Ethical / legal / theological question

[Old Greg]

But don't pray to pass as that might be cheating

What do you think God is, a miracle worker?

[Wanderer]

If you are going into an exam and you pray to your God to help you (assuming you were lucky enough to be born into an area and time where the correct God is the one you are indoctrinated) - are you guilty of cheating?

Imagine a group of people. Half are religious who pray for help before an exam and half are atheists who spend an equal amount of time on their own mental exam preparation, would you see a noticeable improvement in the scores of those who are believers?

No, you wouldn't. All other things being the same, the scores would be equal.

So why don't their prayers get answered? There is a simple explanation for this and it is the concept of faith which is based on a spiritual conviction rather than proof. Anything that could scientifically prove the existence of a deity would negate the need to have faith and therefore make it impossible for a religion to exist. To take this to it's logical conclusion, any prayer which could be answered in a provable or meaningful way could therefore not be answered without destroying the need for faith. It also means that it's impossible for a prayer to be answered other than by chance.

So the believer doesn't seek evidence to prove that their prayer had been answered therefore it doesn't disturb their faith. This is a virtuous circle for the purveyors of religious beliefs because it encourages people to simply accept things on faith rather than to question the religion's teachings. Unfortunately, this leads to all manner of other problems when it's taken to it's logical conclusion by religious extremists acting on faith rather than science and reason.

The other explanation is that it is "god's will". If this were true then there would be no point praying because your deity would do what ever they wanted anyway. Once again, many religions take this to it's logical conclusion that we are predestined and there is nothing that we can do to influence what our deity has planned for.

Belief is not a choice - wanting to believe something is not believe. Hence no one has 'chosen' not to believe in your God they are just have not been convinced of the difference between your God and the many that neither of you belief in.

It is in the human nature to seek an explanation to the philosophy of the meaning of life. It is also very difficult for humans to accept that when they die you are just dead. It's much easier to believe that when they die it's all going to be OK, they will be reincarnated, go to paradise, be reunited with lost ones etc.

[NotAllThere]

Not read Small gods then?

Small Gods - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Neil Gaiman said it better.

[EternalOptimist]

Imagine a group of people. Half are religious who pray for help before an exam and half are atheists who spend an equal amount of time on their own mental exam preparation, would you see a noticeable improvement in the scores of those who are believers?

No, you wouldn't. All other things being the same, the scores would be equal.

So why don't their prayers get answered? There is a simple explanation for this and it is the concept of faith which is based on a spiritual conviction rather than proof. Anything that could scientifically prove the existence of a deity would negate the need to have faith and therefore make it impossible for a religion to exist. To take this to it's logical conclusion, any prayer which could be answered in a provable or meaningful way could therefore not be answered without destroying the need for faith. It also means that it's impossible for a prayer to be answered other than by chance.

So the believer doesn't seek evidence to prove that their prayer had been answered therefore it doesn't disturb their faith. This is a virtuous circle for the purveyors of religious beliefs because it encourages people to simply accept things on faith rather than to question the religion's teachings. Unfortunately, this leads to all manner of other problems when it's taken to it's logical conclusion by religious extremists acting on faith rather than science and reason.

The other explanation is that it is "god's will". If this were true then there would be no point praying because your deity would do what ever they wanted anyway. Once again, many religions take this to it's logical conclusion that we are predestined and there is nothing that we can do to influence what our deity has planned for.

The idea that the question of determinism vs free will is a religious question is daft. I like the idea of a cat having free will but I dont see how an ant has free will

like Toyah Wilcox once said, ith a mythery

[shaunbhoy]

I have to work up to "Spot the Dog" by starting on something more childish and purile - luckily your posts are ideal for this!

puerile

[MyUserName]

puerile

Wow - I had not expected your posts to literally become 'puerile'!

[NotAllThere]

The idea that the question of determinism vs free will is a religious question is daft. I like the idea of a cat having free will but I dont see how an ant has free will

like Toyah Wilcox once said, ith a mythery

mythtery

You're right though. Determinism vs freewill is a philosophical question, not religious.

[Old Greg]

mythtery

You're right though. Determinism vs freewill is a philosophical question, not religious.

That is not entirely true. It is a philosophical question. But it is also a religious question - e.g. Calvinism. It is also in part a scientific question.

[NotAllThere]

I think it is. It is a philosophic question in religion, and a philosophical question in science.

[xoggoth]

I got a first in return for selling my soul to the devil. It seemed a good deal at the time but now I'm getting on a bit I'm not so sure.