19 replies to this topic

[Still Waters]

Seventy one atheists and agnostics signed up to take part in the Atheist Prayer Experiment.

Each person was asked to pray for a few minutes per day for forty days during September and October 2012. They were praying for God to reveal himself to them. The experiment was based on the academic paper by Oxford philosopher Tim Mawson called Praying to Stop Being an Atheist which argues that it is in the best interests of atheists to pray to God.

http://www.premier.o...rayerexperiment

[Alienated Being]

I do not see as to how this validates/invalidates the existence of god. Frankly, I think the experiment was poorly carried out.

Personally, I think the Harvard Prayer Experiment was much better than this.

[Armchair Educated]

Alienated Being, on 13 November 2012 - 09:52 PM, said:

I do not see as to how this validates/invalidates the existence of god. Frankly, I think the experiment was poorly carried out.

Personally, I think the Harvard Prayer Experiment was much better than this.

How would you have done it better if given the chance? how does the Harvard Prayer experiment differ?
i havent read the artical yet but gunna check it out in a mo, would you ever consider doing either of these experiments ?

Edited by Armchair Educated, 13 November 2012 - 10:09 PM.

[Beckys_Mom]

Quote

  52 have said they did not receive any revelation of God's existence through prayer. Some of these stopped praying at an early or later point in the experiment, or failed to pray on some days, and some prayed for the entire duration.                            

I think this is a pointless exercise for many ..  From the result, all they got was 2 positive results.. 15 didn't care to come back.. the rest still have no belief in god..  I do not think it matters  how many prayers  or for how many days an atheist  prays for.     I think that  with a persons state of mind and how they open up is what matters, and not how many prayers they say  ..All it takes is just one prayer.... .If nothing happens for you after the one prayer? The going on and on and on  is not going to be any different    

In all fairness to the atheists  that took part, they still tried to open up by allowing themselves to give it a go.. So I am guessing they went in  with some sort of hope and wonder ?

2 turned believers  out of 71..  It is a poor result,  but it is better than nothing   for the people that laid  hope to change  them into believers

[Alienated Being]

Armchair Educated, on 13 November 2012 - 10:06 PM, said:

How would you have done it better if given the chance? how does the Harvard Prayer experiment differ?
i havent read the artical yet but gunna check it out in a mo, would you ever consider doing either of these experiments ?

No, because I believe that anything affiliated with religion is nonsense.

[Armchair Educated]

Alienated Being, on 13 November 2012 - 10:27 PM, said:

No, because I believe that anything affiliated with religion is nonsense.

why did you spend your time reading the artical?

[Alienated Being]

Armchair Educated, on 13 November 2012 - 11:13 PM, said:

why did you spend your time reading the artical?

Because I was interested in seeing what kind of results were yielded as a result of this experiment.

[The Id3al Experience]

And this is why i beleive you get no results out of these experiments. I mean people have a veiw point before going ahead with the task. and this is why it fails.

Like Beckys mum says its a state of mind. and atheist that is so against religious activitys will NEVER find god, because they are not letting themselves.

Im more of a spiritualist, and hence me also do not like religion however as you say you do not like things that are apart of religion that spiritualism is kind of apart of that as the same 'supernatural' beleifs can me the same. I beleive in a cosmic consiousness or aka god(in my veiw)... this stems from religion in a sense. But we can not see what we choose not to see.

Reminds me of a Buddhist Koan,
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!" "Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"
I feel its the same thing here, you go into these subjects with an opinion already formed - now this opinion can be based of what you seem valid as facts, however the above still applys.

Our current understanding of the universe would not be what it is, if people didnt empty there cup.

Kind Regards.
Me

[Beckys_Mom]

The Id3al Experience, on 13 November 2012 - 11:46 PM, said:

Like Beckys mum says its a state of mind. and atheist that is so against religious activitys will NEVER find god, because they are not letting themselves.

Well, I cannot say if that is the case ..  If the atheist is willing to allow themselves to take part and see what happens?  then obviously  they have decided to allow their minds to open  to give it a whirl and see what comes of it.... I see no point in allowing yourself take part in ANY experiment,  if you are not opened minded  to try something, even if it is just once

Many atheists I have read about did find god in their own way... So I am sorry, but I cannot agree with you fully on that note

WOW I am being a tad extra polite tonight....Lack of sleep   lol..

Edited by Beckys_Mom, 13 November 2012 - 11:54 PM.

[The Id3al Experience]

Beckys_Mom, on 13 November 2012 - 11:53 PM, said:

Well, I cannot say if that is the case ..  If the atheist is willing to allow themselves to take part and see what happens?  then obviously  they have decided to allow their minds to open  to give it a whirl and see what comes of it.... I see no point in allowing yourself take part in ANY experiment,  if you are not opened minded  to try something, even if it is just once

Many atheists I have read about did find god in their own way... So I am sorry, but I cannot agree with you fully on that note

WOW I am being a tad extra polite tonight....Lack of sleep   lol..

Maybe its just me and my opinion, haha hypocrit much? I need to empty the cup maybe hahah.

I beleive (maybe my negative mind here ) they are still no open minded, some maybe, but not all - I would have to say some of them are doing the experiement for the reverse. they are doing the experiement so they can say, well I tried and still no god.... told you I was right..

but hey they may all have had the open mind and the experiement spoke for itself.

Just because you partake doesnt really mean you are open to the idea. just that you are looking for more answers to continue with your own view on the situation.

[Ryu]

The Id3al Experience, on 14 November 2012 - 12:27 AM, said:

Just because you partake doesnt really mean you are open to the idea. just that you are looking for more answers to continue with your own view on the situation.

So basically if one (a non-believer) was to be "open minded" in the way you think they should be then they would find "your" god?

[Beckys_Mom]

The Id3al Experience, on 14 November 2012 - 12:27 AM, said:

Just because you partake doesnt really mean you are open to the idea. just that you are looking for more answers to continue with your own view on the situation.

It would be a bit pointless participating in any experiment  if you are not open to it to try and see what may come..  

The atheists that allowed themselves to give it a go, didn't have to...But they did ..So that says to me they were willing to open up and try...

Cannot fault anyone for trying, even if it doesn't pan out, at least they can say - Well, we gave it a shot

Edited by Beckys_Mom, 14 November 2012 - 12:32 AM.

[Hilander]

Wonder if they pay you to do these experiments.

[magebane]

• They shall not temped the lord thy God

[JGirl]

so really, this wasn't a scientific test at all. certainly not one that can give any accurate results, considering some of them didn't even bother to finish it.