I'm not really sure why I should say anything here. Because faith, and prayer, isn't about proof or evidence. At least, it shouldn't be. If one would like to believe that praying affects the outcome of a event, then that's it. That's faith, it doesn't need or want, other opinions. And, of course, it's a self-prooving thing. I mean, we have no way of knowing what would have happened to that lady if no one had prayed for her.
The thing I find disturbing is that so many people (not really you, Kelly) want so hard to PROVE that "prayer" works. But there really isn't any way, it's not something that can be examined by science, since it's not really measurable.
There is a lot of selective memory and intermittent reinforcement involved in "proof" that prayer works that undermines its validity (from a skeptic's point of view).
But in any case, I don't think it matters. There are a lot of things that we can't affect, and so praying (or good thoughts, or lighting a candle, or doing a rain dance) all help us feel like we are doing something, like we are helping. I don't think it really needs to be justified or defended. Whether or not it "really" does is immaterial to how it makes people feel.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2002-07-10 03:11 pm (UTC)I'm not really sure why I should say anything here. Because faith, and prayer, isn't about proof or evidence. At least, it shouldn't be. If one would like to believe that praying affects the outcome of a event, then that's it. That's faith, it doesn't need or want, other opinions. And, of course, it's a self-prooving thing. I mean, we have no way of knowing what would have happened to that lady if no one had prayed for her.
The thing I find disturbing is that so many people (not really you, Kelly) want so hard to PROVE that "prayer" works. But there really isn't any way, it's not something that can be examined by science, since it's not really measurable.
There is a lot of selective memory and intermittent reinforcement involved in "proof" that prayer works that undermines its validity (from a skeptic's point of view).
But in any case, I don't think it matters. There are a lot of things that we can't affect, and so praying (or good thoughts, or lighting a candle, or doing a rain dance) all help us feel like we are doing something, like we are helping. I don't think it really needs to be justified or defended. Whether or not it "really" does is immaterial to how it makes people feel.