Actually, I don't mind anyone praying for me, really -- I think the Mormon thing of baptizing people in absentia is kind of charming. Personally, I don't think they're right, religiously, but what if they are?

Our sales manager once told me he prayed for me every night. I told him to cut it out.

Fortunately there is clear evidence at this point that being prayed for does you no harm. Of course, the evidence is equally clear that it does you absolutely no good, at least when it comes to measurable things like health, psychological well-being, or success. I think that this is the closest thing we have to an experimental test of religious beliefs.

And the one study in JRM that claimed being prayed for increased fertility - that's been thoroughly debunked, but because JRM hasn't removed it from the archives it keeps getting quoted. It's frustrating - especially when there's arguments like the one I had at work where someone wanted the government to spend money on having people pray for those who were sick instead of just spending the money on things like medicaid.

Fortunately there is clear evidence at this point that being prayed for does you no harm

Disagree.

the evidence is equally clear that it does you absolutely no good, at least when it comes to measurable things like [...] psychological well-being

Disagree.

I think that this is the closest thing we have to an experimental test of religious beliefs.

Dis ... I mean ... I don't agree.

For me, being prayed for usually makes me tense. I consider tense harm. For others, being prayed for makes them feel warm, fuzzy, supported, loved. I consider this a good thing for their psychological wellbeing.

That's all outside a god listening. But who knows? Maybe god wants me tense, and them happy.

I think the Mormon thing of baptizing people in absentia is kind of charming.

I don't. I was furious about the baptizing of victims of the Holocaust.

For me, being prayed for usually makes me tense. I consider tense harm. For others, being prayed for makes them feel warm, fuzzy, supported, loved. I consider this a good thing for their psychological wellbeing.

Only if you know it's happening. So from a "studying the effects of prayer" standpoint, it's being told someone's praying for you that has the emotional effect, not the prayer itself.

I pray for my parents. To Gaia. I don't tell them because as sincere Christians I think they'd be bothered. But praying is as much for my benefit as for theirs. Probably more for mine, actually, as I think about it. It's sort of like bringing up the stuff I care about in front of my Diety and saying, "This is on my mind, thanks." I sleep better for doing it, and I don't think it does them any harm.

To me, prayer is between the praying person and her Deity. It's a way of deepening your mutual relationship. While it's lovely, I guess, that someone else is praying for me, it's really not a thing I'd discuss with the object the of prayer.

So from a "studying the effects of prayer" standpoint, it's being told someone's praying for you that has the emotional effect, not the prayer itself.

I don't know that, actually. Maybe my every mood swing is because of someone on the hotline to their god.

As tests go, it's not one. As results go, they're not conclusive.

We should start a collection in our Livejournals for people to give us money so we can get first-class tickets. You don't want to plan the revolution while you're jet-lagged, after all.

Right. Fomenting is hard work. "Our hair is shiny! Give us money!"

t sets up the Shiny Hair Foundation

I like the idea of someone walking up to Jilli at work and saying "I'll pray for you," and her being able to retort, "Hon, it's a crime to say so."

I have never had anyone offer to pray for me. I have been approached on college campuses by a stranger striking up a conversation, and it's always a split over whether they're likely to be from Keystone or from PIRG. I always tell them to tell me what they want -- neither party seems aware how obviously their sales pitch is quivering, hopefully, below the surface. (Also, who strikes up conversations with random strangers, if you're not, like, standing in line for something?)

A rabbi once invited me into a traveling Succoth once (it was built in a pickup truck bed). I declined politely, and in his case I think he was just so charmed to be driving around with a Succoth in his truck bed that he was talking to everybody who passed by. Certainly, that was a good conversation starter.