Prayer is a failure to reason honestly and is the perfection of narcissism.

(A debate that was inspired by Sam Harris. I will be upholding his views, thus, many words will intersect. )I. Failure to reason honestly: Prayer allows for sane individuals, to expect insane conclusions. The definition of reason, provided graciously by my opponent, is the mental powers concerned with forming conclusions, judgments, or inferences; sound judgement or good sense. There are 3 assumptions with prayer that are to be recognized: 1) There is a Deity.2) That Deity is active among the universe and answers individual problems.3) That Deity is in control, and his will shall be done. The first assumption is debatable, let's call it a toss up. There could have been a force that purposefully set things in motion, there could not have been. I'd suggest that there isn't and that the universe works fine without one, but that can never be proven (though the burden of proof is not on the atheist for that proposition. ). The next 2 are combined assumptions. Is it reasonable to think that there is a deity to control your wishes if he is already in control, knows the outcome, and his will shall be done? No. Religious prayer walls off sections of the brain that allows for sane individuals to expect reasonable outcomes. If one were to pray over a laptop in hopes (or under expectation) that it would turn into Optimus Prime, that person could be classified as certifiably insane. If one prays over a rounded cracker with an elongated plus sign through the middle with the expectations of it turning into the body and blood of another individual, that person is simply a Catholic. If I were to sit & wait on a park bench and expect for the Hurricane Sandy victims to be ok shortly after & then went on about my day, I would rightly be criticized or called insane. If I went to that park bench, knelt and prayed before it for the victims of the hurricane to be ok, expected it to work, and then went on about my day, it would be considered perfectly normal in the religious world. In fact, it would be a noble act that signified empathy of the greatest sort. Is that are reasonable, are not subject to personal religious belief. Is is no secret that prayer is generally for the curing of personal problems (illness, lost car keys, good advice, comfort after death in the family, guidance, making deals to get out of certain situations etc. ) Is that a reasonable conclusion to be formed? Is that sound judgement or good sense? Is it ok to assume that because it is encompassed by your religion? Well, if it happens across the board then yes. If not, no. This moves me into my next conclusion. Prayer is the perfection of narcissism. II. The perfection of Narcissism "God loves me, don't you know? He cured me of my eczema, he makes me feel so good while singing in church, and just when we had given up hope he found a banker to reduce my mother's mortgage! . "Sam Harris To suggest that there is an omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent being at work who talks to you specifically and will change his mind if you present him a personal problem is narcissistic. More importantly, to suggest that said being will help you with your minute personal problems, while living in the same world with starving & diseased children who are dying everyday with no help, is morally reprehensible self-centeredness. "When something good happens to a Christian (he/she feels some bliss while praying, sees positive change in his/her life, or feels good while singing in church), then we are told that God is good. But when children are torn from their parents' arms and drowned by the tens of thousands. .. or when someone like myself points out the rather obvious and compelling evidence that God must be cruel and unjust because he visits suffering on innocent people of a scope and scale that would embarrass the most ambitious psychopath, we're told that God is mysterious or that God works in mysterious ways. This is how you play tennis without the net. "~SHThis type of self-centered view of the world & version of morality, is the perfection of narcissism. A perfection that is reinforced with the prayers a millions of Christians at this very moment. But why the, "perfection," of narcissism? Because it allows for people to have narcissistic views, without any of its convictions or any of its guilt. It allows for people to view the world on judgement of only self-help, regardless of their fellow brothers and sister humans suffering. It allows for people to walk among millions of people in their life who have it profoundly worse off than them, and still ask that the one deity above help them with their specific problem though he hasn't helped the millions of children who die before the age of 5 each year. Something that no morally sound person would do, otherwise. No person who is morally sound would be wealthy and stand in line at a free turkey dinner in front of people who are only moments away from death by starvation. Yet, this is the exact logic that prayer allows to take place. "In order for morally sound people to do morally reprehensible things, it takes religion. " -Christopher Hitchens