Atheist Prayers

[Lifelinking]

Latest post of the previous page:

They can be a great people; they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. They who say that we should love our fellow-citizens but not foreigners, destroy the universal brotherhood of mankind, with which benevolence and justice would perish forever. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Hold life sacred, and treat it with reverence. Life is beautiful. May the future generations cleanse it of all evil, oppression and violence, and enjoy it to the full. Live long, and prosper.

Sorry Lukanator if this was meant seriously. Seeing it start and finish with what appear to be quotes from film / TV I thought you were 'aving a laugh.





L

[Alan H]

(golf clap)

What's a 'golf clap'?

[Diane]

Changing the approach somewhat, but fitting within the title thread, I'd like to ponder....

Last night, on Stephen Fry's American tour programme, he went down a coal-mine in (I think) Kentucky. Once they emerged at the coal face, the miners took off their hard hats and prayed for 10 seconds. I know the prayers will not be answered,

They can't have prayed for much if it was only ten seconds. Was it more likely that they were giving thanks for having survived another day?

but a brief check, to remind oneself of the task for the day, the reason one is doing it, and to remind oneself of the dangers, well, that seems like a good thing to me. Is there a place for some sort of atheist prayer here?

Nah....I'd just stick to a brief check and reminder. No need to call it a prayer.

[Lifelinking]

What's a 'golf clap'?

muted applause such as one hears during a golf tournament. Used ironically as form of 'damning with faint praise'.

Just for the record the line

They can be a great people; they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way.

was spoken by the character 'Jorel' in one of the Superman movies.

[Nick]

What's a 'golf clap'?

muted applause such as one hears during a golf tournament. Used ironically as form of 'damning with faint praise'.

So it's not a disease caught at the Ladies Invitation Tournament, then.....

[Alan H]

[lukanator]

They can be a great people; they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. They who say that we should love our fellow-citizens but not foreigners, destroy the universal brotherhood of mankind, with which benevolence and justice would perish forever. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Hold life sacred, and treat it with reverence. Life is beautiful. May the future generations cleanse it of all evil, oppression and violence, and enjoy it to the full. Live long, and prosper.

Sorry Lukanator if this was meant seriously. Seeing it start and finish with what appear to be quotes from film / TV I thought you were 'aving a laugh.

L

All are quotes. Some from TV, some from elsewhere. Sure they're funny, but nowhere near as funny as Christian prayers which are really nothing more than "dreadful toadying." Anyway, the humor wasn't intentional...those are the only words that I can relate to as a "prayer," i.e., words spoken which give me what I think is peace. I thought that's what the thread was about anyway.

[Lifelinking]

I have a quirky sense of humour. No offence intended Lukanator.



L

[lukanator]

I have a quirky sense of humour. No offence intended Lukanator.



L

None taken.

[xman]

I was considered to say grace at my brother's wedding a few years back. Who could imagine why as he's a devout Catholic and knows I'm an atheist. Every time I think of prayers I always thing hey start 'Dear God;" like a formal letter or something.

X

[lewist]

This doesn't really fit in with the discussion but it is a good example of the kind of people who pray and the moral standing some have.

O Thou that in the Heavens does dwell,
Wha, as it pleases best Thysel,
Sends ane to Heaven an' ten to Hell
A' for Thy glory,
And no for onie guid or ill
They've done before Thee!

Robert Burns had a keen eye for hypocrisy and his poem Holy Willlie's Prayer is a masterpiece of humorous satire, a portrait of Willie Fisher, an elder in Mauchline Kirk. For a little background look here.

How much prayer is of that quality? As humanists I feel there is nothing wrong with - for example - pausing before a meal to remind ourselves of the effort that has gone into it and that there are people we should be grateful to. The miners, however, would benefit more from a final safety check or a reminder of how each individual depends on the others to get safely through the shift.

[Lifelinking]

hee hee, great post Lewist. Holy Willie still stands up today as a biting observation of the 'unco guid'.

In a not dissimilar vein I like this:

I do believe in stone and lime,
a manse of large dimension,
Broad acres for a glebe and farm,
that is my church extension.
My folk may perish if they like -
Christ's name I rarely mention;
I take the stipend due by right
to men of good intention.

Anon. quote from 18th C, reproduced in Ross,D.(2000) The Pocket Book of Scottish Quotations, Birlinn. P124