“[Question: Atheists, have you ever asked people NOT to pray for you?]”
When my gall bladder died, I was in a great deal of pain. On the night before my surgery, I was high as sa kite on painkillers when one of the hospital chaplains came in.
She admired my teddy bear (Asterix, the Gall). We talked about stuffed animals a bit. We talked about my atheism. My wife says i was very polite the entire time.
As she got ready to move on, she asked if i wanted her to pray for me. I said no. She asked if I’d mind if she chose to pray for me, I said i’d rather she did not.
It would seem hypocritical to me to have others pray for me if I’m not going to pray for myself.
So, yeah, I have.
“Answer: I love it. It made me wonder who they call upon when s**t hits the fan.”
What makes you think I call on anything?
I’ve been in a flooding casualty on a sub, didn’t pray.
Been in a few fires, didn’t pray.
Faced surgeries a few times, didn’t pray.
Just had a heart attack couple weeks ago. Didn’t pray. Didn’t see the chaplain, either.
“If their child was in the hospital dying what would they do. Say don't pray for my child.”
Yeah, I would say not to bother them with that superstitious nonsense.
I also turn down offers to sacrifice a goat for my wife, or dance a rain-dance for the crops, or leave a bowl of rice on my Dad’s grave.
of course, as a sailor, superstition has a bit more power.
There was one time when we had a fault we couldn’t trace. We replaced everything we could on the missile and on the tube. Weeks of chasing our tails. Then one night, some Missile Techs got wings from the mess decks, and danced naked around the tube on all four levels. Problem cleared and never returned.
I got to write the report on that one. Very fun.
