Atheism in Christian societies - DPChallenge Forums

12/13/2007 01:20:29 AM · #426

Originally posted by scalvert:

Originally posted by DrAchoo:
Maybe they just didn't pray hard enough... ;)
Positive therapuetic effects of intercessory prayer in a cardiac care unit population

...or maybe it really doesn't work at all. The study you linked didn't even have a real control: 3-7 intercessors were asked to pray daily for one group, but there could have been an equal number (or more) of family or friends praying for the control group. Note that there was no statistical difference between the number of deaths, days in CCU, days in hospital, and number of discharge medications despite explicit prayers for prevention of death and a rapid recovery. Note also that all prior studies mentioned in Byrd's work failed to find any positive effect from prayer. You would think any omniscient being who values having his creations believe in him so much would see this as a great PR opportunity. 100% of that prayer group should have jumped up in the OR and performed River Dance for the study authors. Now THAT would have been some evidence! ;-)

Ya, don't worry. I don't think it's that great a study. I just wanted to participate. There are some statistical issues as well, but I won't get into them.

posthumous

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

12/13/2007 08:35:35 AM · #427

Originally posted by Melethia:

I don't follow this thread regularly (and am still a bit confused as to how religious debate equates to photography, but that's neither here nor there) but I do have a question for all ye learned ones... I've never quite figured how to categorize myself - what do you call someone who doesn't "have a personal relationship with Christ" (or any other deity/religious figurehead) but has no problem that others do, and also feels that personal relationships with Buddha, Mohammed, Allah, whomever are cool, too. I see a place for religion - any religion - in the world, but don't participate in any of 'em. (And as an added aside, the Muslims in Kuwait - the men, anyway - carry prayer beads which remind me a great deal of rosary beads carried by Catholics.)

Just curious.

A Conscientious Objector?

an Agnostic?

a Unitarian?

a Deist?

How about I call you Deb?

I'm going to back up a little and say that I pretty much agree with you. I think religion serves an important function and we have to be careful about taking it away from people and not replacing it with anything, because one way or another something will replace it. It might manifest in a peculiarly intense sports obsession, trusting doctors and scientific studies too much, the love of literature, etc.

12/13/2007 08:59:43 AM · #428

Heh! Deb will work, as long as it's not an abbreviation for debutante. I'm just not of that ilk. I've never known how to refer to myself - am I an atheist or an agnostic? My dog tags say "No pref" in the religion space...

I can't say that I would ever wish religion to be taken away from anyone (except those fanatics who think religion gives them the right to blow themselves up in crowds - that bothers me). I don't have any problem with the existance of any religion, or the coexistance of those religions. And I think it can peacefully coexist with science, literature, art... I knew a brilliant man of science who wrote a fictional piece that combined the evolution of the universe with the existance of God. Problem was this guy is a genius and I'm guessing not many could follow the science in it - but it was fascinating (those parts that I did manage to follow.)

12/13/2007 10:41:25 AM · #429

Originally posted by Melethia:

what do you call someone who doesn't "have a personal relationship with Christ" (or any other deity/religious figurehead) but has no problem that others do, and also feels that personal relationships with Buddha, Mohammed, Allah, whomever are cool, too.

A target for prosyletizing fundies. :-P

12/13/2007 10:43:31 AM · #430

Originally posted by Melethia:

unusually tolerant ?

12/13/2007 10:46:41 AM · #431

LOL!! Not many people preach at me very often. I think it's because I have no argument against their beliefs for them. Or it could be because I'm a boring conversationalist. That's a possibility. :-)

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

12/13/2007 11:05:32 AM · #432

Originally posted by yanko:

Maybe these medical prayers don't work because God is too busy making sure celebrities and athletes get their awards. Speaking of which, did anybody catch the Heisman Trophy presentation? I lost count how many times Tim Tebow thanked God in his acceptance speech. :P

Nobody ever seems to mention God on the losing sides though.

Apple iPhone 5

12/13/2007 12:16:38 PM · #433

Originally posted by Melethia:

Try the Belief-O-Matic

:-D

Message edited by author 2007-12-13 12:16:50.

12/13/2007 01:02:52 PM · #434

Fun!! Apparently I fall under Unitarian Universalism, with the next choice as Neo-Paganism, followed by Liberal Quaker. (Liberal Quaker?) Thanks for the link!

12/13/2007 01:14:58 PM · #435

Originally posted by Melethia:

Fun!! Apparently I fall under Unitarian Universalism, with the next choice as Neo-Paganism, followed by Liberal Quaker. (Liberal Quaker?)

Means you won't stop eating oats. :-/ Sorry, that was dumb.

edit: want -> won't

Message edited by author 2007-12-13 13:21:22.

12/13/2007 01:18:47 PM · #436

Or perhaps I should conduct some sort of ritual before eating oats. :-)

12/13/2007 01:19:07 PM · #437

Pretty interesting. Here's my results:

1. Orthodox Quaker (100%)
2. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (92%)
3. Seventh Day Adventist (88%)
4. Eastern Orthodox (82%)
5. Roman Catholic (82%)
6. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (74%)

I'd consider myself a mainline to liberal Christian, but my strong family lineage is Mennonite which is more or less synonymous with Quaker.

Looks like I need to check craigslist for any horse/buggy combos available in the Portland area...

Message edited by author 2007-12-13 13:25:23.

12/13/2007 01:24:17 PM · #438

Also try that poltical compass test I posted in the other thread. Here's me again.

12/13/2007 02:06:45 PM · #439

Originally posted by Louis:

Also try that poltical compass test I posted in the other thread. Here's me again.

We are almost exactly the same left/right, but I am much closer to central on libertarian/authoritarian. Looks like I'm closest to Nelson Mandela.

Left/Right: -4.50
Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.49

Message edited by author 2007-12-13 14:07:12.

12/13/2007 02:10:38 PM · #440

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

Originally posted by Louis:
Also try that poltical compass test I posted in the other thread. Here's me again.

We are almost exactly the same left/right, but I am much closer to central on libertarian/authoritarian. Looks like I'm closest to Nelson Mandela.

Left/Right: -4.50
Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.49

Here. It's probably fairly obvious, but the left/right are largely economic questions, the up/down social. Everyone's more authoritarian than me. :-( Gives me an excuse to act put-upon.

12/13/2007 02:16:41 PM · #441

I didn't write down the numbers, but from the center, I'm left about 2.5 and down about 4, whatever that means.

12/13/2007 02:17:20 PM · #442

Originally posted by Melethia:

I didn't write down the numbers, but from the center, I'm left about 2.5 and down about 4, whatever that means.

I seem to be all alone over on the right hand side...

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

12/13/2007 02:20:04 PM · #443

Originally posted by Gordon:

Originally posted by Melethia:
I didn't write down the numbers, but from the center, I'm left about 2.5 and down about 4, whatever that means.

I seem to be all alone over on the right hand side...

Get him!

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

12/13/2007 02:32:03 PM · #444

Originally posted by Louis:

Everyone's more authoritarian than me. :-(

I don't think so ... ;-)

Originally posted by Melethia:

I didn't write down the numbers, but from the center, I'm left about 2.5 and down about 4, whatever that means.

Those numbers seem somewhat surprising to me, given your current profession.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

12/13/2007 02:48:51 PM · #445

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by Louis:
Everyone's more authoritarian than me. :-(

I don't think so ... ;-)

Originally posted by Melethia:
I didn't write down the numbers, but from the center, I'm left about 2.5 and down about 4, whatever that means.

Those numbers seem somewhat surprising to me, given your current profession.

She's an anomaly. In more ways than one :-)

R.

posthumous

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

12/13/2007 03:36:02 PM · #446

1. Neo-Pagan (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (97%)
3. New Age (92%)
4. Liberal Quakers (89%)
5. Scientology (88%)
6. Mahayana Buddhism (86%)
7. New Thought (83%)
8. Taoism (80%)
9. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (78%)
10. Secular Humanism (71%)
11. Hinduism (71%)
12. Theravada Buddhism (69%)
13. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (67%)
14. Orthodox Quaker (53%)
15. Reform Judaism (53%)
16. Sikhism (47%)
17. Jainism (43%)
18. BahÃ¡'Ã Faith (35%)
19. Nontheist (35%)
20. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (29%)
21. Seventh Day Adventist (23%)
22. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (22%)
23. Eastern Orthodox (18%)
24. Islam (18%)
25. Orthodox Judaism (18%)
26. Roman Catholic (18%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (17%)