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]
Okay I get the hint - shall we close?? (sung to the tuen of shall we dance)
I say we make it like an all night Disco and just let the music carry us away!!! I 4 1 believe that the human spirit is much like John Travolta at a disco, after death it really learns all the moves!
Nursemike said "freedom from religion" in post #230, not "freedom of religion" and they are two very different things.
And Mike's theory about life is moral relativism. My mom's favorite saying was "Circumstances alter all cases". I reject that.
But back to the subject at hand, I've already mentioned I would not be offended by the fact that someone cared enough to pray for me.
And sad to say my 19 year old son LOVES Stove-Top Stuffing and instant mashed potatoes . .. that is what you get when you camp out in the woods all summer and cook for yourself. When I make real mashed potatoes, he says they taste funny.
And don't even get me started on SPAM . . .that is so offensive I can't even bear it.
steph
I may have been a little vague in #230. What I meant was that "freedom from religion" doesn't mean you won't ever have to see a manger scene in your neighbor's yard at Christmas. It means you won't have to pay taxes to put one in the town square. And that, I believe, is an important part of freedom of religion. Should a Baptist in Utah have to practice Mormonism, or tolerate its endorsement by the state? I say no, but he should respect the right of others to practice Mormonism. Similarly, I think the Boy Scouts have every right to exclude gays--or Jews, if they want to. But I don't think gays, or sympathetic straights, should have to pay taxes to support a group that excludes them. That, to me, is seperation of church and state: the state neither endorses nor condemns any religious belief--period. The alternative too easily slips into Taliban country--and don't say it can't happen here, because it already has, repeatedly. (Salem witchhunts, persecution of Mormons, persecution of Native Americans, etc.)
I am not a true moral relativist, because I don't believe morality is defined by cultural context. On the other hand, I certainly don't believe a set of rules engraved in stone can decide every moral problem, either. A moral relativist would say owning slaves wasn't a sin in Biblical times because that was all people knew. I say it always was a sin, and we have learned to recognize it as such. On the other hand, many of us have come to believe that it doesn't offend God if we eat pork. Morality may well be absolute, but our appreciation of it evolves, and the problems we ask of it never stop changing. In that context, I believe common sense and decency demand that we respect the right of others to make their own moral choices, so long as they aren't infringing upon someone else's rights in the process. If you like julienne carrots in your jello, it isn't my place to judge you. Personally, the only thing I'm absolutely sure is wrong is candied yams.
I may have been a little vague in #230. What I meant was that "freedom from religion" doesn't mean you won't ever have to see a manger scene in your neighbor's yard at Christmas. It means you won't have to pay taxes to put one in the town square. And that, I believe, is an important part of freedom of religion. Should a Baptist in Utah have to practice Mormonism, or tolerate its endorsement by the state? I say no, but he should respect the right of others to practice Mormonism. Similarly, I think the Boy Scouts have every right to exclude gays--or Jews, if they want to. But I don't think gays, or sympathetic straights, should have to pay taxes to support a group that excludes them. That, to me, is seperation of church and state: the state neither endorses nor condemns any religious belief--period. The alternative too easily slips into Taliban country--and don't say it can't happen here, because it already has, repeatedly. (Salem witchhunts, persecution of Mormons, persecution of Native Americans, etc.)
I am not a true moral relativist, because I don't believe morality is defined by cultural context. On the other hand, I certainly don't believe a set of rules engraved in stone can decide every moral problem, either. A moral relativist would say owning slaves wasn't a sin in Biblical times because that was all people knew. I say it always was a sin, and we have learned to recognize it as such. On the other hand, many of us have come to believe that it doesn't offend God if we eat pork. Morality may well be absolute, but our appreciation of it evolves, and the problems we ask of it never stop changing. In that context, I believe common sense and decency demand that we respect the right of others to make their own moral choices, so long as they aren't infringing upon someone else's rights in the process. If you like julienne carrots in your jello, it isn't my place to judge you. Personally, the only thing I'm absolutely sure is wrong is candied yams.
My Daddy used to say "your right to swing your fist ends where the other guys nose starts!"
A week or so ago, I was asked to help clean up a resident that was a family friend and as I was assisting in the post mortem care I broke into the Lord's Prayer. I have no idea why I did it but I just started praying aloud. I said it all the way through once. I would not be offended at all if my nursing staff prayed for me after death. I would be glad that my nurse had that much loving kindness. Any appeal to God on my behalf is welcome.
I'm sorry/ I know you guys are all tired here. Or maybe some of you are just fooling around. I don't know. But don't see how people here don't understand that it doesn't make other people feel good when they do something to a dead body that that person didn't want done???
"It doesn't feel good or right with me. This is my body. I don't want you to do it. Can you not do it, please?"
What is so wrong or difficult about that request that people here feel they rightfully can bypass it???
A week or so ago, I was asked to help clean up a resident that was a family friend and as I was assisting in the post mortem care I broke into the Lord's Prayer. I have no idea why I did it but I just started praying aloud. I said it all the way through once. I would not be offended at all if my nursing staff prayed for me after death. I would be glad that my nurse had that much loving kindness. Any appeal to God on my behalf is welcome.
So tell us how did the other person you were working with feel about this?
Did the person you were caring for have any religious affiliation to your knowledge?
Why do you feel you broke into to prayer?
Was this possibly just a fear reaction?
How many times do you perform post mortem care and has this ever happened before?
an aside
I originally began my prayer after we worked a code and the doc that was running it looked around the room at all of us and asked "OK anyone think we can do anything else here?" No one responded and SHE said "Ok I think we have given our best effort, how about a little prayer?" Then she said a very short sincere prayer, "Lord we thank you for your asstance in our efforts to care for Mrs. Blank and we ask that you see to here needs from this point forward, Amen."
I was really touched and thought that it was sort of the final bit of care we could perfom. As I mentioned I work in a Catholic facility, this physician did know this Pt she was her primary and the thought that the Pt would not want this never entered my mind, after that I started saying the prayer from the OP but never aloud, just as a way of providing final care. Then one day we were arguing about the Angelic stereotype offending so many nurses and it occured to me that if so many people could be offended by the mere mention of Angels, how would they actually feel about Prayer and this thread was born.
It has taken many twists and turns and many people have made very good points in consideration of both sides of the topic, there have also been many who stepped on the beliefs of others and many that have been consdierate of others and the overall reaction has been that it does matter. Some offended some not but almost every one does have an opinion.
My saying a prayer was never intended to upset, offend or disregard anyone's personal beleif system. I have in light of the possibilty of offense decided that, as a person of Faith and believing in a Higher Power, that my wish that a departed soul would find peace and happiness and whatever Joy may be found after death, Is well known to the Higher Power that I believe in and that just by being near a departing soul my HP undertsands what I wish and that this is enough!
But it's a bad habit to go about caring without knowing the personal situation of who you are dealing with.
Us nurses & our bad habits,lol...
I guess as long as no one inflicted their religous beliefs on me & a silent prayer was offered out of kindness & caring, heck I can use all the help I can get,lol...but were it me I would keep it silent between myself & God.
As far as funerals, I have given strict instructions to my kid/hubby to fry me please & toss my ashes into the beautiful blue/green waters down in the Florida Keys! Always wanted to retire there:chuckle
My mother at least twice yearly gives me post mortem instructions for her & Papa & my response is always the same "You'll be dead, you'll get what you get." lol...
As a Buddhist (Mahayana Pure Land Buddhism) I'd prefer to not be prayed over by a non-Buddhist .:uhoh21: I come from a fundamentalist born again family and have had more than my limit of that kind of faith.:angryfire
But then I guess it would do no harm if I'm already dead, and it might make the nurse feel better.
I actually did do this one time, after a young man of 20 died all alone from family and friends because he was gay and had died of AIDS.
Just my humble opinion.
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!
So tell us how did the other person you were working with feel about this?
Did the person you were caring for have any religious affiliation to your knowledge?
Why do you feel you broke into to prayer?
Was this possibly just a fear reaction?
How many times do you perform post mortem care and has this ever happened before?
Me:
Well this is a lot to respond to
1st She was unchanged by my prayer, she was however very distraught by the resident death and family reaction.
2nd The resident and I went to the same church for years until my mother followed the pastor to another church.
3rd I am not a very religeous person but had the overwhelming impulse to pray. This sounds poorly worded, I believe that their is a God and that there will be judgement and there will most definately be a hell but at times I feel nearly agnostic.
4th I was not afraid, why fear death? I know we are not immortal.
5th I have done post mortem care at least a dozen times if not more I don't recall praying directly over a body before no.
My resident was diagnosed with bone cancer on Saturday, was admited on Tuesday, and passed away on Thursday of that week. I can't consciously remember why I began praying. It just felt right.
CCU NRS
1,245 Posts
I say we make it like an all night Disco and just let the music carry us away!!! I 4 1 believe that the human spirit is much like John Travolta at a disco, after death it really learns all the moves!