"I don't consent to your prayers."

[ADigitalArtist]

Knothead on TikTok

Found a video on tiktok where someone, in a comment, responded to some evangelical Christians that they don't consent to their prayers. The evangelical Christians then made a video specifically praying for that individual despite their wishes. The video linked above is another Christian minister condemning that action as selfish, displaying false piety and even taking the Lord's name in vain.

Personally I don't have a horse in this race, I don't care if people pray for me and view it at best as functionally equivalent of well wishing, at worse as harmful as praying to Bruce Almighty.

But what do you think? Would you as a non-christian ask Christians to not pray for you, especially the passive aggressive 'I'll pray you change your mind?' As Christians would you respect the wishes of someone who asked you to not pray for them? Also, if you have another theistic belief, do you pray for people?

 

[Spirit of Light]

Knothead on TikTok

Found a video on tiktok where someone, in a comment, responded to some evangelical Christians that they don't consent to their prayers. The evangelical Christians then made a video specifically praying for that individual despite their wishes. The video linked above is another Christian minister condemning that action as selfish, displaying false piety and even taking the Lord's name in vain.

Personally I don't have a horse in this race, I don't care if people pray for me and view it at best as functionally equivalent of well wishing, at worse as harmful as praying to Bruce Almighty.

But what do you think? Would you as a non-christian ask Christians to not pray for you, especially the passive aggressive 'I'll pray you change your mind?' As Christians would you respect the wishes of someone who asked you to not pray for them? Also, if you have another theistic belief, do you pray for people?

I don't mind if other religious people pray for me.

Normally i do not pray for others, except for they ask me to.

 

[Secret Chief]

Monkeys and not giving.

I would sit zazen for them.

 

[stvdv]

But what do you think? Would you as a non-christian ask Christians to not pray for you, especially the passive aggressive 'I'll pray you change your mind?' As Christians would you respect the wishes of someone who asked you to not pray for them? Also, if you have another theistic belief, do you pray for people?

A Christian wanted to pray for my health a few days ago. I said, please don't, because I know God takes care of me, so if I allow you to pray for me, that would mean that I don't have faith in God taking the best care of me already

He agreed with me

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Knothead on TikTok

Found a video on tiktok where someone, in a comment, responded to some evangelical Christians that they don't consent to their prayers. The evangelical Christians then made a video specifically praying for that individual despite their wishes. The video linked above is another Christian minister condemning that action as selfish, displaying false piety and even taking the Lord's name in vain.

Personally I don't have a horse in this race, I don't care if people pray for me and view it at best as functionally equivalent of well wishing, at worse as harmful as praying to Bruce Almighty.

But what do you think? Would you as a non-christian ask Christians to not pray for you, especially the passive aggressive 'I'll pray you change your mind?' As Christians would you respect the wishes of someone who asked you to not pray for them? Also, if you have another theistic belief, do you pray for people?

If someone bothered to ask me if they could pray for me, my answer would probably somewhere between "I'd rather you didn't" and "whatever you need to do to make yourself feel better," depending on the person and context.

Supposedly, Robert Green Ingersoll would respond to "I'll pray for you" with "I forgive you," which is a level of snark I aspire to but I'm not sure I could pull off in real life.

 

[Rival]

I find the action meaningful and I understand the Christian pov. It doesn't bother me.

 

[Vee]

I don't have a TikTok account and I'm not counting on opening one, but if I did, I would look for better things to do on the platform. I'm sure there are plenty of cat videos way more entertaining that arguing with others about the content of their prayers

 

[Vinayaka]

Knothead on TikTok

Found a video on tiktok where someone, in a comment, responded to some evangelical Christians that they don't consent to their prayers. The evangelical Christians then made a video specifically praying for that individual despite their wishes. The video linked above is another Christian minister condemning that action as selfish, displaying false piety and even taking the Lord's name in vain.

Personally I don't have a horse in this race, I don't care if people pray for me and view it at best as functionally equivalent of well wishing, at worse as harmful as praying to Bruce Almighty.

But what do you think? Would you as a non-christian ask Christians to not pray for you, especially the passive aggressive 'I'll pray you change your mind?' As Christians would you respect the wishes of someone who asked you to not pray for them? Also, if you have another theistic belief, do you pray for people?

I think if somebody asks you NOT to do something for them, you shouldn't. It's similar to the breaking of confidences, and shows disrespect for the person.

As for people praying for me, it's largely irrelevant.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I find the action meaningful and I understand the Christian pov. It doesn't bother me.

I don't understand the Christian POV.

If prayer has an effect, then the implication seems to be that the supposedly-omniscient designer of the universe needs suggestions from humans to keep thinkgs running right.

If prayer has no effect, then the implication is that prayer is just to make believers feel better as a substitute for taking real action.

 

[The Hammer]

If they want to "pray for me", I can always just tell them and I'll "cast a spell on you". And see their reactions.

 

[idea]

A Christian wanted to pray for my health a few days ago. I said, please don't, because I know God takes care of me, so if I allow you to pray for me, that would mean that I don't have faith in God taking the best care of me already

He agreed with me

Worse, Christians often take false credit after prayers - it wasn't the doctor who helped, it was their prayer that saved you

 

[sun rise]

Given that a prayer of mine is: "May the light of (God's) silence break in every heart. Let there be peace and love among all beings in the universe.", it would be hypocritical of me to object to a prayer someone else wants to offer.

 

[Rival]

I don't understand the Christian POV.

If prayer has an effect, then the implication seems to be that the supposedly-omniscient designer of the universe needs suggestions from humans to keep thinkgs running right.

If prayer has no effect, then the implication is that prayer is just to make believers feel better as a substitute for taking real action.

It's literally just a prayer. They could be doing worse things.

 

[JustGeorge]

I'm always open to people praying for me. In most scenarios, its a sign of well meaning and love. I appreciate it.

Occasionally people are passive aggressive with it, and in that case its just the opposite. In situations like that, I might invoke the Flying Spaghetti Monster in their honor.

If they want to "pray for me", I can always just tell them and I'll "cast a spell on you". Mad see their reactions.

If you offered to cast a spell for me, I'd be honored. Spell work takes a lot of effort, and I'd find it more meaningful than prayer alone(with a few exceptions; I've seen a few really involved prayers).

If you offered to cast a spell on me... well, how I felt about it might vary on what it is you're casting on me.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

It's literally just a prayer. They could be doing worse things.

Sure: completely useless is better than active harm.

I've never heard a Christian say that prayer is useless, though.

 

[Debater Slayer]

Knothead on TikTok

Found a video on tiktok where someone, in a comment, responded to some evangelical Christians that they don't consent to their prayers. The evangelical Christians then made a video specifically praying for that individual despite their wishes. The video linked above is another Christian minister condemning that action as selfish, displaying false piety and even taking the Lord's name in vain.

Personally I don't have a horse in this race, I don't care if people pray for me and view it at best as functionally equivalent of well wishing, at worse as harmful as praying to Bruce Almighty.

But what do you think? Would you as a non-christian ask Christians to not pray for you, especially the passive aggressive 'I'll pray you change your mind?' As Christians would you respect the wishes of someone who asked you to not pray for them? Also, if you have another theistic belief, do you pray for people?

To a believer in a religion where one's position in the afterlife depends on their religious beliefs, I understand why many pray for non-believers and wish that they joined their religion. That generally doesn't bother me as long as the prayer doesn't extend to imposition of beliefs on me.

On the other hand, the passive-aggressive kind is often dehumanizing of non-believers and sometimes encourages encroaching on their freedoms. I definitely oppose that but still don't care if someone prays for me passive-aggressively without violating my freedoms or personal space.

I see "praying for someone without their consent" as no more of an issue than giving them unsolicited medical or academic advice. They can speak all they want, and I'll just not care unless their speech has a tangible effect on my life.

 

[stvdv]

Worse, Christians often take false credit after prayers - it wasn't the doctor who helped, it was their prayer that saved you

Indeed, that would be bad

BUT

In my case, he did seem a very, very nice Christian who respected my POV

 

[AlexanderG]

Knothead on TikTok

Found a video on tiktok where someone, in a comment, responded to some evangelical Christians that they don't consent to their prayers. The evangelical Christians then made a video specifically praying for that individual despite their wishes. The video linked above is another Christian minister condemning that action as selfish, displaying false piety and even taking the Lord's name in vain.

Personally I don't have a horse in this race, I don't care if people pray for me and view it at best as functionally equivalent of well wishing, at worse as harmful as praying to Bruce Almighty.

But what do you think? Would you as a non-christian ask Christians to not pray for you, especially the passive aggressive 'I'll pray you change your mind?' As Christians would you respect the wishes of someone who asked you to not pray for them? Also, if you have another theistic belief, do you pray for people?

If someone tells you not to do something, because they don't like it, and then you go ahead and do it, then it's clear to that person that you are being intentionally rude and disrespectful of them. It may be clear that you're eagerly hoping to harm them in some way. I'm not sure how this would fit into most of the rules Christians claim to live by. Sadly, it's par for the course now with a lot of Evangelicals, who seem to thrive on causing other people grief, pain, and fear.

 

[Rival]

Sure: completely useless is better than active harm.

I've never heard a Christian say that prayer is useless, though.

I said I can understand the Christian POV, not that I agree with it. So the Christian doesn't see it as useless. How does this affect you again? I get why Christians would want to pray for me and so on. Don't you? Is it honestly that hard to understand?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I know it means well, but meaning well doesn't always do well. I would rather they ask permission instead of taking it upon themselves to get your stuff mixed in with their stuff. Some people take serious offense to that.