I am an atheist, ask me anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, how do you explain scientific studies that show prayer helps people heal.

Prayer is basically meditation. Meditation helps people heal, because it calms you, helps you get your thoughts together, and helps relieve stress. Prayer/mediation help people, because it's all mental (and you can't neglect the mind, in terms of health). Doesn't mean there's some intervening "higher power," but there's some truth to "it's all in your head" (which can be a good thing)

I agree but this study is triple blind.

[Anonymous]

I am sure the scientist thought the opposite results would have been proven, they seem a little bitter. It's like the scientist who tried to prove video games are bad for kids and found out up to an hour a day was beneficial.

FruminousBandersnatch wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was actually a triple blind study....

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2802370/

I think NIH is pretty credible... Or should I say not "no good"

I love the "questions raised" section of the NIH study:

We present some of the unsettling questions that arise in these contexts; the questions are unsettling because they invite comparison with human parallels that devalue the concept of God, something that those who pray surely would not have considered.

1. If the number, duration and frequency of prayer are important or if the number of persons praying is important, does God, like a businessman, market boons based on the currency value of the prayers? Or, will God pay attention only if those who pray are sufficiently bothersome?

2. If the type of prayer is important, is God a bureaucrat who is more likely to consider petitions that appear in the prescribed forms?

3. If the addition of vows and sacrifices is important, is God somebody who can be flattered or bribed into granting a boon?

4. If the level of fervency or intensity is important, does God distinguish between “please”, “pretty please” and “pretty please with ribbons on it”?

5. If the practical content of and petitions in the prayer are important, how does God make decisions about what is and what is not a reasonable request?

6. If the faith or conviction of the persons who pray is important, does God value the beliefs of the petitioners more than the merits of the petitions?

7. If the personal characteristics and qualities of the persons who pray (or the persons who are being prayed for) are important, are some people more equal before God than other people? Religions portray God as being compassionate; what sort of compassion is displayed by the selective favoring of an experimental over a control group?

8. If the entity to which the prayer is directed is important, do different Gods have different portfolios? Are some Gods more approachable? Do some Gods ignore some prayers? If the religious affiliation of the person who prays is important, what becomes of the other religions of the world and those who follow such religions; will their prayers remain unanswered?

9. If the magnitude of response to the petitions is total, then all prayers should result in miraculous or near-miraculous benefits. This, clearly, almost never happens. Thus, does God work on percentages; that is, if the petition is for an elephant, does he sanction a mouse? Or, are his responses only subtle ones? If so, how does he choose on the outcome measure to improve?

[Anonymous]

How did the laws of physics come into existence?

[Anonymous]

OP, do you do certain thing that religious people have proven to be beneficial, like you meditate instead of pray, do you fast or abstain? Anything like that? Are you part of a community that you meet with weekly? Did you create your own "framework" for living well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did the laws of physics come into existence?

you got me. that is why i am agnostic. were they written by god, or is there something else? the overriding principle in classic mechanics is based on symmetry a geometry...1/r^2 for gravity and electricity is because we are in a three dimensional world...geometric decay. In a t-d scenario (flat earth), 1/r is the reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, do you do certain thing that religious people have proven to be beneficial, like you meditate instead of pray, do you fast or abstain? Anything like that? Are you part of a community that you meet with weekly? Did you create your own "framework" for living well?

OP here. I do not meditate.
I just live by the rules. Don't smoke because it is not good for you. Same with drinking, promiscuity, drugs, agression, reckless driving, just not good for you. I never had a problem with over eating. But many of my values coincide with some religious values. Like I have a problem with greed, over indulgence, and gluttony.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since you don't have a soul. Is it ok to kill you like a bug or a mouse?

Since I don't think you have a soul, is it ok for me to kill you like a big or a mouse?

No my logic and beliefs hold that I have a soul and my God has described murder of a human as a sin . If I were totally atheist I would logically conclude a mouse and human have equal universal value which is essentially nothing.

NP - this is what troubles me about religious people...That without a supreme being, they become nihilists.

Atheists can believe that life has meaning because it feels like it has meaning. We have an interest in our own lives. We don't want you to end those lives. Not because of what's going to happen for all eternity, but because we care about our lives now.

And, I will add, that the mouse and the bug also have an interest in their own lives. I think you shouldn't kill them willy nilly, either.

Who cares what an entity without a soul thinks? All this blubbering about feelings is tiresome . Be a real atheist ! Own it! Accept your insignificance!

I'm not sure what your point is. I believe that animals matter because they suffer. Just like humans. I don't need religion to be concerned about suffering. You apparently do! Why are you obsessed with a soul? Why isn't it important to you, what is happening on this earth, in this lifetime?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since you don't have a soul. Is it ok to kill you like a bug or a mouse?

Since I don't think you have a soul, is it ok for me to kill you like a big or a mouse?

No my logic and beliefs hold that I have a soul and my God has described murder of a human as a sin . If I were totally atheist I would logically conclude a mouse and human have equal universal value which is essentially nothing.

NP - this is what troubles me about religious people...That without a supreme being, they become nihilists.

Atheists can believe that life has meaning because it feels like it has meaning. We have an interest in our own lives. We don't want you to end those lives. Not because of what's going to happen for all eternity, but because we care about our lives now.

And, I will add, that the mouse and the bug also have an interest in their own lives. I think you shouldn't kill them willy nilly, either.

Who cares what an entity without a soul thinks? All this blubbering about feelings is tiresome . Be a real atheist ! Own it! Accept your insignificance!

I'm not sure what your point is. I believe that animals matter because they suffer. Just like humans. I don't need religion to be concerned about suffering. You apparently do! Why are you obsessed with a soul? Why isn't it important to you, what is happening on this earth, in this lifetime?

Sorry, I should have noted that this is not OP, this is pp. The one who believes in Godwin's law.

[Anonymous]

OP here. One thing that I want to point out is that I was rasied as an atheist. Some atheists were raised with some kind of religious base. I did not have one, so these questions about a soul and higher being are odd because that type of terminology is foreign to me. As a child I never heard anyone in my house speak like that. So I can't even argue on a religious level as some of the pps are able to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, how do you explain scientific studies that show prayer helps people heal.

how do you explain them? that there must be a god? I hear Cocaine makes people feel good too -- maybe God sent it and we should all use it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

liamw wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, how do you explain scientific studies that show prayer helps people heal.

As a Christian who does live by grace I will even concede to the psychological effect of prayer. It gos back to the saying "self fulfilling prophecy in come cases" Some people call this science, we call it faith.

The study is double blind though.

show us the study - there must be a link to a "scientific" study that proved such a thing. talk is cheap

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

liamw wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, how do you explain scientific studies that show prayer helps people heal.

As a Christian who does live by grace I will even concede to the psychological effect of prayer. It gos back to the saying "self fulfilling prophecy in come cases" Some people call this science, we call it faith.

The study is double blind though.

show us the study - there must be a link to a "scientific" study that proved such a thing. talk is cheap

Sorry -- hadn't read the rest of the thread before posting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since you don't have a soul. Is it ok to kill you like a bug or a mouse?

Since I don't think you have a soul, is it ok for me to kill you like a big or a mouse?

No my logic and beliefs hold that I have a soul and my God has described murder of a human as a sin . If I were totally atheist I would logically conclude a mouse and human have equal universal value which is essentially nothing.

NP - this is what troubles me about religious people...That without a supreme being, they become nihilists.

Atheists can believe that life has meaning because it feels like it has meaning. We have an interest in our own lives. We don't want you to end those lives. Not because of what's going to happen for all eternity, but because we care about our lives now.

And, I will add, that the mouse and the bug also have an interest in their own lives. I think you shouldn't kill them willy nilly, either.

Who cares what an entity without a soul thinks? All this blubbering about feelings is tiresome . Be a real atheist ! Own it! Accept your insignificance!

I'm not sure what your point is. I believe that animals matter because they suffer. Just like humans. I don't need religion to be concerned about suffering. You apparently do! Why are you obsessed with a soul? Why isn't it important to you, what is happening on this earth, in this lifetime?

Totally agree. Your opinions and feelings are equal to those of a mouse. In the big picture.

[Anonymous]

I'm not OP. I'm also an atheist (I was raised religious).

I think the big problem religious people have in understanding atheism is that ethics and morals don't have to be grounded in religion.

To a PP's point, just because we don't have souls, doesn't mean nothing has value. It also doesn't mean everything has equal value. I'm not surprised this is where (presumably religious) PP ended up. It can be a bit difficult to work through when you are used to having the "answers" in the dogma you grew up believing -- trust me, I was there.

I am surprised that particular PP hasn't ever heard of philosophy, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did the laws of physics come into existence?

I don't know -- but are you saying that you do know and that god did it? How would you know that? You don't -- it's a default position for anything that is not yet known.

Look up "God of the gaps"