Why do christians seem to always say "ill pray for you."?

Especially when you tell them your an athiest?

Dont they realise you dont want them to pray for you. That its insulting?

Its called being courteous. Even though one may not share the same view as you they still wish you the well.

Don't be a hater.

People who pray for you really and truly feel as if they are making an impact on your life. When someone tells me they are praying for my soul, I always reply with something like: "Thanks for having me in your thoughts" (which is all prayer really is, a meditation, or concentrated thoughts).

What's a little more uncomfortable is when people (with generally good intentions) ask me to pray with them. I look at it this way: How hard is it to bow my head and close my eyes and give them sixty seconds of concentration? Not hard at all. It makes them feel good, and it does me no harm at all.

Tolerance, kindness and patience.

I treat Christians as though they are little children, who don't know any better. Why go out of my way to bust up their fantasy and piss on their parade? Only if directly challenged or offended do I find it neccessary to argue with them.

quote:Originally posted by AngryFemme:

Don't be a hater.

People who pray for you really and truly feel as if they are making an impact on your life. When someone tells me they are praying for my soul, I always reply with something like: "Thanks for having me in your thoughts" (which is all prayer really is, a meditation, or concentrated thoughts).

What's a little more uncomfortable is when people (with generally good intentions) ask me to pray with them. I look at it this way: How hard is it to bow my head and close my eyes and give them sixty seconds of concentration? Not hard at all. It makes them feel good, and it does me no harm at all.

Tolerance, kindness and patience.

I treat Christians as though they are little children, who don't know any better. Why go out of my way to bust up their fantasy and piss on their parade? Only if directly challenged or offended do I find it neccessary to argue with them.



Speaking of little children, should they (Christians) be taken care of, much like how Vicki attempted to do with the humans in I, Robot?

quote:Originally posted by AngryFemme:

Don't be a hater.

People who pray for you really and truly feel as if they are making an impact on your life. When someone tells me they are praying for my soul, I always reply with something like: "Thanks for having me in your thoughts" (which is all prayer really is, a meditation, or concentrated thoughts).

What's a little more uncomfortable is when people (with generally good intentions) ask me to pray with them. I look at it this way: How hard is it to bow my head and close my eyes and give them sixty seconds of concentration? Not hard at all. It makes them feel good, and it does me no harm at all.

Tolerance, kindness and patience.

I treat Christians as though they are little children, who don't know any better. Why go out of my way to bust up their fantasy and piss on their parade? Only if directly challenged or offended do I find it neccessary to argue with them.



you're good people

quote:Originally posted by AngryFemme:

Tolerance, kindness and patience.

I treat Christians as though they are little children, who don't know any better. Why go out of my way to bust up their fantasy and piss on their parade? Only if directly challenged or offended do I find it neccessary to argue with them.

And when they treat you the same way, like a "lost sheep", you take it all in stride?

quote:Originally posted by quasicurus:

Speaking of little children, should they (Christians) be taken care of, much like how Vicki attempted to do with the humans in I, Robot?

I don't really remember the Vicki character in that movie, but I don't think Christians should be "taken care of" if by that you mean silenced, or obliterated, or something along those lines. To each his own. I can live with them, or live without them.

quote:Originally posted by napoleon_complex:

And when they treat you the same way, like a "lost sheep", you take it all in stride?



I do. I really do. People are going to form opinions of me no matter what. I try to take it with a grain of salt, much like I hope they do my opinion of them. I enjoy a good debate. What's the harm? You know, sticks and stones...

quote:Originally posted by Lou Reed:

Its called being courteous. Even though one may not share the same view as you they still wish you the well.

Cheers,

Lost

quote:Originally posted by AngryFemme:

I do. I really do. People are going to form opinions of me no matter what. I try to take it with a grain of salt, much like I hope they do my opinion of them. I enjoy a good debate. What's the harm? You know, sticks and stones...



Doesn't treating them like children just incite argumentsl, not debates?

Why even do it, unless you're just trying to get back at them for something a few of them have done/said in the past to you?

quote:Originally posted by napoleon_complex:

Doesn't treating them like children just incite argumentsl, not debates?

No, hardly ever. Of course, there's the occasional Believer who is absolutely hell bent on shoving their religion down my throat. That might spawn an argument. But most disagreements I've had with Christians are just harmless debates.

quote: Why even do it, unless you're just trying to get back at them for something a few of them have done/said in the past to you?

Because tolerance is better than intolerance? Why would I have to "get back at them"? You're assuming I have some sort of grudge against them.

I don't mean that I look down on them and shake my finger at them, talking in cooing baby talk while humoring their beliefs. I offer them the same respect I would a child who believes in the Easter Bunny. They want to believe, and who am I to steer them away from what they hold dear? If asked my beliefs, I'll explain it and give reasons as to why I believe that way. Unless directly questioned, I don't push my philosophies on anyone.

quote:Originally posted by AngryFemme:

Because tolerance is better than intolerance? Why would I have to "get back at them"? You're assuming I have some sort of grudge against them.

I don't mean that I look down on them and shake my finger at them, talking in cooing baby talk while humoring their beliefs. I offer them the same respect I would a child who believes in the Easter Bunny. They want to believe, and who am I to steer them away from what they hold dear? If asked my beliefs, I'll explain it and give reasons as to why I believe that way. Unless directly questioned, I don't push my philosophies on anyone.

Why treat them like a child though? The reason I'm assuming you have a grudge is that for some reason you feel it necessary to treat people like children. Why would you do that unless you looked down at them or you're trying to demean them. I really just see no reasoning behind it.

quote:Originally posted by napoleon_complex:

Why treat them like a child though? The reason I'm assuming you have a grudge is that for some reason you feel it necessary to treat people like children.

It was meant as a metaphor, napolean. Treating them as though they were children, to help myself understand (and be tolerant) of their beliefs. It helps me understand them better. I could have used "pretending in my head that they are little children". After all, I was responding to how I personally dealt with people who pray for me.

quote:

Why would you do that unless you looked down at them or you're trying to demean them. I really just see no reasoning behind it.

And that's alright, you don't have to see any reasoning behind how I deal with Christians. Maybe it's just not for you to understand my coping mechanisms.

More than 3/4 of the people close to me are Christians. I don't demean them. Just because I feel as though handling them with kid gloves makes me more compassionate towards them despite their beliefs doesn't mean I look down on them.

Do we look down on children who believe in Santa Clause? Demean them? Feel superior to them? We don't. We humor them, because it makes them feel good inside to believe it. We respect their wonder and awe, because it obviously brings them great joy and is doing no harm. Same goes my philosophy towards Christians.

Looking at an adult like a child is demeaning though, and that is what I'm getting at.

It just seems incredinly disrespectful to be considered a form of tolerance.

Whatever though...

Edit: Do you treat everyone who believes in a religion like this?

[This message has been edited by napoleon_complex (edited 10-15-2005).]

A homeless woman I gave money to today told me that. I told her I didn't give a damn.

I simply don't mistreat people, religious or not. Most Christians I know personally would take my attitude and my lending a metaphor of childhood fantasy to their beliefs with a grain of salt. They in turn use the metaphor "lost sheep" to describe their views of people like me. I don't feel like they're demeaning me. It's just their perspective, and doesn't hurt my feelings.

I told myself I'd never refer people to a webpage, but he does this arguing much better than I can:

http://tinyurl.com/a2aw8

quote:Originally posted by napoleon_complex:

Looking at an adult like a child is demeaning though, and that is what I'm getting at.

It just seems incredinly disrespectful to be considered a form of tolerance.



No it isn't. If analysing people with a Holden Caulfield complex is considered demeaning, then I guess we should tolerate all people with mental problems and let them be.

Religion is very similar to other bullshit we give to our children: Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, etc. Not finding the parallels leaves room for people to scrutinize your beliefs.

Forget about whether religion is truthful or not - you must at least agree with me that there are parallels.