"You must pray every day to remain healthy"

[Rrose Selavy]

The new leader of England & Wales' Catholics says:

People must pray every day if they wish to remain healthy, according to the new Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols.
In his first pastoral letter to his diocese since he was installed in May this year, published tomorrow, Archbishop Nichols warns that stable, fruitful and healthy lives cannot be achieved without daily prayer.

While the article suggests, unconvincingly:

Although this has yet to be reflected in numbers of worshippers, Catholicism, along with other religions in Britain, is experiencing something of a renaissance.
This is thought partly to be due to the efforts of atheists such as Richard Dawkins and novelists such as Dan Brown and Philip Pullman. The publicity engendered by their fulminations seems to have had the opposite effect of that intended and proved the truth of the adage that no religion benefits as much from persecution as Christianity.

More here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6838451.ece

 

[Jonnyclueless]

The upside about the prayer is that it doesn't matter who or what you pray to. A god, a carton of milk. Makes no difference.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

And it doesn't matter what you pray for. The Universe just chugs along doing its random stuff anyway.

 

[rwguinn]

"The Igor position on prayer is that it is hope with a beat" Igor, Terry Pratchett's Making Money

 

[wollery]

Oh no! The Catholic Church has appointed a pompous moron to high office, and one of his first official statements is dumb and a wee tad controversial.

I bet that that's the first time that's happened.

 

[BobTheDonkey]

Oh no! The Catholic Church has appointed a pompous moron to high office, and one of his first official statements is dumb and a wee tad controversial.

I bet that that's the first time that's happened.

I'll take that bet.

 

[Ron_Tomkins]

So basically woo people continue living and behaving as if all the debunks of their fallacious ideologies had come through an ear and out through the other ear.

Am I amazed? Nooooo.

 

[Kahalachan]

This is thought partly to be due to the efforts of atheists such as Richard Dawkins and novelists such as Dan Brown and Philip Pullman.

This is why I never agreed with Dawkins' stridency. I remember when I was a Christian, hearing some strident atheist only had the adverse effect.

But having a calm conversation and debate showed me how my notion of god wasn't rational.

It's fine to make fun of an idea of god within atheist circles and as a joke. But as a method of persuasion it fails.

 

[slingblade]

Good thing I'm not trying to persuade them, then, isn't it?

 

[MG1962]

Its a shame people didn't pay attention to other elements in the letter

The letter, published today, warns against the temptations of ambition, favouritism and hypocrisy in the “battles and wars” that people fight among themselves.

 

[Cainkane1]

The new leader of England & Wales' Catholics says:



While the article suggests, unconvincingly:



More here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6838451.ece

Richard dawkins books and the books of other atheist authors are not actually designed to destroy faith but to provide an alternative to blind belief. I doubt if the effect of these works has any effect on how much people pray or not. If they want to waste time praying hopefully if they live in a free society they are free to do so. Nobody wants to stop them unless they want to stop themselves.

 

[Cainkane1]

This is why I never agreed with Dawkins' stridency. I remember when I was a Christian, hearing some strident atheist only had the adverse effect.

But having a calm conversation and debate showed me how my notion of god wasn't rational.

It's fine to make fun of an idea of god within atheist circles and as a joke. But as a method of persuasion it fails.

The same thing happens when some bible banger raising hell on the street extorts total strangers to accept Jesus or whatever. The crowd usually quickens their pace getting past them and out of earshot.

 

[Marduk]

Its a shame people didn't pay attention to other elements in the letter

The letter, published today, warns against the temptations of ambition, favouritism and hypocrisy in the “battles and wars” that people fight among themselves.

bet that scared a few cardinals

 

[Nonpareil]

Does he offer any evidence to support his conclusion on prayer? No, of course not.

What's really sad is that people will most likely listen to him anyway.

 

[MG1962]

Does he offer any evidence to support his conclusion on prayer? No, of course not.

What's really sad is that people will most likely listen to him anyway.

Dont be so sure of that

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200304/the-benefits-meditation

 

[Rrose Selavy]

Prayer to some imagined deity is not the same as meditation .

 

[bpesta22]

Does he offer any evidence to support his conclusion on prayer? No, of course not.

What's really sad is that people will most likely listen to him anyway.

Here's all the evidence one needs! Prayer correlates strongly but inversely with health:

the correlation is .72-- over 50% of variance in health across states is explained just by knowing how often residents pray.

 

[Rrose Selavy]

100% of those who pray everyday eventually die.

Nuff said.

 

[MG1962]

Prayer to some imagined deity is not the same as meditation .

Some seem to disagree with you

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_meditation#The_official_Catholic_position

 

[fls]

This is why I never agreed with Dawkins' stridency. I remember when I was a Christian, hearing some strident atheist only had the adverse effect.

But having a calm conversation and debate showed me how my notion of god wasn't rational.

I realize that this is straying off-topic, but do you have a link or reference to something where he is strident? In my limited exposure, I've only seem him in calm conversation and debate with a Christian. An example would help me to understand this particular complaint.

Thanks.

Linda