This is just my opinion and I don't have the power of an imagined god to make it absolute. I see prayer as form of mental masturbation. To pray is to masturbate your own imagination to fulfill a religious fantasy. The only real benefit that comes from praying is the prayer’s own mental satisfaction. When the religious extremists pray in church you can see them get all weak in the knees and start trembling. That is when they are climaxing their religious imagination and you can see the “spirit”, which is their ecstasy, in their eyes. I avoid people that have this “I’m insane with religion and loving it ” look. They are complete spellbound, hoodwinked and possessed by their childhood indoctrination and are immature mentally which makes them dangerous. After all, everything you see is just a prop in this world to the religious (and that includes you too) for their religious test. When I was 10 and being forcefully indoctrinated as catholic 24x7 I didn't even think my own mother was real - she was just a prop. Who cares about the environment or anything else? Nothing has any real value to the religious because, if you believe the mythology, everything it is just a prop with no value and is no concern of yours to reach the ultimate goal of being happily alive in your mind's eye while also being dead and rotting in the ground. Religion is a curse upon our society that uses innocent unsuspecting children to propagate itself. We have to save our children from this curse using the LAW.

Thoughts and prayers are good for those that want to think warm thoughts and feel the need to believe, but they need to be aware that science is there as well.

Thoughts and prayers.

Let's see how closely I can quote George Carlin. "Instead of praying to god I rather wish upon a star. I know the star exists because I can see the star. And, I get the same 50% success rate!"

What gets me is when the dr wants to pray with me/ no thanks!

I'll pray for you

For me?... Well then, I'll eat some chocolate for you.

Huh? That won't do me any good.

No, but like your praying, it will make me feel a whole lot better about things.

F£%$^& Atheist

James Randi recounted a fun story in "The Faith Healers." Ernet Angley was talking to the mother of a young cancer survivor. She told him that he was better after he saw Angley. The aluminum cast toupee televangelist got very excited: proof of his worth as a faith healer!

The mother went on: He got a cancer treatment and it's in remission, but he felt sick to his stimach. After he saw you he felt much better." Good old Ernie's face fell right to the floor at that point.

Why do hospitals have Chaplains?

"prayer" meant "wish" when the KJV was being translated

as for needing medicine, let food by thy medicine imo, but that's a diff subject anyway

I wonder how much this actually bothers your average clinician? I'd think it'd get pretty old. But maybe they're inured to it.

Someone mentioned a few weeks ago on this site that their surgeon came into the prep room just before they put him under for surgery and without preamble, said, "let's pray" so I suppose that's the other side of the coin: how many clinicians think god is directing them in their work? Patients thinking god is guiding the doctor on their behalf is annoying, sure -- but the doctor buying into that is more than a little scary ...

Never bothers me. I don't feel that powerful and take all the help I can get placebo or not

Such a pet peeve of mine!