Welcome to Gaia! ::

I smile, nod an walk away. Not really saying anything much, but it atleast lets them know I am not ignoring them.

I do not say "bless you" when someone sneezes. I say "gesundheite". I do say "God damn" and "Jesus crhist" as curses though. My mom gets mad at me for that, but I just shrug. What am I supposed to say? "By Zeus's beard!" "By Odin's hammer!" I'll just sound like Ron Burgandy!

XD I must learn not everyone that prays is Christian, yes, but the idea that one assumes another to believe in a higher power (By heart usually) and must tell you they prayed for you irks me. If you REALLY want to do it, there is a thing called privacy and doing it alone or without telling anyone. It isn't that hard to pray and can be easily done without informing someone.
Some of the times, it is just plain rude, like if someone has figured out your Atheist, Agnostic, Wiccan, or another belief that may be unacceptable by a religion, they feel the need to tell you they will pray for you like your a helpless and non-innocent walking pile of scum like the creature Hexx from Fern Gully.

( I do must apologize for making it sound like I meant only Christians. XD
I mostly deal with ONLY Christian folk, so it makes it hard to do specialized debates due to my living area. But that's what happens when you live in the Bible Belt. )

XD I think that still means bless you, just in German...And I think it's silly to take offense. I mean, if you don't believe then it's just someone who holds good intentions towards you, and if you do believe in whatever religion, then you should be secure enough in that not to worry that whatever other power some other person worships will be able to touch you. I say 'God bless you' because that's my religion and I want Him to help people; I pray for just about everyone I know for that reason too. I don't think it's a big deal.

No Gesund means "Health". So it means Health to you, roughly translated. Like Salud in Italian.

Yup =^_^=

I've never really understood why saying "You'll be in my prayers" would offend a non-religious person. I mean, in general. Certainly someone saying that they'll pray for you to come to God and change your mind about things would be totally offensive, but something like praying for the emotional well being of you and your family is a bit different.

If you don't believe in a God, or specifically that person's God, why do you care? To me, it's like getting upset when someone points a stick at you and yells, Expelliarmus! (sp?) If you don't believe it will do anything, then it's just a person being stupid. Nothing more, and nothing less. If you don't believe a certain deity exists, then it's just a person wasting their time, though with good intentions.



I've also never understood why people think that their disbelief in my God should stop me from praying for them. I mean, you may not believe my deity has any power over your life, but I do, and I'd like that power to be focused on making your life better. You don't live your life based on what other people believe, so why should religious people decide whether or not to do something based on what your beliefs are?


I do tell people they'll be in my prayers, but when I do so, it's not because I'm assuming they are Christian. It's because I'm trying to convey how important their situation is to me. And in light of that, the important thing isn't how the other person feels about prayer, but how I feel about prayer. I really don't pray as often as I should, so if I'm making an effort to pray for someone, that shows my commitment to helping them. It shows that I'm not just thinking about how bad their situation is. I'm actually taking time out of my schedule to try to improve that situation, and I will be there to offer that commitment to the person I'm praying for with whatever they need.
Example: I had a friend who was being tested for cancer last year (and also a million other diseases, but cancer was the one she was the most worried about). When I told her I'd say a prayer for her, it wasn't just me saying a prayer and then being done with it. The prayer came along with me phoning more often, being there whenever she needed someone to talk to, distracting her when she needed distractions, and just generally being on hand for whatever she needed. That was one of the few times I've specifically said I'd pray for her, despite the fact that I've been praying for her health for the last three years (which is roughly how long they've been trying to figure out what was wrong with her). I didn't actually make a point of saying it, except when it was indicating specific times I was committing myself to being there for her more.

Of course, this may not be the case for everybody who says this. You kind of have to know the person who's saying it. It's kind of like what Eltanin was saying. If someone has good intentions, take it as a good thing. If they're saying it in a malicious or condescending way, go ahead and be offended.



Finally, I wanted to address the idea of praying for the dead, as it was brought up earlier in this thread.

There are several Christian denominations that do believe that prayer can still help the dead.
Example: Catholics pray for souls in Purgatory all the time. Supposedly, it's very difficult to get straight to heaven, so souls have to go through a purifying process to cleanse them of all their attachments to sin. I've prayed for dead people lots of times, and my prayers generally take the following form: 1. Express the fervent hope that the soul is in heaven with God. 2. Pray that, if the soul is not in heaven, it will be soon.

There are also several non-Christian faiths that have the practice of praying for the dead, such as Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. And these are just the ones I know about. I doubt that is a comprehensive list. While I don't know the specific beliefs in all these religions that make prayers for the dead important, the fact that they have these at least indicates the belief that their prayers can still do something for the deceased.

well i basicly agree along with what your saying and i do not beileve that prayer is honestly that effective while the previous post above yours says that even saying i dont agree withvyour relegion could come across as rude, though it most certainly can only in the eye of the beholder for example someone could pray for my sick mother and i would perhaps say thankyou however i dont beileve in prayer it would be to his or her accord to take it as an insult or a simple statement most people however seem to take situations such as that as an insult. heres an extra fact as well as far as reforming a relegion i dont beileve that it is possible due to the fact that the orignal bible was written much beore anyone was born taking that into consideration how could something that old be reformed without ( suiting it for the current time period)

In that case, if the comment was said in a well-meaning attitude, just say "thank you".

When someone DOES say it in a way that is unquestionably condescending, then stand up for yourself. You let them know you don't need their prayers, or do my personal favorite, "No, I'll keep YOU in MY prayers." You can cast your own religious light on it and be like, "and I'll light a candle for you," or whatever. You could just turn it on them with a pointed, "If it helps YOU feel better."