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Thoughts go out.... Why?

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  • #16
    Originally posted by Starlight View Post
    To me "thoughts" comes across as much more empathetic and compassionate than "prayers".

    "Prayers" signals:
    1. I am pushing my religion in your direction. This can be offensive if the recipient is not the same religion as the offerer. As an atheist I do find it offensive myself when someone offers "prayers" in my direction. If they are trying to help by doing this, it is certainly not helpful to tell me that that is what they are doing.
    2. I am not going to (a) think about what I might do to help you; (b) feel compassion or empathy; but I am going to (c) pass the buck to someone who, if he exists, has already failed to intervene to prevent the problem in the first place.

    By contrast "thoughts" signals:
    1. I am a kind person who has concerns about you in my heart and I respect your situation and will reflect on it with compassion and love. Somebody cares: You're not alone in this.
    2. I will consider your situation further with a view to thinking about what possible actions I might be able to take to help.
    3. Keep me posted with regard to further updates there is the possibility of intervention and assistance from my end, if and when appropriate.

    For those reasons I would always prefer "thoughts" to "prayers".
    This sounds like a whole lot of "I'm such a nice guy" malarky.

    The notion that you are going to "do more" for that person because you "thought" about it, and it will turn into actions is silly. "Our thoughts go out to you" sounds just as "done" as you claim "I'll pray for you" does.

    Just last night, we agreed to pray for one of our members who got a bad report concerning her cancer. Within 2 minutes, we had people volunteer to cook meals for the next 3 weeks for the family, and collected just under $100 for gas money because they're going to be making several trips to MD Anderson in Houston.

    It's really hard to imagine a "our thoughts go out to you" backed up by action. If you're going to act, then ACT!
    The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

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    • #17
      Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post
      Where are you getting a "hatred of Christians/Christianity" from? It seems like you're just making these same accusations any time he posts anything regardless of whether they fit the context.
      Why does he take the worse interpretation of prayer and the best of thoughts?
      "The man from the yacht thought he was the first to find England; I thought I was the first to find Europe. I did try to found a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy."
      GK Chesterton; Orthodoxy

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      • #18
        Originally posted by Starlight View Post
        By contrast "thoughts" signals:
        1. I am a kind person who has concerns about you in my heart and I respect your situation and will reflect on it with compassion and love. Somebody cares: You're not alone in this.
        Or you are just virtue signaling to bolster your own ego and estimation in the eyes of others.
        Atheism is the cult of death, the death of hope. The universe is doomed, you are doomed, the only thing that remains is to await your execution...

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbnueb2OI4o&t=3s

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        • #19
          Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post
          I don't think you should say "prayers for..." unless you actually are praying for them. And most of the time when people saying that, I suspect they're saying it for show which Jesus spoke about in the Sermon on the Mount. Don't talk about praying, just pray.
          On the other hand when people on line say they will pray, that lets one know that there is concern. On TWeb my approach to requests for prayer is simply to pray and not post at all. Sure some will just say I will pray and then forget about it, but . . .

          When folks said they would pray for me it was meaningful to me whether they followed up or not.
          Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

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          • #20
            Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
            a plea to whom?
            For atheists it is a plea for compassion for the safety and well being of those involved strictly a humanist response to tragedy. For theists they may pray for God to intercede on their behalf to relive their suffering, but nothing likely really changes.
            Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
            Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
            But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

            go with the flow the river knows . . .

            Frank

            I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

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            • #21
              Originally posted by Dimbulb View Post
              As an atheist I do find it offensive myself when someone offers "prayers" in my direction.
              Then what, you run off to your "safe space"?

              Classic precious snowflake.
              Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
              But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
              Than a fool in the eyes of God


              From "Fools Gold" by Petra

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              • #22
                Originally posted by Starlight View Post
                As an atheist I do find it offensive myself when someone offers "prayers" in my direction.
                I'll pray for you about that.
                The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                Comment


                • #23
                  Originally posted by shunyadragon View Post
                  For atheists it is a plea for compassion for the safety and well being of those involved strictly a humanist response to tragedy.
                  Doesn't answer the question "a plea to whom".
                  The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Originally posted by lilpixieofterror View Post
                    Why does he take the worse interpretation of prayer and the best of thoughts?
                    That doesn't prove what you posted, though.
                    "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

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                    • #25
                      I have a policy of praying right there and then when I see a request for prayer. If it is a FB request or here or other media, I then say "Prayed."
                      Watch your links! http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/fa...corumetiquette

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                      • #26
                        Originally posted by shuny
                        For atheists it is a plea for compassion for the safety and well being of those involved strictly a humanist response to tragedy.
                        But nothing likely really changes.
                        For theists they may pray for God to intercede on their behalf to relive their suffering, but nothing likely really changes.
                        How bigoted of you. You understand nothing of prayer or of God.


                        Securely anchored to the Rock amid every storm of trial, testing or tribulation.

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Originally posted by seer View Post
                          So it is about letting us know what a nice guy he is?
                          No, you know, it's okay for someone to just have a nice word or deed.
                          "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

                          "Forgiveness is the way of love." Gary Chapman

                          My Personal Blog

                          My Novella blog (Current Novella Begins on 7/25/14)

                          Quill Sword

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                          • #28
                            Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post
                            Where are you getting a "hatred of Christians/Christianity" from? It seems like you're just making these same accusations any time he posts anything regardless of whether they fit the context.
                            Dunno, P2 seems to fit this bill.
                            "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

                            "Forgiveness is the way of love." Gary Chapman

                            My Personal Blog

                            My Novella blog (Current Novella Begins on 7/25/14)

                            Quill Sword

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Originally posted by Jedidiah View Post
                              On the other hand when people on line say they will pray, that lets one know that there is concern. On TWeb my approach to requests for prayer is simply to pray and not post at all. Sure some will just say I will pray and then forget about it, but . . .

                              When folks said they would pray for me it was meaningful to me whether they followed up or not.
                              I usually post right after I've prayed.
                              "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

                              "Forgiveness is the way of love." Gary Chapman

                              My Personal Blog

                              My Novella blog (Current Novella Begins on 7/25/14)

                              Quill Sword

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post
                                I don't think you should say "prayers for..." unless you actually are praying for them. And most of the time when people saying that, I suspect they're saying it for show which Jesus spoke about in the Sermon on the Mount. Don't talk about praying, just pray.

                                (Obviously this doesn't apply in cases like where a pastor is making a public statement on behalf of their church, or a president addressing the nation in the wake of a tragedy.)
                                Yeah I decided to make it so that if I say I am praying for someone, I actually do it right then and there, even if it is a short one. Because I used to mean to then forget later.

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