Atheist Cartoons

Even within the paradigm of religion, prayer must fail; an omnipotent, omniscient  god is presumably able to determine which areas most need his intervention, and apply that knowledge by himself. That prayer doesn’t work is so obvious, and so easy to prove, some of the smarter Christians have retreated into redefining prayer as a fatalistic and unfalsifiable “acceptance of God’s will”, which will surely come as a surprise to all the Christians who pray daily for a change in their circumstances.

However, it’s inaccurate to say that prayer doesn’t do anything; it just doesn’t do what they think it does. It provides gullible, vulnerable or helpless people with the illusion that they have some control over the uncontrollable aspects of their lives. It feeds into the delusion that they are part of something bigger than themselves. And, without having to do anything, they get the mental energy boost one gets from helping others.

In other words, because it helps no one but themselves, no matter what they think they’re doing, prayer is a deeply selfish act.