Prayer=weakness

You obviously have the wrong assumption, that anyone who prays must just sit around and wait for things to happen.This is a common misconception by people with no true knowledge of spirituality.

Beg all you want MA, despite what you may believe, you're not the only one with expereince with addiction. The need to pray to a god that you believe will solve your ills or those of your family can be just as furtive as the pull of cocaine. There are those out there that are quite simply put, addicted to it.

When people turn to prayer to the detriment of using common sense, prayer leads to harm. Simple as that.

I beg to differ. Drug addiction is absolutely nothing like prayer or religious beliefs. Nothing at all. I can tell you that from experience.

You seem to equate prayer with stupidity. You are wrong. Do you think that common sense is absent to those who pray? It is one thing to pray and another to recognize the answer to that prayer.

Questioner wrote:

When people turn to prayer to the detriment of using common sense, prayer leads to harm. Simple as that.

I've never met anyone who fits this description. All the people I know who pray, do the same things as you. They just ask for guidance in the morning, and give thanks at night. Peace.

Momma Angel wrote:

I beg to differ. Drug addiction is absolutely nothing like prayer or religious beliefs. Nothing at all. I can tell you that from experience.

Humm
Drugs provide an escape into fantasy
Religion provides an escape into fantasy.

Drugs provides a reason, a crutch, to deal with everyday life
Religion provides a reason, a crutch, to deal with everyday life

Drugs offer a sense of comradery and 'fellowship' with other drug users.
Religion offer a sense of comradery and 'fellowship' with other religion users.

Drugs changes the way you think and act.
Religion changes the way you think and act.

Drugs stifle thinking
Religion stifles thinking.

Nope...nothing in common whatsoever....

Humm
Drugs provide an escape into fantasy
Religion provides an escape into fantasy.

God is not a fantasy. God is real. Just because you don't believe in Him does not make Him any less real.

Drugs provides a reason, a crutch, to deal with everyday life
Religion provides a reason, a crutch, to deal with everyday life

A relationship with God provides a better way of life to those that believe. With that relationship we learn to live our lives to the fullest and try to make ourselves better.

Drugs offer a sense of comradery and 'fellowship' with other drug users.
Religion offer a sense of comradery and 'fellowship' with other religion users.

God provides REAL fellowship, whereas drug buddies are just that, drug buddies. Once you stop doing the drugs, they are gone. God never leaves us.

Drugs changes the way you think and act.
Religion changes the way you think and act.

Believing in God does change the way you think and act. It helps you to learn to love others, be kind, and not be selfish. Drugs, do the exact opposite.

Drugs stifle thinking
Religion stifles thinking.

God does not stifle your thinking. God provides the answers for us. Drugs kill your brain cells.

Nope...nothing in common whatsoever....

That is the only comment I agree with. Nothing in common whatsoever.

You should know satan boy.

Doktor S Wrote:

Quote:

Humm
Drugs provide an escape into fantasy
Religion provides an escape into fantasy.

God is not a fantasy. God is real. Just because you don't believe in Him does not make Him any less real.

Right. Prove it. One failed refutation.

Quote:

Drugs provides a reason, a crutch, to deal with everyday life
Religion provides a reason, a crutch, to deal with everyday life

A relationship with God provides a better way of life to those that believe. With that relationship we learn to live our lives to the fullest and try to make ourselves better.

Rhetoric. Two failed refutations

Quote:

Drugs offer a sense of comradery and 'fellowship' with other drug users.
Religion offer a sense of comradery and 'fellowship' with other religion users.

God provides REAL fellowship, whereas drug buddies are just that, drug buddies. Once you stop doing the drugs, they are gone. God never leaves us.

LOL. so people never go from being religious to non-religious? Seriously...
Three failed refutations.

Quote:

Drugs changes the way you think and act.
Religion changes the way you think and act.

Believing in God does change the way you think and act. It helps you to learn to love others, be kind, and not be selfish. Drugs, do the exact opposite.

History shows that religion does not cause the behavior you claim. Religion has certainly brought about more death, exponentially, than drug use.
But regardless of that, you are basically agreeing with this similarity while trying to distance the two with special considerations that have nothing to do with how the two are similar, that being they both change behavior.
refutation failed miserably.

Quote:

Drugs stifle thinking
Religion stifles thinking.

God does not stifle your thinking. God provides the answers for us. Drugs kill your brain cells.

HAH!
Your own scripture tells you to value faith over reason. Faith is the antithesis to thinking.
Refutation failed, but the unintentional irony is worth some points.

Quote:

Nope...nothing in common whatsoever....

That is the only comment I agree with. Nothing in common whatsoever.

_________________

Belief in God may be helpful initially in turning away from drug/and or alcohol dependency, but IMO is is trading one addiction for another. In all cases the motivation is the same. A person abuses drugs and/or alcohol in order to evade the necessity of thinking for himself.

Relying on something outside of one's self, as in blind adherence to a religion, accomplishes the same purpose, and is equally as detrimental to the person. He has NOT solved his problems, but has simply deflected them.

If you just sit around and wait for your prayers to be answered, sure. The majority of people of faith do not fall into this category. Faith plus action.

So you admit in only meing interested in what it is like 'for you', and not 'what it is like'. This trend that you display reveals a lot about your psychology

Mother Angel,

How much has your relationship with drugs influenced your religious faith ?

I sympathize with all who have turned to (=used) religion to solve personal problems but this may preclude them from "objective" debate.

Belief in God may be helpful initially in turning away from drug/and or alcohol dependency, but IMO is is trading one addiction for another. In all cases the motivation is the same. A person abuses drugs and/or alcohol in order to evade the necessity of thinking for himself.

Relying on something outside of one's self, as in blind adherence to a religion, accomplishes the same purpose, and is equally as detrimental to the person. He has NOT solved his problems, but has simply deflected them.

Quote:

If you just sit around and wait for your prayers to be answered, sure. The majority of people of faith do not fall into this category. Faith plus action.

John Creasy- Ok, that sounds reasonable to me. So maybe it is not the prayer that gets the results, but the action. I do think though, that there are people, maybe not in the majority, but enough that their numbers are significant, that rely mainly on prayer to working through their problems.

On the other hand, I have mentioned that meditation is often helpful to calm the mind, and allow the brain to plumb its depths, often allowing people to come up with methods to deal with their difficulties. Is it not within the realm of possibility that to believers, prayer serves the same purpose as meditation? If that is so, it is not some deity who is assisting a person, but the ability of that person to expand the capabilities of his own mind? In other words, are the religious goving their God credit for something that they are accomplishing by themselves?