91: Mail Discrimination, Top Thinkers Lean Atheist, Unbelievers Documentary, Interview with Matt Besser

By Christopher Thielen on May 10, 2013 | Discuss

Tom and Colin discuss the recent story of mail discrimination for packages containing atheist materials, whether top thinkers tend to be atheists, Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss’ upcoming documentary The Unbelievers, and Colin talks with comedian and Upright Citizens Brigade star Matt Besser about his work and a new CD of atheist comedy.

90: DOMA before the Supreme Court, Pope Francis I Update

By Christopher Thielen on April 9, 2013 | Discuss

Chris, Robin, and Tom discuss the arguments concerning gay marriage currently before the Supreme Court and we check in with Pope Francis I to see how he’s doing.

89: Pope Francis I, Health and Religion, 3D Printed Transplants, Interview with Hemant Mehta

By Christopher Thielen on March 20, 2013 | Discuss

Tom and Chris sit down to discuss the new Pope, Francis I of Argentina, sweep a broad overview of the connections between health and religion, discuss the exciting prospect of 3D printed materials, and we hear our interview with Hemant Mehta, better known to atheists as the Friendly Atheist.

88: Pope Resigns, Westboro Loses a Member, Asteroids, Interview with Dan Riley

By Christopher Thielen on February 20, 2013 | Discuss

Tom, Robin, and Chris discuss the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the recent departure of a member from the hate-group Westboro Baptist Church, our recent turn of national attention to asteroids, and Robin interviews Dan Riley, author of the book Generation Atheist which profiles the journey to atheism for twenty-five individuals.

87: French Islamophobia, Hitchens Criticism, Ghost Hunting

By Christopher Thielen on February 9, 2013 | Discuss

Colin, Robin, Tom, and Chris discuss French Islamophobia, criticism of the late Christopher Hitchens’ debating style, and yes, ghost-hunting.

The Effect of Prayer on Reality

By Christopher Thielen on February 9, 2013 | Discuss

None, right? Not so, in a manner of speaking.

A friend of mine recently asked about the difference between hope and prayer and what these intentions would mean with a rejection of the supernatural. ‘Prayer’, in modern vernacular, has developed two meanings: prayer as meditation (presumably the original meaning, e.g. “the monks prayed for hours”) and prayer as hope or intent (the common meaning, e.g. “I pray you’ll have a speedy recovery”).

Prayer as meditation is particularly fascinating when compared with other popular meditative philosophies like Buddhism, which lack a supernatural agent. The broad idea in many forms of meditation is not to alter the physical world but to accept new perspectives through your own agency which would effectively alter your reality, e.g. death is both something one fears as well as a natural system playing out a normal course — meaning is in the eye of the beholder.

So when we ask what effect prayer has on reality, the obvious answer to our physical, empirical reality is absolutely none, save for the calming effects confirmed by neuroscience and how that might affect your communal actions throughout the day. But we must give credit to prayer’s ability to alter one’s internal perspective, at least as much as we credit music with affecting our moods.

But if hope and prayer in a Godless world merely shift our own perspective, what effect would praying for someone actually have on them? None, right? The issue at hand is your lack of agency over their thoughts: you cannot force another individual to meditate and realize alternative perspectives to their otherwise downed reality.

Strangely enough, this is the effect one does have when they convince someone that God does exist, that God has a plan for them, etc., albeit in a disingenuous fashion.