Quote Originally Posted by Binzhoubum
Now don't get me wrong folks...I like, actually, I LOVE to argue just as much as the next guy...but when it comes to something like prayer...I mean, if it makes people feel better, why not?
Because it encourages people to not actually do something about their problems. If you think God will take care of things for you, why bother doing anything yourself? To take an extreme example, Christian Scientists do not believe in medicine; they believe, however, that prayer can heal people. That can be a very damaging belief. Besides that, prayer and other beliefs in supernatural/paranormal claims encourage sloppy thinking and a blatant disregard for rationalism and the scientific method. Am I going to stop anybody from praying? Of course not. But I don't see what's wrong with informing someone when they're doing something very silly and illogical, like praying to a God who supposedly knows all your thoughts anyways.