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]
If you are not interested in this discussion you can always choose to skip the thread-since you returned from your "hiatus" I thought you were only going to participate in "lighthearted" threads and stay away from the debating in the more controversial ones.I find this thread enlightening and I would enjoy it more if it kept flowing nicely
Well being that I am the OP I feel that I may take the banter in any direction I choose, and My self imposed Hiatus was possibly a paranoid reaction or as I believe Scrooge said it may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard etc. In any event I revisited the thread and posted "The End." Then
Oh why oh why did this need to be resurrected????.[/Quote]
after a quite lengthy post on the moral majority which I won't quote here as it has been quoted plenty. I returned and began an alternate question with a Thanksgiving spirit in mind Who would be offended by Stove Top...which brings us back to point.
I prefer a more "free-flow" of ideas... I too find this thread enlightening and interesting. But, I was "serious" once and I didn't like it much.... Sorry for dececrating this thread..... on second thought... no I'm not sorry... I find the art of comedic (spell?) banter quite entertaining as well.
I as well find the witty banter refreshing and posted a while back that I was going to rewrite my prayer and attempt to be non-secular as it were and posted it. Now in the light of the continued discussion I will just say I have rewritten the prayer once again.
Dear omnipresent forces of nature please reveal your graciousness to all beings of the planet and make all aware that Stove Top is not a natural food group and will not be accepted as a substiute during Holidays! In nature's name I pray!
Dear omnipresent forces of nature please reveal your graciousness to all beings of the planet and make all aware that Stove Top is not a natural food group and will not be accepted as a substiute during Holidays! In nature's name I pray!
AMEN!!!!
Thank you... I too laughed out loud... with a couple of trailing giggles... hee hee hee.
the way i look at it, most people need all the prayers they can get!!! pray on, but probably in silence:)
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!
the way i look at it, most people need all the prayers they can get!!! pray on, but probably in silence:)
Just for the record I have quit praying over those that die in my presence, after much thought and consideration, I just decided that I bleive that My Higher Power can read my thoughts and knows that I wish the departed a joyous journey to whatever lies beyond and so I don't even need to pray! So for the occassional lingering of energy or feeling of a presence in rooms that have had a death experience I simply call Ghostbusters!, just kidding I have the room blessed before puting a new Pt in it. I do afterall work in a Catholic facility so there is always someone around that can bless a room.
Sorry but I think the analogy that someone put about the national anthem is very relevant here. Imagine if you were in another country and you died knowing that following your death they would sing THAT country's national anthem over you. Would you not want your own anthem??? Would it not worry you that you could not have your own even if their intent was good and they thought that they were "honoring" you. Now take this anology one step futher. Let us say that you have immigrated and repudiated your own country (unlikely as that is) then how much worse would it be to know that someone would sing the national anthem of your repudiated country over you???
Specializes in Happily semi-retired; excited for the whole whammy.
What is really offensive is when Stove Top stuffing is served at any event in which the National Anthem was played, prior to the serving of Spam and/or jello.
the way i look at it, most people need all the prayers they can get!!! pray on, but probably in silence:)
I grew up agnostic by way of being adopted by an atheist father who told me he was an atheist because of his many experiences in East Berlin and the war ( before the wall came down). My parents did not talk about God or go to church at all.
I can honestly say that agnostics and atheists will be very disturbed by any prayers over them when they are ill or listening while they are on their way out.
Of course my experience and perspective has changed, as I am married to a Catholic man in the Catholic Church after receiving Catachism, and all the Sacraments. I am now also changed by my nursing experiences in hospice.
My rule of thumb was to treat this situation as the patient would have wanted, expected or wished. It helps when the family is around and can give you a clue, but short of this, I agree that prayers are exceptionally beneficial, but "probably in silence".
:) I would not be offended....I was raised missionary baptist and would prefer this religion to others, but, in the event that I should leave this world through death, I would not be offended that someone cared enough about my life and death to offer up a prayer...whatever kind of religion you might be. I would hope you would pray for my family and friends, as they would need prayers also....understanding that all types of religion are different, and that it is the nature of this job...nursing...to care for ALL aspects of life, including spiritual needs as well as death, we should not be offended, but both understanding and grateful that our nurse thought enough of us to wonder about where our spirit goes after it leaves the body. :)
What is really offensive is when Stove Top stuffing is served at any event in which the National Anthem was played, prior to the serving of Spam and/or jello.
Okay I get the hint - shall we close?? (sung to the tuen of shall we dance)
Sorry gwenith... I'm sure mercy meant no disreprect
Those of us who have been following the evolution of this thread from its conception way back on election day have realized that prayer/religion/spirit is such a deeply personal aspect of the human experience, it is hard not to hurt someone. And truely, most people don't set out to hurt others. I think, in general, the human spirit is permeated with goodness.
I think the "light-hearted" approach is the natural end. Possibly an attempt to make some peace.
CCU NRS
1,245 Posts
Well being that I am the OP I feel that I may take the banter in any direction I choose, and My self imposed Hiatus was possibly a paranoid reaction or as I believe Scrooge said it may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard etc. In any event I revisited the thread and posted "The End." Then