03-06-2009, 11:28 AM
Quote:Almost everyone is seeking to understand their own importance, and their role in the bigger scheme of things.
This is a very different thing than speculating about the "first cause" of the universe. This is assigning oneself, and one's species, a fundamental cosmic role. With no evidence of the divine powers that have apparently granted us this special treatment, it seems like no more than than self-aggrandizement. We are very small, we evolved from tiny proteins, and we could be wiped out by any one of a hundred fairly minor astronomical events at any time. That is the measure of our importance at present.
I'm with Douglas Adams on this one. Our "role" in the universe is so extraordinarily trivial that to even grasp the true dimensions involved in our cosmic insignificance would be psychological suicide. (Thankfully, we're not equipped to do that, no matter how hard we try.)
Quote:For example, there are some people I know that are atheists, or agnostics, but they don't mind if people "pray" for them and their problems. It certainly doesn't hurt, and at least it is a way that one human being shows another that they are concerned enough to take a moment once in a while to think about someone else's problems.
Being concerned enough for someone think about and empathize with their problems is one thing. Asking the invisible, unknowable creator of the universe to give them a hand is another. I'm sure some people do both at once, but it's the first that seems considerate to me, and the second bizarre (not to mention ineffective).
Even this is just talking about prayer as a harmless personal issue, where nobody really expects tangible results. People die each year because they or their family believe in the literal healing power of prayer, and refuse medical treatment and put their faith in god. So, prayer, on the whole, is certainly not harmless. It impedes people's ability to take the world seriously on its own terms.
-Jester