face the Cross but ended with "thy will be done"

Matthew 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Where do you find that he will give you your wants, it says he will give you what you NEED.

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Again in our weak human state we don’t truly know what to pray for or how to pray, but it must always be done according to the WILL OF GOD, not ours.

eprater:

Atheism is such a fallacy--refusing to believe in God doesn't make him nonexistent.

Ah, but if God is nonexistant than believing in Him doesn't make Him exist. All religous people are like atheists. It's just that the athiests believe in one less God than the religous people.

eprater:

That's like you standing in front of me while I say, "I refuse to believe you're standing in front of me--therefore, you don't exist."

No, it's not like that at all. If a God were to manfest Herself to the atheists, I'm sure most of them would change their minds. The reason people don't believe in God is because there is no physical evidence for it. Besides, if God did pop around the earth appearing in front of people, then that would be proof of god. That would make faith irrelevant and thus negate your entire religion. After all, if you know something is true you don't have faith in it.

eprater:

Self-proclaimed "atheists" are so self-absorbed and small-minded that they refuse to accept that there is something larger and wiser than themselves,

Well I'm not a very large person so I think it is statistically likely that larger and wiser beings exist. Though I suppose I would need to quantify wise in a more precise manner in order to determine this.

eprater:

Prayer builds our relationship with God...when we "talk" to Him, we let Him know our hearts are open to His will.

Why would this be necessary if God is omniscient?

eprater:

It's not like placing your order at Starbucks...

Ah, but when I go to Starbucks and order a Mocha Frappachino, one appears in short order. If I ask God for a Mocha Frappachino, one doesn't appear. So it appears that Starbucks is more concerned with my needs and desires than any Gods who may exist. On the other hand, I'd probably be 300 lbs and perpetually hyper if one appeared whenever I desired it.

All this talk of how prayer works etc etc is missing the point. The real question is why an educated, rational person would even stoop to defending or trying to explain a specific religion or denomination thereof. Lots of people out there believe Christianity or Islam or Judaism is the only true religion. But why do they so fervently defend that religion? Not because it is the "true" religion, but merely because they were brought up and told that it is true by their family/society/something else. If someone is born in Iran there is a good chance they will be Muslim. If you are born in parts of India you will likely be Hindu. If you are born in Italy you will likely be Christian. The Bible, the Koran, the Mormon Bible, these are only true because someone has told you they are true. There are also others out there who will tell you its false. The Bible was written thousands of years ago, not by those it talks about, but by other relaying their stories a hundred years later. What, other than what you have been told all your life, makes what is said in the Christian Bible any more accurate than what is said in the Mormon Bible or the Koran? Joseph Smith was the Mormon prophet, Momon's take his word as gospel, just as Christians take the Book of Matthew as gospel. There is not difference between them, merely words written on a page by a man or men. And do not say someone "chooses" their religion. Because by that logic someone who decides to convert to Catholicism has a good a chance at making the right choice as someone converting to Scientology.

I am not saying there is no God, because I can prove that about as accurately as others can prove there is one. What I am saying is that there is an equal chance that the God you pray to is as real as the God Osama Bin Laden prays to. And you can't tell someone how prayer works, or how they can or cannot pray, because the book that explains this to you was written by a man hundreds of years after the events he is writing about takes place. What makes the author of Romans anymore of an authority on God's will than me or Jan Huss? Theology has been developed by men, men trying to interpret God's will as proclaimed by earlier men. Remember, the Bible is a collection of works that were edited, selectively chosen, and vetted by religious figures thousands of years ago. Jesus did not sit down and write the Bible from start to finish as the unabashed, definitive final word. There is nothing divine about all these books. You are a Christian only because of the cards you drew in the genetic lottery. Defining how God works all the way down to the smallest detail is the definition of faith without critical thinking.

The true question is why an educated, rational person can't read for themselves and find out which is true.....I mean even "thousands" of years ago some one wrote that some day there would be people like you....it has come true......

TruettCollins:

The true question is why an educated, rational person can't read for themselves and find out which is true.....I mean even "thousands" of years ago some one wrote that some day there would be people like you....it has come true......

I have. The truth is we don't know. Lot's of people have made guesses, but there is no verifiable proof that any of them are closer to the truth than anyone else. Many religious texts have predictions ... some of which have even come true. But if you make enough predictions, and they're vague enough, it doesn't take much.

Of course the #1 defense mechanism when establishing a working religion is to decree that anyone who says otherwise is the enemy, and are in fact "devils" out to test you. In reality if you actually sat down and read over everything in a comparative perspective Scientology is a lot sounder that Christianity. Hubbard was an established science fiction writer who knew how to weave a web. Christianity and Islam have been ad hoc creations.

Then again, from what little I know of Buddhism, it appears a lot more reasonable than Christianity. I mean take all the "special meaning" out of the Bible and really read the stories. Now I know fundamentalists are a dying bread and the apologist Christians have turned to "figurative and moral" readings of the Bible, but that is a modern defense mechanism. For the majority of Christian history much of the Bible has been taken literally. I just don't see how people, after reviewing the history of Christiany and seeing its evolution and how its main tenets can change based on the whims of Popes, Kings, and Preachers, how anyone can still not see that Christianity has been bastardized beyond redemption.

PS Im not specifically picking on Christianity, its only that I was a confirmed Catholic and have specifically studied the history of Christianity in the Americas and Europe, so have a better grasp on it.

If God did provide you with a mocha frappachino whenever you desired, I'm sure it would be one with no adverse effect, so it would taste the same and have the same satisfying outcome, but no calories and no excessive caffeine buzz.

This is why I suggested "bad prayer," knowing full well Christians believe there is no such thing. They believe prayer only works if you ask God for what you need, not for what you want. So, asking for anything evil. such as harm for someone you dislike, is just out of the question.

Interestingly, not all religions believe God can only deliver on requests for "nice" things. Jews, for example, sometimes organize groups of rabbis to pray a caballa for the demise of an enemy. If I'm not mistaken, they held one a few years ago, asking for the death of Yassar Arrafat, that involved 1000 rabbis praying for 1000 hours or something like that. It's difficult to imagine anything with more celestial horsepower than that, but it appeared to have no effect. Hmmm...