(responding to a question on why scientific studies show prayers don't work)
it's not too hard to imagine why...
God would know that they're just doing it to test His existence. God likely doesn't want His presence known (assuming He exists), so he wouldn't provide evidence for His existence, and wouldn't answer someone's prayer, even if it was sincere.
p.s. i have had prayers work.
35 comments
uh huh...God doesn't want his existence known...which is why He 'wrote' 2 volumes about himself, his son, the beginning of the world, and various other things. Makes perfect sense!
p.s. Those are called coincidences!
What's truly amazing about prayer is that they are answered in the exact proportion and with the same probablilities of the events happening entirely on their own according to the earthly factors that affect them without any divine intervention of any sort. Isn't God amazing? He's removed absolutely every last possible remnant of any possible evidence that he exists thus proving that Jesus is lord and wants us to never touch our penises (unless we are travelling by dinosaur, and then it's masterbation city). It's all right there in the bible.
If your God doesn't want people to know he exists, then what's that whole bible thing for? And all those churches, and whatnot?
P.S. I have had prayers to my morning coffee "work"; what does that prove?
The OT jealous God disagrees(he does want His presence to be known). On the other hand, the reverse could be used, wouldn't he show that it works, in order to make people believe?. As a believer, I find offensive the fact that many people see God either as a five years old psycho brat that kills anybody who disagrees with him, or a kind of cool daddy who provides with an allowance to solve your problems. Projecting much, maybe?
Prayer works?
Intelligence, initiative, and a clear perception of goal work even better.
Are you sure that your shitbag of a god is the one answering your prayers? I mean, the Great Spirit has an infinite amount of sympathy for the deluded...and that's a fucking good thing.
Scientific studies that show that prayer doesn't work are not evidence for the non-existence of God for precisely the reason ANLE suggests.
If God is omniscient and omnipotent, then he is able to circumvent any experimental control, produce whatever result he desires, and his reasons for doing so are forever beyond our grasp.
This is why the scientific method does not allow for supernatural explanations, and why ID isn't science.
So the experiments mentioned aren't proof God doesn't exist, nor even proof that prayers do not ever work.
They are, however, proof that prayers do not always work, regardless of how faithful are those doing the praying or the worthiness of the cause being prayed for.
That in itself should give the fundies pause.
If God is omniscient and omnipotent, then he is able to circumvent any experimental control, produce whatever result he desires, and his reasons for doing so are forever beyond our grasp.
Well said, David B.
I would offer a corollary...any presupposed 'psychic entity' would not show any enthusiasm for jumping through statisticians' hoops.
So if he doesn't want us to know he's there, why is he going to send us to hell for not believing in him?
I say God's an asshole. If he does exist, there's no way I'd even consider worshiping him.
If he doesn't want his presence known, why answer any prayers?
Even if he does not answer any prayers, then some would appear to be answered, through coincidence, and so those wanting to see answered prayers as proof of his existence would instead grab on to those coincidences, even though he wouldn't be responsible for it at all. Keep in mind that correlation =/= causation.
(Sorry if I'm a little confusing, this post is pre-caffeine.)
God wants everyone to know He exists, except for the people who want to know He exists, and so confounds the results of their experiments to make them look negative. Wait, what?
Bucky, while it's not for me to say whether a creator exists or not, I'm still pretty fucking sure that I see some minor flaws in your line of reasoning...
But you said God WOULDN'T answer prayers, because that would be proving his existance, therefore your prayers could not have been answered. Besides, if God doesn't want his existance known, why does he want us to pray to him? And why even write the Bible, which "prooves" He exists?
You just proved your god is evil. try and follow me here.
All those who do not accept God's existence burn in hell forever.
In order to prevent this God could reveal his existence.
According to you God is deliberately taking steps to AVOID revealing his existence in any way that cannot be discounted as hearsay, superstition or ancient fiction.
Therefore your god is an evil being who is working actively to inflict eternal suffering on people.
And this kids is why the intellectually impaired should not try to explain their god, it doesn't end well.
“it's not too hard to imagine why...”
“God would know that they're just doing it to test His existence.”
"God likely doesn't want His presence known (assuming He exists), so he wouldn't provide evidence for His existence, and wouldn't answer someone's prayer, even if it was sincere.”
“p.s. i have had prayers work.”
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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