Prayer does not heal the sick, study finds

[Ben Kenobi]

Do you think that the cruel, malevolent expressions of Christianity are purely coincidental, and that the nice Christians are clear proof of relgion's good?

Good question. I would say that if you expect Christians to be free from the effects of sin, then you are implicitly holding Christians to the higher standard.

If you truly did not believe, you would not be surprised by what Christians were capable of, because you would believe that it could not change anyone.

You are very right that many hold Christianity up by looking at the lives of the people who profess to be Christians, but at the same time you cannot base your faith on any one person, they will undoubtedly let you down.

The standard we should all be looking at is Christ, and trying to be like him, and taking Christians to task for falling short. So in truth both the good and the evil count.

[Jaguar]

Originally posted by joncha
Terry Schaivo would disagree with you, Richelieu!



...oh wait, nevermind.

Ned come home!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
The standard we should all be looking at is Christ, and trying to be like him, and taking Christians to task for falling short. So in truth both the good and the evil count.

Taking Christians to task for falling short of being like Christ implies that people could be like Christ, if they just tried hard enough.

Bad news, Ben: that's heresy. And has been since at least the 4th century.

Time for you to find yet another Chuch, blasphemer!

[DinoDoc]

Sep 2000 was the worst month of that year

The OTBOT doesn't like someone.

[beingofone]

In fact, patients who know they are being prayed for suffer a noticeably higher rate of complications, according to the study, which monitored the recovery of 1,800 patients after heart bypass surgery in the US.

Taking a cold hard scientific look at the evidence we can use logic to determine the reality of the matter.

Prayer has no noticable effects one way or the other - therefore God does not exist.

If the patient is informed of prayer for their condition the complications increase - therefore God does exist but he is not what we thought.
He is the God of bait and switch.

If you pray he does not care, but if you inform the person you are praying for, God gets all steamed up and causes the reverse to happen. Therefore God is a big ogre with a serious attitude. I am gonna have to pray for him.

If your child were to ask you for an egg at breakfast, would you slip a poison in their food? Of course not, therfore - you are morally superior to God.

And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.
And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.

Perhaps it has more to do with the point of reference and reflection. Fear verses faith and many other dynamics at work.

BTW - Ben Kenobi bro,
Being nice is socially acceptable and agape sometimes manifests itself as entirely unsociable, it does not mean you are not caring, but perhaps caring in a much deeper way then can be apprehended in the moment.

[Elok]

Originally posted by beingofone


Taking a cold hard scientific look at the evidence we can use logic to determine the reality of the matter.

Prayer has no noticable effects one way or the other - therefore God does not exist.

If the patient is informed of prayer for their condition the complications increase - therefore God does exist but he is not what we thought.
He is the God of bait and switch.

If you pray he does not care, but if you inform the person you are praying for, God gets all steamed up and causes the reverse to happen. Therefore God is a big ogre with a serious attitude. I am gonna have to pray for him.

If your child were to ask you for an egg at breakfast, would you slip a poison in their food? Of course not, therfore - you are morally superior to God.

I can't tell; are you being sarcastic, or do you actually think this way?

[Adam Smith]

.

[Adam Smith]

Faith vs. Reason?

http://www.gather.com/viewSinglePhoto.jsp?fileId=3096224743832752

If its too small, click on the comic to make it readable.

[Dis]

I have no idea about the link I'm going to post. But I figure I'll throw this into this thread. It's semi related to the religious aspect of the thread.

According to this site, regular religious attendence will increase life expectancy. hmm

http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060403_church_good.html

[Ben Kenobi]

Taking Christians to task for falling short of being like Christ implies that people could be like Christ, if they just tried hard enough.

Bad news, Ben: that's heresy. And has been since at least the 4th century.

Can they? No. Should they? Yes.

'Be ye perfect.'

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


A parent will always forgive such a child and be happy when he or she turns around. A parent will not smit his child dead, as LotM implied.

Though I still hold that our relationship with an infinite supreme creator is not anywhere similar to a parent-child one.

huh? Wah? Duh? What did i imply, where, what are you talking about?

[Traianvs]

Originally posted by DaShi


How do you know how an infinite being thinks?

I can't imagine that infinite being thinks at all because that would imply flaws. For example the being would not be able to think about 2 things at the same time while clearly God should be able to if he truly is the God of everything and everyone. i.e. if 1000 people are simultaneously praying to him. So probably the being doesn't think, it simply is.

EDIT: lol yes I have a lot of spare time otbot