stop asking people to pray
 

That's really not cool.

What the hell crawled up your ass today?

Re: stop asking people to pray
 

I think it's fair to ask people who are comfortable with praying to do it.

If you're not comfortable, don't.

Everyone can make his/her own decision.

I would have to agree with OP, seriously. I think the asking people to pray at random events is getting a little offensive. My friend told me that a month ago before her exercise workshop began, the instructor asked everyone to hold her hands and say a prayer to the Heavenly Father. Now my friend is Catholic, but she said that she was offended by the prayer b/c she knew that not everyone in the class was Christian -- one woman is Jewish, another is Buddhist. She said she felt put off by it.

Especially the "So and so is in my THOUGHTS."

Yes, but would she have been just as put off if the instructor just said "Please pray"? That would leave the word pray open to your personal interpretation on WHO you actually pray to....Jewish people pray, do Buddhists do something similar (I actually don't know)? I guess it depends on the definition of the word "pray". It also depends on how the request is phrased...

Personally, I don't let it get to me. There are bigger things to worry about than whether or not a request to pray is someone forcing their religion into a situation where it doesn't belong. I can ignore a request like that. (And if they were telling me "You have to pray before we can do such-and-such" then I would be like "Who the hell gave you the power to tell me what to do??"

hmm, i guess the politically correct thing to ask for is a moment of silence. Can we all agree the neutral and and non-offensive, non-denominational form of respect for those suffering that may or may not be of a particular faith will take part in a silent reflection on a specific tragedy. Please understand by observing this moment of silence, you and your party do not support or condone the actions of the other or group in which the belong to. All moments of silence are taken as is and will not be considered prayers at any time regardless of what you do during that moment of silence. Please also recognize that any head bowing or eyes closing is the choice of each individual and that you should not feel pressured to follow these actions as well.

In sum, when people ask to pray, sometimes it's just not meant to harm anyone's feelings. I agree asking everyone to pray for them can be tiresome and iritating, but just don't get too worked up over it.

(For full effect, please listen to MC Hammer "We Got to Pray" in the background while reading my post)

I'm not sure how the instructor phrased it. I think I personally would rather someone say: "Can we take a moment of silence?" Because some people don't pray; some people don't acknowledge a God. I too don't think though that it's a big deal. I'm just noticing that more and more people around me seem to be pushing the prayer, God, Bible thing around. And while in all honesty, that is a harmless thing... it still seems to disregard others' beliefs and individual values... you know?

Re: Re: stop asking people to pray
 

"Please pray" does not equal "Or else!"

I'd like to think that we're grown ups here. No one's forcing you to respond.

If praying is "not cool", then I'm a geek - AND very comfortable with it!

First, what does this have to do with Greek Life? No offense Billy!

Second - asking for prayers is not UNCOOL. If you're asked to pray and you don't feel comfortable with it, then don't. But deep down only you have the Lord to answer to. If you're sick of people asking you to pray then remember you thought/said that when you wish others to pray with you...
But as a true Christian I would still pray for you/with you. But just remember ;)

Just my 2 cents and I don't wish to get flammed for my opinions.

Guess I feel a little differently about someone on GC asking those who are comfortable to pray for a certain person or group for a specific reason, than with someone who just decides to ask any random group to pray generically.

I think if you want others to do something they might not agree on, such as religon, then perhaps people should ask to keep them mind or just take a moment of silence, but again, I don't think making a thread about a person that only you know is something everyone on GC wants to know about or this thread wouldn't have been made.
I'm not trying to offend the person who is asking for prayer, I'm just trying to let you know that not all people will accept your invite to pray for the person you have in mind and that the word Prayer isn't in everyone's vocabulary or beliefs so you need to be prepared to handle questions and comments like the one addressed in this thread.:(

Where did this come from?? Can I have a link or something?

Bad song choice RUGreek, since we totally dirtified the lyrics to it. LOL. Seeing as he came out with "Pumps and a Bump" later on I don't feel too guilty. :p

I see your point...while I think the US is getting "too PC" with some things, I can see how religion is getting forced into some situations. Where I live, it seems like we currently have a contest going on about which religion/denomination can build the tallest church with the tallest steeple. We had one church design their steeple so that it's the tallest thing in the city...then a neighborhood filed a lawsuit because you can see the steeple from their yards. Another really LARGE church is building a new building on the west side of the city (where the urban sprawl is happening, but there are some good points about them changing location...) and that neighborhood tried to sue because it was going to cause a traffic problem. Um, only on Sunday, most likely. GOOD GRACIOUS PEOPLE......aren't there more important things to worry about than a dang steeple? That church will rethink the "tallest steeple" desire as soon as the next tornado rolls through. ( I do live in Arkansas, after all!)

Anyway, sometimes I think people get a little too uptight about who is what religion and why. Kinda like I said earlier, what I believe is between me and whatever/whomever my higher power is...same for you. If I want to change my mind, I will. I'm not that easily offended because you worship a statue....your choice. How does that directly affect my life? It most likely doesn't (unless the statue is in my front yard...)

(I'm hoping this made sense, cause it's late! :p )

psych, you totally made sense. but now i'm reading other people's posts and i'm feeling out of the loop. so OP's forum was meant as a personal attack on a GC member that asked people to pray for him or her??? i thought the subject was a general vent, not anything personal. i think i missed the boat with you, 33girl!

:rolleyes:

WEEEELLLLLLL, apparently I missed OP's intent also.

But at least he started a good conversation!!

Speaking from someone who doesn't acknowledge the existance or unexistance of a God figure (umm... agnostic anyone?)....

I really could care less if people ask on a public board for people to "pray" for other etc. I mean, it's a public board and they're basically asking for support. I'll usually reply that I'll keep that people 'in my thoughts' regardless of whether I think of thinking of a person will help any.

However, in any type of professional setting taking place outside a church or church organization, asking for people to pray is highly inconsiderate. It would make me highly uncomfortable since I would just be there doing nothing. I do prefer 'moments of silence' since I will reflect on live and the ability for people to change and turn for the better. (umm... depending on circumstance)

I rather like when people say they'll pray for me... unless of course, they mean it in the way that I need to change... LOL.

No, I think you're exactly right. Nothing personal. A lot of people have been posting "Please pray for...whatever" recently and I think OP's post was to everyone.

I don't agree with him in some cases, but he has shared his opinion and now I've shared mine.

sorry about that.i didn't mean for my post to bring up any bad blood and if i knew it would have offened so many people, i wouldn't have done it at all. i guess i was just asking more for support then anything else. if you've ever had a fellow greek your age on your campus have a sudden tragic death then youll understand. we're a smaller school and our greek system, while enduring the rivels and fights, is also incredible close. This incident has basiclly stopped everything tonight, and now the NM's of that house are going to remember this as part of their calling out day. I'm not asking for pity, just next time try to thinki about what you're doing before you do it please. i don't post often, and usually do when i feel the need to. This is just one of those things that our system needed support for at this time, and since basiclly everyone i ever been around ( whatever their religion) always seemed to respect that request, even if they were offend by it ( the request being to pray for someone) and didn't complain. Appearently this isn't that kind of place, although i thought it would be. Thank you to everyone who did offer support. and again i'm sorry to offend anyone with this post or the other thread. Just remember next time some one asks you to pray for something for them, think about how you might feel if someone seem to say "no i will not support you at this time because of the way you happened to ask" especially when the thing you are asking support for is the death of a decent human.

I agree with you. If I ask for support I say, "I need thoughts, prayers, vibes, whateva!" That covers it all.

If someone says prayers are needed for "so and so"
I say "so and so and their family are in my thoughts" and I mean it!

I too am bordering on agnostic :)

I don't worship statues.

I don't pray either.

Well everyone puhlease forgive me for asking if you were so willing to pray for my dying friend! For those of you who did pray for her I can't thank you enough. It was certainly not a statement of either pray for her or suffer the firey lake of hell! Geez. If you don't like the post then...

DON'T FREAKIN READ IT!

Which reminds me I shouldn't have read this post. Oh well! LOL :D

in texas schools, the moment of silence is now mandatory each morning after the pledge of allegiance and the texas pledge.
you can do whatever you like in that moment.

You do NOT need to apologize! You are free to post how you feel and what you hope for. Posters OFTEN post plenty of requests/commands/wishes. "Have fun!" "Keep your fingers crossed." "Shut up." "Edit your post." "Good luck." etc, etc, etc.

We don't always expect everyone to listen to us, but we put our thoughts out there to an open audience. I don't personally believe in "luck," but it doesn't bother me if someone wishes me good luck. I know what they really mean is "I hope things work out for you." I don't believe in destiny, but I don't get all upset when almost every rush thread says, "you'll end up where you are supposed to be." I don't believe that for a second...lots of factors come into play in rush, but I know that the poster means "you might not get the house you want, but you can make the best of it and be happy." I don't agree with the words, but I agree with the sentiment. When we ask for prayer, we don't expect for every GC'er to hit his/her knees; we asking for support and awareness of sad/bad situation.

Somebody posted earlier on this thread that not everyone will go along with a suggestion to pray. Well, if I offer to go get coffee or pizza, guess what? Not everyone's going to go along with that, either!

I am SO SORRY that there are people who offended by such a simple and heartfelt request! Nobody demanded that we all stop, hold hands, and sing, 'Kum By Yah", for pity's sake!

At the risk of being redundant, if it offends you, DON'T DO IT!!!!

I don't get bent out of shape when I see signatures that I totally disagree with, or come down on someone who states something when I have the opposite opinion - I just move on!! It's called being mature. I would be willing to bet money that most GLOs make some mention of a Supreme Being, so if you're having a problem with a request for prayer, maybe you ought to look first at your ritual and see how much of a hypocrite you really are.

ZHLyreGirl, you were NOT out of line. If the PC Police figure that this board is off limits to prayer requests, please feel free to pm me at any time.

[/soapbox]

Quite honestly, i'm more "offended" by people who can show this extreme amount of disrespect and disregard for people in their time of need. People asking for prayer are generally in a time of need b/c of a loss of life or illness of a loved one.

Guess what, no one asked anyone in particular to pray for them! No one said, hey, (fill in GC username here), pray for me.

Absolutely. Folks these days need to be a lot more thick-skinned. You're not ever going to be a happy person if you go through life looking for people to "offend" you and then forcing them to take back their words or something.

If someone is offended by hearing the words "pray for ___" the only response that I can really come up with is "Get a life".

Agree. Nobody's trying to convert anyone to Christianity or other parying religion -- just asking for support.

I don't think that's too much to ask.

I just have to agree with the people that say asking for prayers is not a mandate. If you don't pray, then don't read the thread, ignore that post, whatever. But getting uptight about it is a little ridiculous. A lot of people are comforted by prayers and a lot of people believe in the power of prayer. You don't. Okay, that's fine. No one is forcing you to. Just like we're not forcing you to pray, you shouldn't force us to stop doing it or asking for it.

So I have to read your post to decide whether I want to read it, and if I read it and decide I don’t want to read it, then I shouldn’t have read it? Should I then remember to forget it?

wptw

wptw, your posts are usually intelligent. I would assume that, if you are offended by "please pray for" that you would not bother to read the thread. The Greek community is supposed to have somewhat decent academic standards, so anyone who can't understand doesn't really have my sympathy.

Hi honeychile,

Personally, I don’t think prayer requests are a big deal, though I do find them just a little annoying. Maybe it’s because I get so many of them by email (from strangers and acquaintances alike), they’ve become just another glistening pink hunk of spam on my electronic plate. Maybe it’s the inherent assumption that everybody out there prays. Maybe people who aren’t in a traditional minority are just ultra-sensitive when they find themselves in the rare position of being in the minority (white male agnostics, for example). Whatever – it’s easy enough to ignore.

What really bugs me is the “if you don’t like it, don’t read it” argument on message boards. It’s like… Here, I’ll just leave this giant turd on your doorstep, and if you don’t like it, well just step over it. And if you don’t like the smell, well just don’t smell it. Nobody’s forcing you to smell it. And oh, hey, I’m going to tell some Polish jokes now, so if you're Polish or are offended by Polish jokes then just don’t read them. Thanks.

Perhaps the conversation would be more interesting if we actually debated the merits of posting prayer requests, instead of just saying “if you don’t like it, don’t read it”. Just a thought. If people don’t like my thought, they may simply reverse time and unread it.

wptw

EDIT: And actually, I didn't read the "please pray for" threads - I ignored them as usual. The one I read was "stop asking people to pray". That one interested me. :)

wptw,

Actually, your post makes a lot of sense after thinking about it for a minute -- which, obviously, I haven't done before.

It really is too easy to say, "Just don't read it."

There are some posts that, initially, I don't like or am not interested in, but for some bizarre reason feel compelled to read anyway.

Good point.

If the thread is entitled "please pray for...." then yeah, it's quite easy to skip over that thread and not read it. I try to skip over all the vulgar, disrespectful threads because they offend me. If you'll notice, I also mentioned the merits of these threads for the people that post them. I did not just say "hey, don't read it".

So, so true. It seems to be a knee-jerk reaction said by people who don't know how to express their feelings any better.

I don't mind the prayer posts, and I'm a dyed in the wool agnostic/leaning towards atheist. I still have compassion for many of the people within the GC community, and if someone with whom I have gotten close has strife in their life, I would like to support them in any way I can. It may not be prayer in the traditional sense of the word, but I'm certainly thinking about them.

To quote from Peanuts, "Oh Good Grief"!
For the last several months I was deployed in support of the 3ID. During that time I asked for the GC community to pray for the safety and success of my troops and for wisdom and street smarts for me so that I wouldn't get my guys into anything stupid.
We are now just back in CONUS and I am certainly saying prayers of thanks for getting all my men home alive.
My Dad lives in Virginia and is apparently in the path of the approaching Hurricane. I am praying that he and all who live along the coast are spared what could be serious danger and destruction.
I would welcome anyone who might want to join in and say thanks that all my guys got home more or less in one piece, to continue (as I do) to ask for protection, wisdom, and honorable conduct regarding the soldiers still deployed forward, and that the East coast of America be spared from this storm.
If you find this offensive then so be it, tune out. If you wish to ask God, under any of His Names and descriptions, for protection or to say thanks, then I thank you for your kindness and solidarity. If you do not pray or do not acknowledge a Diety, then just wish us luck when we ask. Why take offense?
I am, incidently, a Roman Catholic, and I do not find it at all offensive when someone asks me to pray for their intentions. I rather consider it a privelege to be asked to add my intercession when I chat with God. After all, that is what prayer is all about, just having a conversation with with "the Boss". One does not have to always ask for something, one can simply say Good Morning, thought I'd like to say hello, or Hay, thanks.

Please pray for my arteries after eating this monstrous, poorly-fat drained plate of hamburger helper....lol, j/k

I'm going to extend the only other Canadian post about praying...there's an inherent difference in religion between the Canadian and American society. Using any way you want to calculate one's involvement w/religion, the stats prove that Canadians on average hold less value for religion in our day-to-day lives. Now, i'm not an atheist, but one thing i noticed on this board two & and half years ago is that quite often during a need for comfort or loss of tragedy, a poster would ask for a prayer and many would respond. Interesting, i thought, because never in any form of communication in my life growing up did i hear someone ask to keep another in my/your prayers. But nevertheless, i didn't find it to be offensive or disrespectful - just a way for someone to mourn.

My fictional great grandfather died yesterday after a long illness. It’s been a really tough time. I’d like to ask everyone in the Greekchat community to please take a moment today and conduct a ritual slaughter of a chicken in memory of Gramps.

Thanks so much for your support!

wptw

P.S. Dekeguy, in the context of a message board, exactly how does one “tune out”? I mean, I tried shutting my eyes REALLY tight, but when I opened them again, the offending post was still there. Maybe if I wait until my screensaver comes on?

It would be nice if we could ignore certain words the way we can ignore posters...but I don't think even John has that power. :)

Well said, wptw!