Religion promotes superstitious wishful thinking. This naive attitude is usually expressed in prayers. It is assumed that prayers are means of communicating with the divine but it seems that “communication” in this case is actually just a monologue. Shouting inside a cave might be more effective than praying because at least you will get an immediate response.
At best, the answers of a deity or deities to prayers are subject to the interpretation of the believers. For instance, some say that the Judeo-Christian God answers prayers in three ways, namely, YES, NO, and WAIT. However, this statement does not make much sense; it is tantamount to saying that God is really unreliable when it comes to answering prayers. You can pray to a potato and you will surely receive the same three possible answers of YES, NO, and WAIT depending on your own interpretation.
Assuming that an omnipotent, omniscient, omni-benevolent and all-wise God does exist, praying would be self-contradictory and futile because of four main reasons:
1. If God is all-knowing or omniscient, prayers are not necessary because he already knows what we need. It would be redundant to constantly remind God of the things that we need or want.
2. If God has a divine plan (e.g., the manner and time of death of a love one), many types of prayers are meaningless if they contradict this plan.
3. If God is all-wise, prayers are meaningless because we mere mortals cannot change the mind of God by pointing out certain deficiencies in our lives. Even these deficiencies may actually have their own purpose.
4. Prayers of thanks and praise are merely ego-boosting. How can an omnipotent and omniscient God benefit from our expression of gratitude and flattery?
Jul 28, 2009
Futility of Prayers
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