Quote Originally Posted by Thorne View Post
Atheism is NOT a religion. It's not a belief system. It is a lack of belief in gods. That's ALL.
I do know that - bad phrasing. Sorry.

I disagree. Personally, I DO think prayer is unimportant flim-flam.
What I meant here was that I respect that the prayers take it seriously.

And that is one reason they should not try to force others into it as if it was just - nothing.
I think it was MMI who said what does it matter - it's just a prayer. I think it does, both ways.

But the prayer I argue against is those prayers which are inserted into governmental procedures, or public meetings by government entities (such as public schools). These prayers are prohibited by the Constitution of the United States, yet Christians (especially) insist that we are violating THEIR right to freedom of religion because we don't want them pushing their prayers into such venues! Or that they are being persecuted because they are ejected from a meeting for disrupting the meeting by "spontaneously" rising in prayer, loud and long.
As you know, I agree totally in this. Freedom in these matters as in others is the important thing.
The fight is where one person's freedom (as percieved) restrains that of another. And I think in this case the public space is the neutral space. You do not do BDSM for instance in a public place, for that reason.

But it will always be a matter of debate what you can or cannot do in a public space. But the other situations you mention are crystal clear: you do Not make a captive audience of other people by praying in such situations.

As usual, these "followers of Jesus" have cherry-picked their beliefs, only following the rules that they agree with. They ignore the statement from Matthew 6:5-6:
"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

In other words, keep it in church, and in your heart, where it belongs.
Mostly I agree. But I would have no problem with for instance a muslim doing his or her praying on a little carpet in the corner of a room 5 times a day, or someone praying quietly somewhere, if there is no prayer room.