Prayer habits

[Alerik the Fortunate]

Do any of you who were religious but no longer believe in the Supreme Fascist find yourselves absentmindedly praying when in certain states of mind? How do you handle it? I see it as a need to foster a personal understanding of those states of mind for the realization of subjective meaning that is often contrasted with the public, verifiable knowldedge of science. I'm partly curious because I'm inspired by poetry of Rumi, and The Prophet by Khalil Gibran, and suchlike writings, but I find it difficult to be personally inclined to embrace them while dismissing their God suppositions.

[kheegster]

Not a direct answer, but I don't see a problem with having irrational or religious beliefs. The problem arises when one chooses to side with the religious beliefs in the face of empirical evidence.

[Superman]

I think that praying, doing rituals, etc., are things that people do because they have this need to feel like they can, somehow, have a hand in controlling things. It's almost when someone goes to the casino, and then tells you he or she can't do something because they don't want to "jinx" it, as if they somehow have a hand in what happens. An extreme example might be a soldier on the battlefield who suddenly finds a belief in God, and the need to pray for safety.

Maybe I did pray once or twice after I realized that there are no gods, ghosts, demons, leprechauns, santa clauses, etc., but when I take a look at the big picture, I think I just realize that if I were to pray, it's really about me. I have some wish that I want to express, or think I can somehow have a hand in the fates (so to speak). It's not about god or Jesus.

[Darth Wong]

I think people tend to talk to themselves. This may be perceived as something very similar to praying. To give a practical example, I often sit at a stoplight saying "Come on, turn green, turn green, I haven't got all day" while behind the wheel of my car. Is this rational? Of course not; the streetlight is not going to turn green any faster because of my words. But I tend to do it anyway, because ... well, I'm stuck behind the wheel of my car at a red light and I haven't got much else to do.

[Superman]

I think people tend to talk to themselves. This may be perceived as something very similar to praying. To give a practical example, I often sit at a stoplight saying "Come on, turn green, turn green, I haven't got all day" while behind the wheel of my car. Is this rational? Of course not; the streetlight is not going to turn green any faster because of my words. But I tend to do it anyway, because ... well, I'm stuck behind the wheel of my car at a red light and I haven't got much else to do.

So maybe, deep down, this is the same motivational process at work?

[darthbob88]

There is, of course, that story that as long as there are tests in school, there will be prayer in school. Other than that, the only prayer I make is of the "Please don't let me fail, God" variety. And even then, I say afterwards that "You can stop trying God, I made it."

[Darth Mordius]

I talk to myself all the gorram time. I go over the events of the day, interesting things I see, stuff that happens. I index stuff to tell my friends later, I go over stuff to clarify my thoughts... I mean shit, I should probably keep a diary or something, people will probably think I'm nuts.

[dworkin]

No. And asking god to hurry up with the rapture so the dimwit in the mommy wagon bunny hopping at the lights vanishes doesn't count.

[Lagmonster]

So maybe, deep down, this is the same motivational process at work?

It's reasonable to believe that it's an embarrassing little private ego thing; from time to time everyone gets a little indignant that the universe isn't proceeding according to their expectations. Of course, for some people it's neither embarrassing nor private.

[haard]

Do any of you who were religious but no longer believe in the Supreme Fascist find yourselves absentmindedly praying when in certain states of mind?

Mnh. I sometimes feel the urge to pray when I'm worried about someone else, feeling powerless. But since there now is nothing for me to direct it towards, it stays an itch that I cannot scratch (which ends with me gaming or meditating as a replacement for prayer)