prayer – TheCommonAtheist

Truth About Prayer

Prayer is the useless chatter that breeds discontent and promotes the inception of resolution

Prayer is you talking to god. But if god knows everything why are you the one doing the talking? They got us praying to keep us from meditating. Everything you need to know is already inside you, but you can’t listen when you are talking. Christianity’s incessant babble is a road block, not a solution.

Prayer is pretending god doesn’t really know everything and admitting that you have a deficit, which means you don’t know everything—yet ramble on because we’ve been taught it is the solution.

Real prayer would be shutting your eyes and shutting your mouth (even the ramblings in your head) then letting your pimative self have a chance to listen. Prayer is hopeless chatter over the inner self which already knows what to do, but you keep talking over it.

The strength of a person is measured by how much truth they can tolerate—or more precisely, to what extent it needs to be diluted, disguised, or sweetened.

Prayer keeps the enslaved dependent on an outside source when the real source has always been you.

Prayer Hypocrisy—The Way of Desperation

How school and public prayer violates the tenets of Christianity

Matthew 6:5-6—And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

6: But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly”

The prayers they offered yesterday are even more useless than normal. The religious right is simply posturing and openly making asses of themselves—dragging America out as laughing stocks of the world.

Atheism, Humanism, Sciencism—Just Another Religion?

As catastrophic events unfold millions of prayers dissipate into the stratosphere—and nothing. Absence of evidence is evidence of absence. It is not proof of absence, but in the spirit [sic] of consistency one would automatically conclude there is no God, just as you would conclude after seeking flaming elephorned jackals for 5000 years in Kentucky—or South Africa. Never seeing a non duplicatable unseen claim is plenty of evidence of non existence—unless of course there is an explainer close by.

If my atheism is a belief as I’ve been accused, is science too a belief system? I would effectively have two, no three belief systems. My atheism is not based on science, nor is my humanism based on atheism or science.

If religiosos are insistent that I believe (science you know, requires more faith than worshipping deities) then is ethics too, a belief system—and reason? Oh for gods sake!™️ I have five belief systems!

We have evidence of many things that are not true—

Consider a game of chance—a coin flip. If I flip a coin five times and get heads each time, is that proof the coin is two-headed? Of course not, but if I get heads 500 times I could safely conclude I have a two headed coin, no matter what another may say. Based on experience, 500 heads in a row would be evidence the coin has no tail

If I pray one time and get no answer, is that proof there are no gods answering prayers? Of course not, but if I pray 500 times a year for 40 years? That’s pretty good evidence there are no answers to prayers. How about the entire planet? Gods are either avoiding contact, or just not there. I’ll go with what actual experience tells me.

After 2000 years it is clear—and a million Olly Olly Oxen Frees gives me a million to none odds he’ll stay in hiding—or perhaps gods are myths. Or perhaps the catastrophe has a hidden meaning.

Expecting Miracles—Living With Disappointments

How the greatest miracle of all will will be our own doing—

Tears and years of toil and prayer ended today as no help arrived. The lifeless and sunburned body of a man—who had prayed often and watched the horizon daily for a rescue, lay in the sand.

The others had left a year ago. They built a wicky-boat and sailed away, now living in Patagonia with jobs and nightlife. Waiting for rescue is a chancy business. While now the world waits in overuse for the second coming to renew the earth, wipe out unbelievers and sinful saints, the earth spins in turmoil. We can do something about it. There is no reason to wait but greed and insecurity. No one is coming to the rescue—it is up to us…This entire exercise of faith and waiting has issued license to havoc our natural resources and consume the very thing that gives us life. The Ouroboros will be our legacy. Not as a symbol of infinity, but of self destruction.

Measuring Prayer—A Model in Physics

Outcomes of prayer—where are they now?

In physics observable is defined as something that can be measured. The basic realities in life also can be measured. Outcomes can be predicted based on experience, consensus, repeatability, and yes, our eyes (usually). Only what a person can observe, measure, and demonstrate can be deemed as truth.

We all know the commutative law—take two numbers x and y. Multiply them and you can see that xy = yx. Always, no exception. But not so fast in quantum mechanics. If A and B are two matrices, then AB is not always equal to BA. Thus you cannot simultaneously determine the position and momentum of a particle. Both are incompatible (strange, but that’s how it is) and harnessing this discrepancy is leading to quantum computers, where you can watch it work even though it’s hard to understand how or why (even for physicists).

This is where religion steps in. Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle is foundational to matrix mechanics and where religion gets its primordial root in the prehistoric, basic operations of the quantum world. A sort of…subtle inheritance from our humble, elemental beginnings. Immeasurable, unverifiable, always changing positions of ~~electrons~~ doctrine, faith, and prayer. But now, not by defining particle behavior, but by splitting hairs.

Outcomes of prayer and faith cannot be predicted based on faith, experience, consensus, or dependability. Therefor, the attempts at faith and prayer is not truth. But, based on the known laws of quantum mechanics we can make a guess to where all those unanswered prayers wound up…waiting, somewhere between time, space, and subjectivity. Quantumly entangled with the prayers sender, but the missing, immeasurable electron (god) needed to complete the circuit has been uninterested, missing, hidden…forever.

Fundamental to understanding unanswered prayer, HERE is a fine new blog I stumbled across that illustrates the point, only better—Say hello to WOG

Born Again—Again

How deconverting from faith is more exhilarating than being saved

Faith and belief as a temporary, trial-state to work towards a fact may be a useful tool in the short term. But as a endgame achievement…not so fast.

Trying the words of faith are essential to proving all things, as taught in the Bible, but who actually does that? Atheists? And how much time should you allow for such proofs? 80 years? 1000? Will you pray with me to know if there is a god? Will you pray with me to see there isn’t?

Mormon missionaries ask you to pray to believe “if these things are not true according to the desires of your heart”. How does that work inciting a negative counter to ones desire to believe?

Psychology of praying for what you want to believe is a well known phenomenon in the mathematics of mindfulness. Odds are in your favor that sometimes you’ll get what you ask for—even if you mumble some crap under your breath. Especially if you pray like everything depends on god, then work like everything depends on you. What essentially prayer comes down to is arrogance. Is god willing to override physics in your special case, often to the detriment of another individual—like commanding tornadoes in the name of Jesus, into another neighborhood, or denying someone a dignified and speedy death to suit your own insecurities?

When you realize there is no god and no prayer is answered, there is no loneliness or despair that settles in. To the contrary. You’ve been doing this on your own your entire life anyway—with a little help from people. The self empowerment of this reality is astonishing clarity. The key to understanding the mysteries is unbelief.

Conversion—Submitting yourself to belief in what you can’t prove or know in hope of reward or answers, effectively separating your rational mind for fantasy. Relying on someone else to give your life meaning.

Deconversion—The aha moment followed by the haha moment. You already held the answers you sought. There is no mystery.

Happy New Year everybody. We won’t get fooled again.

Second Hand Religion

The results of Christianity isn’t one that can be measured. It is personal conviction that struggles to put into words what the owner himself thinks is crazy. But, once you believe your own “personal” story, it open up a serious can of worms. The obligatory nature of meta-reality (testimony) now has to give validity to all perceived paranormal activity. It makes it possible, but makes it even more crazy. See, you can’t understand my own personal experience with god, but you are expected to believe my own personal experience from god (unless that experience is Muslim or Hindu or other) there’s where Satan lurks—in other countries.

Second hand religion is a system of believing the quirks of human neurology are divinely inspired. Reality is not only the simple answer, but also more interesting. The galaxy of electrical neurons in our heads occasionally misfire, shut-down, cleanse, reboot, and reroute. It a wonder we have any stability at all, but we manage to limp along with the occasional tic (some more than others). The grand-mal seizure, the head injury, the near death experience, the trauma, the crisis, divorce, loss of a loved one, etc, all put pressure on the neurons, which is gods way of introducing jesus to unbelievers. No, it’s not, but having open dialog about our quirkiness without invoking the supernatural could be an exercise in tremendous growth to answer the questions how and why.

The second, second-hand way to god is through lying. Carefully wording your story to inspire conviction in others causes another backfire in the confusion of our own neuroniverse. Why haven’t I had a visitation? Does god not love me? Am I not chosen? Am I doing something wrong? Am I a sinner? “I am not even worthy to latchet his shoes”. So, eventually through some type of ~~herd instinct~~ peer pressure we wind up praying for what we want. The neurological implications of praying for what you want to believe (in order to fit in) is a near guarantee you will get what you want. Prayer, deep consolation, meditation, group prayer (ugh, everybody hold hands) is at first a very uncomfortable and stupid feeling. Trust that instinct. But as you see around you, the smiles, the hugs, the tears, the joy of the dervish, compels you to want more, even though it’s a sickening display of self inadequacy and recurring shipwreck.

The third second hand is the tic, tic, tic, of your life passing you by living a system created by someone else, fine tuned by someone else, for someone else. As every institution grows it becomes more flawed, more corrupt. As it breaks down it naturally gets more outlandish as they try to hang on. Religion is way over due for an undo, but are we ready to be our own?

2.4 Billion and 1.6 Billion and no Bliss

With all the power attested by Abrahamic religion you would think the world pure bliss by now, especially with most of faith in the multigenerational stage by fertility, passing on those good christian genes. Late yesterday Professor Taboo made a comment that deserves some attention. “These signs [attesting miracles] will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Here is the world as we would know it if any of it were true. Now remember, christianity has been the dominant, most populous religion in the world for about 1000 years, and is soon to be outnumbered by Islam, who also lays claim to the healing power of scripture and prayer.

The Blind would see—As world domination has maintained numbers of about 65% abrahamic you would expect ophthalmology to be in decline, but the reverse is true. Recent headlines read; “Growing demand for eye care highlights shortage of ophthalmologists”, “Growth foreseen for ophthalmology sector”. However, new technologies through science research and development, many colorblind may now see color, and some deaf are hearing with otic manipulation, computers, and advanced hearing aids. 2000 years into this faith you’d expect they’d have improved the quality of life in some minor measurable form, but evidently nothing what the scriptures says is true. And all done in his name…Well, at least reality gives apologists some employment.

Sick would be healed by prayer—Social media has quadrupled the number of healing prayers, likes for prayers, and shouts-outs of “praying” to bolster the efficacy of prayer, but statistically it appears the ~~overblown~~ passionate flowing of prayer has irritated the big lord of love into hiding. The advent of cell cameras and the internet has actually slowed prayers, healing, and miracles to zero.

Nothing in abrahamic faith can even remotely be verified, nor has it improved life on the planet. Studies have shown their doctrine to be ineffective at healing anything at all. Here’s their answer to that problem. “Study of the supernatural is out of sciences reach“. But statistics show prayer does nothing to heal anything, and quire possibly increases anxiety causing untoward effects on healing.

In His Name the only new tongues that have been spoken is honing, bassackwards splicing of words to obfuscate reality and maintain control through incremental increases in apologetics. Finely tuned inscrutable phrases and religious intellectual verbosity is the purest form of deception.

“Prove all things, hold fast to that which is good” 1Thess 5:21

It’s not the churches. I can tell you Christianity is a calculated, money making machine that will say Anything to keep you on the rolls. Scientifically calculated music and lighting, voice roll speeches and lies from the pulpit to induce trance-like positive feelings and call it the spirit.

Most of you know my story, and I put this scripture to the rest. Not one thing works as it’s presented. Ambiguous beliefs and morality coupled with endless attempts to validate faith, and bogus prayer that is a waste of time. It was even in the dogma. “Pray like everything depends on god, work like everything depends on you”. Do yourself a favor….just skip the first part and go to work. The entire church experience is a propped up shell game of non answers and conflicting “beliefs” from every denomination. Nothing can be verified, and nothing works as it is supposed to. So go ahead. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”Don’t feel guilty for looking.

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:21‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Faith Trap

Born into a certain lair, depending on to who from where, was raised into a strict belief, that if well followed would cause relief. A way of life so grand it’s said, to have raised up living from the dead, and if believed with all my heart, life would light the often dark.

Applied my self into the way, paid my tithes and learned to pray, read the book and proved all things, and stayed high in religions rings, then somehow many years had past, and things weren’t adding up so fast.

Some doubts were hushed and hard to say, was I the lone who felt this way? When I would list but a concern, read more scripture you will learn, apply your faith and don’t surrender, hope is where the life will render.

And so It was, I began again.

Doubling down I did my best, and to the lord I took a test, to verify most carefully, his book of words and then I’d see, but by and by the search from me, had eyes that crossed with dotted tees, and woeful were the histories. I read and pondered every verse, the lord it seemed he was a curse, to opened eyes on every verse, things are not what they seemed.

And so I prayed

In earnest gave I the lord my plea, invested years in him you see, certain that a faithful soul, could hear his word if truth be told. Wanting to believe the words, that marked the pages so absurd, to say I needed little reason, but just one would do.

Retiring to a quiet thicket, the lords voice came by sound of crickets.

It all unraveled very fast, not a thing or two would come to pass, as soon as opened eyes could see, deceived by friends and trusted creeds, that one who thought as smart as me, could fall into a trap so deep, set by ones who cared for me. If only just one part was right, I could continue in the fight, but no god hears the words you say, but alas its hope that traps with faith.

Listening for the Spirit

When I was a boy I was told this quote as part of a larger story. “The first order issued by a commander mounting a military invasion is the jamming of the channels of communication of those he intends to conquer.” Paraphrasing now, The devil has influenced this culture of noise and hustle and loud music that blocks out the still small voice of the spirit, and in order to receive the spirit and personal revelation, we were instructed to find places of quiet in our lives to listen to the promptings of god. Careful study and thoughtful prayer and meditation to hear the prompting of god yielded nothing. I went out in the woods and found solitude, humbly prayed as best as I could, and never heard a damn thing. Nobody does! They give it their best to find answers, and finally realize if you want answers, we would have to make our own way in the world, not dependent on proven time wasting techniques as prayer.

Keep trying they say, and it will come. The truth is , you can convince yourself of anything if that is your focus. I remember a couple of years ago, Victoria (neuronotes) had a piece on praying for what answers you want. It was compelling evidence that finding truth with this premise in mind gave you the answer you desired, not an answer in reality. Prayer does not work.

Science Basics, Religion Basics

I could tell you how many times we’ve heard this week that atheists have faith too, but I’d have to re-sift through a mile of apologetic comments to make a count. Contrary to what continues to be parroted, most of science is based on reproducible fact that is no longer theory. Although some of the more advanced ideas are currently in developing phases, most science is provable on a daily basis. Water boils at 212f or 100c at sea level. Every time. Objects fall at 9.8 m/s squared. Every time with wind resistance calculated for mass. If I jump off the 325 foot bridge by my house I will fall 4.49 seconds and travel 81.4 MPH at impact releasing 77,616 joules, since I weigh 75 kilos. Every time. If I want to have my buddy in Norway cast a bronze statue, I can send the alloy formula to him based on a variety of aluminium bronzes of differing compositions and he will make the exact alloy I could make here in Washington. All lab testable for density and purity. Human life requires a tightly controlled pH level in the blood of about 7.4 and during illnesses we can regulate it pretty well with interventions. We also know how the body maintains this homeostasis in great detail. I could go on, but the point is almost everything in our lives today is explainable by science. Pretty good odds someone is getting it mostly right. Except one point. So now it’s your turn. Let’s show some proof on prayer and some proof it works. Ready…..go! If that’s too hard pick another topic. Revelation, faith healing, authenticate your creation story, find some evidence of the Exodus. Ok …go again. Just one. Why is it so hard for religiosos to admit prayer doesn’t work? They all know it doesn’t work! (Except when casting tornados into adjacent neighborhoods) Also, as a side note, religion is also testable for density

Here is a great article researching the efficacy of prayer in a medical setting. Be sure to read to page 2 as it really sums up some of the psychology which prayer may actually be harmful in clinical settings.

How we do it?

First we pray and wait for the Holy Spirit to inspire us. Then, based on conflicting messages we choose the answer that best suits us. When things don’t work out we ponder what god really meant, then usually stick with our bad decision based on initial inspiration and ask others to pray too. We don’t want to admit prayer doesn’t work, or give off the message that god is wrong. That would be near blasphemous.

What is it They Want?

“I shall speak forth my sentiments freely, and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The question before the house I consider as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfil the great responsibility which we have. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense?” –Patrick Henry-

How long must we bow to the untestable, ambiguous, immoral, misinterpreted, oft quoted pseudo knowledge of divisive fable of a god that is created to control minds of the superstitious and believed by the gullible masses? How many prayers must be offered into the vacuum of space without a hint of reciprocity before we can open the minds of those masses and reach meaningful human potential?

If sensible people don’t have a sensible discussion, stupid people will have a stupid one.