1
1990s
Guest
...against their prayer claims? Is this a good argument against prayer??
Prayer works
Prayer SEEMS to work
The problem lies in the fact that religionists claim god answers their prayers in three ways, yes, no and wait. The problem with this is that whether you pray to a god or not, or whether a god exists or not yes, no and wait are the only 3 possible outcomes anyways. The more simplified and the less of a time restraint your prayer has, the more of a chance it has at actually happening. Think of it this way, if I write down a number from 1 to 10 and ask someone to guess 5 numbers; they have a much larger chance at getting it right than if they could only choose 1 number. The reason why is because the probability goes up when you simplify your prayer and simplifying it includes not having a time restraint. When prayers seem to work, for instance when you pray for $200 dollars and you happen to receive $350 dollars in the mail a few weeks later; religionists still attribute this to their god. Religionists can not comprehend odds and probability. They think, “I asked for money and received it, this has to be improbable and only the work of a god.” The thing is, there are many contributing factors. An extra bonus from work, tax returns and loved ones sending money are just some of the examples of coincidences that happen every day. It’s hard to comprehend, “Well I prayed for money and my Aunt Dianne sent me money 2 weeks later. How could she have known I needed money?” The thing is, she had no idea you needed money, unless of course you told her or you told someone else and they told her. People, everyday, attribute coincidences, big and small, to a god ,and just because you pray to a god for something vague and you receive the vague item a few weeks later does not mean that is proof your god exists. What about all of the other stories of people from other religions who claim their god answers their prayers? Are you going to dismiss all of these? I mean after all, you don’t believe their god exists. So if there god doesn’t exist, than their answered prayers must be a coincidence. Use this same logic on yourself.
Prayer works
Prayer SEEMS to work
The problem lies in the fact that religionists claim god answers their prayers in three ways, yes, no and wait. The problem with this is that whether you pray to a god or not, or whether a god exists or not yes, no and wait are the only 3 possible outcomes anyways. The more simplified and the less of a time restraint your prayer has, the more of a chance it has at actually happening. Think of it this way, if I write down a number from 1 to 10 and ask someone to guess 5 numbers; they have a much larger chance at getting it right than if they could only choose 1 number. The reason why is because the probability goes up when you simplify your prayer and simplifying it includes not having a time restraint. When prayers seem to work, for instance when you pray for $200 dollars and you happen to receive $350 dollars in the mail a few weeks later; religionists still attribute this to their god. Religionists can not comprehend odds and probability. They think, “I asked for money and received it, this has to be improbable and only the work of a god.” The thing is, there are many contributing factors. An extra bonus from work, tax returns and loved ones sending money are just some of the examples of coincidences that happen every day. It’s hard to comprehend, “Well I prayed for money and my Aunt Dianne sent me money 2 weeks later. How could she have known I needed money?” The thing is, she had no idea you needed money, unless of course you told her or you told someone else and they told her. People, everyday, attribute coincidences, big and small, to a god ,and just because you pray to a god for something vague and you receive the vague item a few weeks later does not mean that is proof your god exists. What about all of the other stories of people from other religions who claim their god answers their prayers? Are you going to dismiss all of these? I mean after all, you don’t believe their god exists. So if there god doesn’t exist, than their answered prayers must be a coincidence. Use this same logic on yourself.