My mom has a list of prayers that she claims were answered by God. As I look at that list I noticed that I did most of those things. When I mention that she says, God works through people. If I have to do all the work what do I need God for?
I AM YOUR GOD NOW, MOTHER!
Bow before me!
Yeah, that’s frustrating. Reminds me of learning my grandfather attributed me being accepted to my collage of choice to the fictitious despot rather than my own ability (at least in spite of being religious he’s kind, this kind of thing with him tends more to be by way of unfortunate implication rather than intent).
Does she think that her prayers are changing God’s plan or will? If not, then why is she wasting the time when it’s already going to happen.
But since she knows that it’s you doing the work, that suggests she thinks that people are inherently evil and can’t possibly do good things without some higher influence. That’s a harder one to address, especially when it’s family. I’m just glad that believers have someone in their head guiding them to do good things, otherwise we’d really be in a mess. /s partially
Yeah I don’t get it. My mom calls up her prayer warriors and starts praying for things. And yet God is omniscient and all seeing why do you have to pray? And when something good happens, is a prayer answered from God. If something bad happens then it’s just the will of God. And humans can’t understand the mind of God. It’s like a big circle jerk.
That seems like a question for theists.
Wow, I can visualize their heads exploding.
I can visualize them nodding and agreeing with your mother.
God works in mYsTeRiOuS wAyS!
The cognitive dissonance is strong with them.
I see what’s happening here.
You’re face to face with greatness, and it’s strange.
In her mind, god is what empowered you to do the work necessary, but I don’t think that has to devalue your work altogether. I try to appreciate my own mother’s prayers in that she is expressing a need for a nebulous aid in the face of largely unanswerable, even spiritual issues, like mental health. Of course more directly answerable situations, whether uncomfortable or unjust, can be more annoying with that sort of mindset.
If you mean she’s saying her prayers are answered when it was just you taking care of things for her, that’s even more aggravating.
Prayer’s useful in the same way meditation is. No god need actually be out there for it to work.
Praying has never solved mental health concerns.
Therapy and possibly psychiatric help has, or at the very least helped people come to storms with it.
In fact, religion typically needs you to be anxious, fearful, and broken. Because if you were actually in a good place you don’t need to pray.
Well, no, but it’s more about the thought, as long as they’re actually supportive otherwise. I won’t ask her not to pray for me.
Prayer is easy. Solutions are hard.
Actually, I’m pretty sure there’s a few throw-away-lines in their book about that.
If Christians stopped praying school shootings and started doing something about, we’d have a lot less school shootings. Same too for child hunger. Homelessness. Virtually every social issue you can name.
(And remember, the whole point of tithing is because the temple was the original welfare… it was not so snake oil salesmen could have new-model private jets.)
Theists would have to explain why a human does better than their idea of a god.
