I am pretending (because I understand they are superstitions) that I am exerting some control over the game/my team. Prayer is that, but about life. There is nothing wrong with that.

When I pray, I don't think that I'm *pretending* to exert control over my life. I can't speak for anyone else, of any faith, who prays, but I find it hard to believe that they think they're pretending.

It's nice that you think there is nothing wrong with pretending. And if that's what I were doing when I prayed, I'd think that was real nice of you.

The sincerity of the belivers is enough to justify treating them with a certain amount of respect, but why are the ideas themselves sacrosanct? Um, to use a word.

And I think the last part of this is at least a factor in the difficulty we're having nailing down definitions.

I don't think they are pretending; I know I am.

Doesn't that still validate the wiki definition?

Oh, it's fine with the wiki definition. I was speaking more to this:

Saying the words of the prayers, I guess.

There has to be more to it than that. Otherwise, just me reading a prayer out loud would be praying.

And agreeing, I guess. At least, that's how my definition of prayer would work, which I acknowledge is not going to be the same as everyone elses definition.

I have seen religious faith sustain people through troubled times and inspire people to great things. I just happen to be the sort of person who needs to know.

Those aren't mutually exclusive.

And I think the last part of this is at least a factor in the difficulty we're having nailing down definitions.

Agreed. It's a really frustrating discussion to have, and I've frequently come to the conclusion that it's not going to be possible to find common ground or a common language.

I guess to be more precise I think people who are praying believe.

I don't think they are pretending; I know I am.

That isn't how I read it when you said that you knew you were pretending w/the superstitions about sports, and that prayer is like that. I assumed "that" referred to pretending. What was it supposed to refer to?

Isn't prayer simply talking to your god? So if you believe in god, your prayers are the way you to communicate with the deity. If you don't believe in god, you can pray like I do, to the stars and moons and trees and rocks and things and Crosby Stills and Nash but mostly Nash because he was the nicest and cutest.

[ETA: I mean America, 'cause they sang Horse with No Name, not CS&N.]

The terms, and the specific types of though are absolutely accorded different weight and respect. But why?

Because otherwise they'd be synonyms? I think the word magic is hella messy, as long as it applies to both Jilli and David Copperfield. That could do with a lot of cleanup work. But I think myth is a valuable word, and used between agnostics to discuss contemporary beliefs--pretty much fine. Just as I don't expect brimstone Christians who bothered to think about my afterlife to refrain from mentioning my eternal torment in hellfire amongst themselves because I'm somewhere out here feeling sensitive. I absolutely expect believers to treat beliefs as truth. There are religious people who wrestle and quest with what it ultimately means, and there are some who would posit that they don't just believe God exists, they know. And that every day is proof of that. And there are some, I'm sure, who do both.

I also don't see any reason to elevate the term superstition to the same sort of respect accorded either myth or religion. It's not the same thing. Why should it be?