I am curious to know if you would be offended, if at church on Sunday your Pastor got up and said a prayer for Church Mice?
I mean he prayed that the mice be strengthened and given the ability to carry out their mousey duties and to eventually render the Church unusable, so that the Parisheners would finally have to pony up the dough to pay for a new Church.
ok I am kidding here is the original post but hey if you are just now reading this thread there have been many twists and turns and I no longer say a prayer over the deceased and yes largely due to many of the points made in this thread. Also NO i would not be offended if anyone of any belief Satanist, TO Catholic said prayers or whipered chants or whatever in my ear that said it was and is an interesting thread but please read about 5-10 of the current posts prior to posting
Now The
ORIGNAL POST
I am curious to know if you would be offended, after death if someone were to say a prayer over you.
I would really like to hear from as many Agnostic or Atheist as possible.
I recently began saying a prayer over anyone that dies in my presence. Many times I do not know if the person had a religious preference or not. I am curious to know if people would be offended if they knew someone was going to pray over them when they die.
here is the prayer
Dear Lord not our will but yours. Into thine hands we commend the spirit of this peaceful child of God. Prepare a place for him/her Now in Your Heavenly Kingdom![/Quote]
I might be an agnostic, but I'm not entirely sure. I don't think I'm an atheist, but if I'm a Christian, I'm not a very good one. I wouldn't be offended if you prayed over me. I participate in a prayer group before every nursing test, and I kind of like it. Sincerity means a lot to me--if your intentions are good, I'll forgive quite a lot. And I have prayed for patients, as well as patience, either privately, on my own, or when requested.
Still, there's a difference between practicing your own beliefs and projecting them on someone else. Freedom from religion doesn't mean never being reminded that religion exists, but it does mean never having another's religion imposed upon you, and that's a right I insist upon.
Personally, I prefer the semi-artificial, preformed turkey patties on top of some generic dressing like substance with whips and gravy and some cranberry-like goo. Well, okay, I don't exactly prefer it, but that's what I'm having. Please do feel free to pray that I survive the hospital cafeteria!
I have to go get ready for work. 2.5X pay is some consolation, though, and if it's slow, I might get to watch the Pitt game.
(Oh, Lord, whatever form you may take, let us beat Pitt. Amen.)
[color=#253d00]well "happy thanksgiving" to you all (is it today?) we don't celebrate it over here, but hope you all have a good time!
[color=#253d00]i really must put my opinion in here though about the stuffing. you must stuff a turkey with homemade stuffing. it's sooooooo... simple. stove top? is that a packet mix type thing (shudder!) - called paxo over here
[color=#253d00]this apple & cranberry stuffing recipe is gorgeous & stuffs a 10lb turkey. all you do is mix all the ingredients together with enough egg till it binds &... well, stuff the turkey
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 bramley apple diced finely (or any other cooking apple)
Specializes in Happily semi-retired; excited for the whole whammy.
I love stuffing and make it in the crockpot, to keep it moist and save oven space. It is already making the house smell good!
As for Stove Top, all I can suggest that those who use it consider striking a compromise and doctoring it up a little bit with some sausage, mushrooms, chestnuts, apples, oysters- whatever- to make it a little more festive. I have always found it a bit bland.
I'd say the last paragraph is definately true. There's definately more offensive things you can do. Such as not respect the beliefs of the deceased or the people in this thread. We have bigger fish to fry and it certainly isn't a major issue.
But the original poster asked a question. Rather than answer the question, you simply insulted the one's who didn't believe as you do. and brought up some useless information why you think it's o.k. for to disrespect non-religious folks.
The overwhelming majority of people in this thread and in our country believe as you do and aren't insulted by prayer. And the majority of Americans believe in God and Jesus and oppose gay marriage. So what? The question was would I be insulted if someone prayed over me if it wasn't my wishes.
Why question those of us who don't want prayer, rather than just respect our wishes?
Sorry, I wasn't questioning or insulting anyone's point of view about this in my previous post. My questions were rhetorical, and I was only stating a well documented observation about the existence of civil religion, even among some people who claim to be agnostic or athiest.
Some people look for reasons to be on the defensive about being victimized by others; and talk about respect for culture and religion isn't always done as much out of true respect as its done to make good drama and also for the expediency of some who would never admit that, in some cases, they are simply being petty. The information I mentioned isn't useless, as you say. Rather, it illustrates double-speak and hypocrisy. People have a right to refuse prayer, and I did not question that right. Just curious about why a prayer over a dead body is any more offensive than the person himself/herself singing the national anthem or reciting the pledge of allegience while alive.
Sorry, I wasn't questioning or insulting anyone's point of view about this in my previous post. My questions were rhetorical, and I was only stating a well documented observation about the existence of civil religion, even among some people who claim to be agnostic or athiest.
Some people look for reasons to be on the defensive about being victimized by others; and talk about respect for culture and religion isn't always done as much out of true respect as its done to make good drama and also for the expediency of some who would never admit that, in some cases, they are simply being petty. The information I mentioned isn't useless, as you say. Rather, it illustrates double-speak and hypocrisy. People have a right to refuse prayer, and I did not question that right. Just curious about why a prayer over a dead body is any more offensive than the person himself/herself singing the national anthem or reciting the pledge of allegience while alive.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! :)
I guess I'm not understanding since the question was would you be offended if someone prayed over you. I don't remember discussing the national athem, etc. Did someone mention they were more offended by being prayed over while dead than the national anthem?
Obviously a dead person isn't going to know or care if someone prays for them or not. I'm sure while living I've gotten many an unsolicited prayer. For me personally, I'm not "offended". But if you ask me if I want your prayers my answer is no thanks. The response "too bad you're dead, and this is a prayerful nation and why would you be offended anyway" is not a good response.
Specializes in Happily semi-retired; excited for the whole whammy.
Sorry, I wasn't questioning or insulting anyone's point of view about this in my previous post. My questions were rhetorical, and I was only stating a well documented observation about the existence of civil religion, even among some people who claim to be agnostic or athiest.
Some people look for reasons to be on the defensive about being victimized by others; and talk about respect for culture and religion isn't always done as much out of true respect as its done to make good drama and also for the expediency of some who would never admit that, in some cases, they are simply being petty. The information I mentioned isn't useless, as you say. Rather, it illustrates double-speak and hypocrisy. People have a right to refuse prayer, and I did not question that right. Just curious about why a prayer over a dead body is any more offensive than the person himself/herself singing the national anthem or reciting the pledge of allegience while alive.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! :)
Sheesh, talk about throwing fat on the fire. Now you're accusing "some people" of being petty for answering a honest question with an honest answer? Or of using respect for others' beliefs as melodrama? Given that God isn't mentioned in the American national anthem (and again, I will point out that it isn't just Americans participating in this thread) until the *fourth* verse, my guess would be that a great many people don't even know its there. I certainly didn't until I went looking for the lyrics. At any rate, the OP didn't ask us for our opinions about American customs that include God's name. Perhaps there are people on this thread that don't believe that God's name belongs our our money or in our pledge of allegiance. It is presumptuous of you to assume that any one of us finds the OP's prayer more (or less) offensive than anything, given that we confined our answers to the question that was asked.
Yes, I would be offended if you sang the Star Spangled Banner over me after I was dead. Especially if you had one of those singers from sports events doing it. It's hard to sing anyway, and then they butcher it!
PS If you'd ever had MY Stovetop stuffing...you all wouldn't be offended by it ever again. Promise. :)
What's all this about stovetop? Is there some weird connection being made between stuffing a dead turkey and praying over someone's dead body that I don't know about? These two subjects really dont mix guys. I think a new thread should have been started for it. But anyways, what the heck, no CCUNRS, I'm not offended if someone stuffs a turkey with stovetop...as long as they don't make me eat it.... That stuff is nasty.
What's all this about stovetop? Is there some weird connection being made between stuffing a dead turkey and praying over someone's dead body that I don't know about? These two subjects really dont mix guys. I think a new thread should have been started for it. But anyways, what the heck, no CCUNRS, I'm not offended if someone stuffs a turkey with stovetop...as long as they don't make me eat it.... That stuff is nasty.
There is no connection. The stuffing was brought up as a humorous aside. Something to distract us from the dead horse we're kicking.
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nursemike, ASN, RN
1 Article; 2,362 Posts
I might be an agnostic, but I'm not entirely sure. I don't think I'm an atheist, but if I'm a Christian, I'm not a very good one. I wouldn't be offended if you prayed over me. I participate in a prayer group before every nursing test, and I kind of like it. Sincerity means a lot to me--if your intentions are good, I'll forgive quite a lot. And I have prayed for patients, as well as patience, either privately, on my own, or when requested.
Still, there's a difference between practicing your own beliefs and projecting them on someone else. Freedom from religion doesn't mean never being reminded that religion exists, but it does mean never having another's religion imposed upon you, and that's a right I insist upon.
Personally, I prefer the semi-artificial, preformed turkey patties on top of some generic dressing like substance with whips and gravy and some cranberry-like goo. Well, okay, I don't exactly prefer it, but that's what I'm having. Please do feel free to pray that I survive the hospital cafeteria!
I have to go get ready for work. 2.5X pay is some consolation, though, and if it's slow, I might get to watch the Pitt game.
(Oh, Lord, whatever form you may take, let us beat Pitt. Amen.)