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Prayer Does Not Help Heart Patients
mu22le writes "A recent study conducted by the Duke University Medical Center on 700 patients, found that having people pray for heart bypass surgery patients had no effect on their recovery. Researchers emphasized their work does not address whether God exists or answers prayers made on another's behalf.
This result seems to contradict a previous study by the same authors that reported "cardiac patients who received intercessory prayer in addition to coronary stenting appeared to have better clinical outcomes than those treated with standard stenting therapy alone"."
"Prayer Does Not Help Heart Patients"
Well 'Duh'!
Whoo, signature!
DesireCampbell.com
I read a couple of days ago that the Pope and all his toadies were supposed to have been praying for the safe deliverance of that 17-month-old baby that got kidnapped (and subsequently killed).
Looks like his hotline to God must be running through a dodgy telco...
*ducks*
btw, I dare ANY body who's watched a loved one suffer to deny that they said a few words to God 'Just in case'. It certainly can't hurt. I'm not religious, but I've been there.
And that's how they catch people.
Like a pedophile, religious prosyletists seek out those who are neglected, vunerable, fearful and in search of some kind of solace. They groom them with tales of a happy afterlife and that praying can help them get what they want. Finally they win them over completely, body and mind and use their new converts to seduce others. Those who are not converted, or eventually break free, are left scarred and violated by the expierience.
Unlike pedophiles however, the activities of religious prosyletists are not only lawful, but are in many countries constitutionally protected from arrest of any kind. Even if such activities include pedophillia, as in the case of the Catholic Church, an organisation which, despite facilitating the abuse of thousands of children, is still allowed to operate in every country such abuse has taken place in.
Essentially, religion is a gigantic legal loophole by which one can get away with; just about anything. Studies like this only serve to show how inappropriate, useless, and counterproductive protection of religion really is. These people would be better off doing something concrete and valid instead of wasting time and energy "praying".
May the Maths Be with you!
Why do people feel the need to debunk another person's personal beliefs? Especially when it has absolutely no consequence to anyone but that person? If someone's mom or dad is going to have heart surgery where there is a good change they can die, and it comforts them to pray for a good outcome, who gives a shit? I'm not religious, but at the same time I don't get why science always has to have something to prove. It comforts people to pray for their loved ones, and themselves. Why do you give such a shit whether people pray, or believe in Bigfoot, or give money to Miss Cleo?
Micro-evolution and macro-evolution are two things pretty much dreamed up by creationists to overcome their own cognitive dissonance and idiotic misconceptions about evolution. On the one hand, they insist that no one has observed evolution. When someone points out that we have, they need to have a retort ready. So they said, "Well that's just micro-evolution! I want to see a fish change into a deer overnight!" In reality, if you want to classify micro-evolution as occurring when members of a certain population with a certain mutation can still breed with the rest of the population, that's fine. But it follows that, after a sufficient number of such changes, macro-evolution will occur. Meaning that after enough changes, you'll have speciation.
Micro-evolution and macro-evolution both have the exact mechanism. Creationists are simply incapable of making the trivial mental leap from "lots of small changes" to "one big change".
"the more I study religion, the more I'm convinced that it just CANNOT be true."
Based on every other word in your post, I'd say that you probably should study quite a bit more before you come to a decision - you pretty much have no clue.
What do I need to convince you of, that you really haven't studied religion and it is apparent?
I figured you already knew that.
Did it evolve from something like a duck...
I quote from the article that you clearly didn't read: Anyone who reads any evolutionary literature, even at a basic level, will quickly find out that birds are thought to have evolved from dinosaurs in the Jurassic about 150 million years ago, and that mammals are thought to have evolved from a reptile-like group of animals called the therapsids in the Triassic about 220 million years ago. No competent evolutionist has ever claimed that platypuses are a link between birds and mammals.
Basic comprehension beyond your grasp? You fucking retard, God is going to send you to hell for not using the brain he wasted on you.
Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
Buddy, I am not having a debate with you about the existence of God (not that you have the background necessary to even be allowed to have such a debate). I am just pointing out that your knowledge of religious theory and theology appears very limited.
"ad hominem"
An example of an ad hominem attack would be me saying "I hereby prove that there is a God based on the fact that you are an idiot" (it looks like religion is not the only area where you are lacking education.)
Going way back to your original post, I restate my argument that based on the way you talk about "prayer" that you really have a very limited understanding of theology.
"to even be allowed to have such a debate"
Yes, it am inferring based on you quoting this that you are implying somehow that I am close minded or afraid of debate (me reading an anti-religion thread on an anti-religion website.)
I do believe that if someone doesn't have at least some idea about religous thought, philosophy and science that debating the existence of God with them is a rather uninteresing excerise. So I hereby give you the freedom to try and troll someone else into having a debate, but my opinion is that it would be unenjoyable to have such a debate with the likes of you.
But because you seem slow on the uptake, I will spell it out clearly. The way you talk about prayer belies your saying that you have studied religion.
As is yours, apparently. He has a point. Why do scientists have to always go find some pointless theory to prove or disprove? What was the point of this study at all? People who believe in prayer (like me) will still always believe in it, that's faith. All that will happen now is make the bullshit atheists who think it's cool to hate God get all cocky saying "oh hey! look! scientists proved your prayer is bullshit!".
Gimme a break. Really. Studies on prayer... And where's my 100% scratch-proof PSP faceplate?