New Rating Poll: "Prayer" or "Prayer/Best Wishes"?

[Debater Slayer]

Hi, all,

This thread is a continuation of the previous one about the addition of a "Prayer/well-wishes" (or "Prayer/Best wishes") rating:

New Frubal?

Greetings RFians! After receiving a suggestion for such, the staff have been considering adding a "prayers/well wishes" frubal. But, we wanted to get an idea about how the community felt about it. We understand there are a lot of frubals already; there is an option in the poll for replacing...

www.religiousforums.com

The poll shows a considerable amount of interest in the rating, and since many forum members (me included) already use the "Friendly" rating to show support or empathy, adding the "Prayer" rating would not take away from that but would satisfy the interest we have seen in the poll.

We will probably use either this icon or a similar one:



However, some members have expressed that they would be less inclined to give such a rating even if it were titled "Prayer/well-wishes" rather than just "Prayer," due to the potential for that to be interpreted, in light of the above icon and the "Prayer" in the rating title, as their expressing a gesture (prayer) that they don't believe in.

The purpose of this thread is to gauge whether we should title the rating "Prayer/best wishes" or just "Prayer." This poll is public so that we can see how many members who don't believe in prayer would find the rating more usable if we added "best wishes" to the rating title. The number of votes for each option will determine the rating title.

Also, please note that abuse of the new rating will include mocking, taunting, and passive-aggressive usage, such as giving the rating on a post of a member with different beliefs to essentially say, "I will pray for you" as if they were misguided, or giving the rating during a disagreement to imply condescension. All instances of such rating abuse will be moderated per Rule 9, as we currently do with abuse of the "Funny" rating.

 

[McBell]

I do not know that I would use it regardless of what you called it.

However, I do not discount the possibility of a situation coming up in which I would.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

As I said in the other poll, it doesn't matter that I don't personally pray -- it's an either/or frubal, and I have nothing against sending someone in dire straits my best wishes. I try not to get bogged down in literalism.

 

[sun rise]

TL;DR - it's not what I was lookiing for. It would not satisfy my request.

Details:
I believe in prayer as in praising Divinity. I believe in "prayer" in the sense I wrote about in the other thread.

• an earnest hope or wish. "it is our prayer that the current progress on human rights will be sustained"

I don't believe in asking for God to change his mind/perform a miracle. I do believe in asking prayer in one sense: "Beloved God, help us all to love you more and more, and more and more, and still yet more, until we become worthy of union with you; and help us all to hold fast to Baba's daaman until the very end."daaman - hem of garment - image of a child holding on to a parent).

That image you propose I interpret as "namaste", I honor the light within you which I might use in that sense. The other way I've seen it is in a Christian context such as this image which to me is not saying "I care" but something different.

 

[Trailblazer]

Hi, all,

This thread is a continuation of the previous one about the addition of a "Prayer/well-wishes" (or "Prayer/Best wishes") rating:

New Frubal?

Greetings RFians! After receiving a suggestion for such, the staff have been considering adding a "prayers/well wishes" frubal. But, we wanted to get an idea about how the community felt about it. We understand there are a lot of frubals already; there is an option in the poll for replacing...

www.religiousforums.com

The poll shows a considerable amount of interest in the rating, and since many forum members (me included) already use the "Friendly" rating to show support or empathy, adding the "Prayer" rating would not take away from that but would satisfy the interest we have seen in the poll.

We will probably use either this icon or a similar one:



However, some members have expressed that they would be less inclined to give such a rating even if it were titled "Prayer/well-wishes" rather than just "Prayer," due to the potential for that to be interpreted, in light of the above icon and the "Prayer" in the rating title, as their expressing a gesture (prayer) that they don't believe in.

The purpose of this thread is to gauge whether we should title the rating "Prayer/best wishes" or just "Prayer." This poll is public so that we can see how many members who don't believe in prayer would find the rating more usable if we added "best wishes" to the rating title. The number of votes for each option will determine the rating title.

Also, please note that abuse of the new rating will include mocking, taunting, and passive-aggressive usage, such as giving the rating on a post of a member with different beliefs to essentially say, "I will pray for you" as if they were misguided, or giving the rating during a disagreement to imply condescension. All instances of such rating abuse will be moderated per Rule 9, as we currently do with abuse of the "Funny" rating.

I cannot answer yes or no to that since I am not a person who doesn't believe in prayer, so I answered Other.
I believe in prayer, but I don't think that a frubal saying Prayer/well-wishes should be combined since they mean different things.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I cannot answer yes or no to that since I am not a person who doesn't believe in prayer, so I answered Other.
I believe in prayer, but I don't think that a frubal saying Prayer/well-wishes should be combined since they mean different things.

I really think I disagree. You may, perhaps, have a high-fallutin' notion of what prayer means, but I think for most ordinary folks, it's closely connected to hoping to get what they wish for.

 

[Trailblazer]

I really think I disagree. You may, perhaps, have a high-fallutin' notion of what prayer means, but I think for most ordinary folks, it's closely connected to hoping to get what they wish for.

To the individual prayer is connected to hoping to get what they wish for, but as a fruball from another person, prayer means I'll pray for you and well-wishes means I wish you well. Those don't mean the same thing and that is why I don't think they should be combined.

 

[danieldemol]

I voted no for the reason I explained in another thread - I think it would cause confusion and allow certain folk to entertain the delusion that more of us are praying folk than actually are.

 

[Augustus]

However, some members have expressed that they would be less inclined to give such a rating even if it were titled "Prayer/well-wishes" rather than just "Prayer," due to the potential for that to be interpreted, in light of the above icon and the "Prayer" in the rating title, as their expressing a gesture (prayer) that they don't believe in.

Why would it be a problem?

I don’t actually love folk I give a heart to either. It’s just a rating.

The symbols we use for communication are inherently flexible even without them explicitly being labeled “best wishes”

 

[SalixIncendium]

That image you propose I interpret as "namaste", I honor the light within you which I might use in that sense.

And there is zero reason you couldn't use it as such.

See my comments here: New Frubal?

 

[SalixIncendium]

I cannot answer yes or no to that since I am not a person who doesn't believe in prayer, so I answered Other.
I believe in prayer, but I don't think that a frubal saying Prayer/well-wishes should be combined since they mean different things.

The poll is actually only for those who don't believe in prayer. Not to sound rude, but why would you think it's okay to 'other' when you can't vote 'yes' or 'no?'

 

[endlessvoid2018]

I don't believe in prayer, so I chose no obviously.
It really irks me when someone says "were praying for you."
However, I try not to get literal with it as it's basically
someone saying that even though they can't do anything,
that I/we are in their thoughts.

 

[Estro Felino]

The second one is more universal. Also for atheists.

 

[sayak83]

Hi, all,

This thread is a continuation of the previous one about the addition of a "Prayer/well-wishes" (or "Prayer/Best wishes") rating:

New Frubal?

Greetings RFians! After receiving a suggestion for such, the staff have been considering adding a "prayers/well wishes" frubal. But, we wanted to get an idea about how the community felt about it. We understand there are a lot of frubals already; there is an option in the poll for replacing...

www.religiousforums.com

The poll shows a considerable amount of interest in the rating, and since many forum members (me included) already use the "Friendly" rating to show support or empathy, adding the "Prayer" rating would not take away from that but would satisfy the interest we have seen in the poll.

We will probably use either this icon or a similar one:



However, some members have expressed that they would be less inclined to give such a rating even if it were titled "Prayer/well-wishes" rather than just "Prayer," due to the potential for that to be interpreted, in light of the above icon and the "Prayer" in the rating title, as their expressing a gesture (prayer) that they don't believe in.

The purpose of this thread is to gauge whether we should title the rating "Prayer/best wishes" or just "Prayer." This poll is public so that we can see how many members who don't believe in prayer would find the rating more usable if we added "best wishes" to the rating title. The number of votes for each option will determine the rating title.

Also, please note that abuse of the new rating will include mocking, taunting, and passive-aggressive usage, such as giving the rating on a post of a member with different beliefs to essentially say, "I will pray for you" as if they were misguided, or giving the rating during a disagreement to imply condescension. All instances of such rating abuse will be moderated per Rule 9, as we currently do with abuse of the "Funny" rating.

How about a "friendly hug" emoji? Is there one?

 

[Debater Slayer]

How about a "friendly hug" emoji? Is there one?

We don't have a rating for that, but we have a hug emoji:

 

[sayak83]

We don't have a rating for that, but we have a hug emoji:

That is eloquent enough. Why need another? We could have a small hugs emoji rating though...
,,

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I really think I disagree. You may, perhaps, have a high-fallutin' notion of what prayer means, but I think for most ordinary folks, it's closely connected to hoping to get what they wish for.

For what it's worth, perhaps the first 'prayer' in the Tanakh is found in Numbers 12:13 ...

וַיִּצְעַ֣ק מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֶל־יְהֹוָ֖ה לֵאמֹ֑ר אֵ֕ל נָ֛א רְפָ֥א נָ֖א לָֽהּ׃ {פ}

So Moses cried out to יהוה, saying, “O God, pray heal her!”​

 

[Trailblazer]

The poll is actually only for those who don't believe in prayer. Not to sound rude, but why would you think it's okay to 'other' when you can't vote 'yes' or 'no?'

I did not understand that this thread as being limited to people who don't believe in prayer.
I see that at least two religious people who presumably believe in prayer responded on this thread.

I thought Other was for those people who could not answer yes or no.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I did not understand that this thread as being limited to people who don't believe in prayer.
I see that at least two religious people who presumably believe in prayer responded on this thread.

I thought Other was for those people who could not answer yes or no.

Thanks for expaining. I can understand now why you voted.

I think it’s important to understand that just because one is religious doesn’t necessarily mean one believes in prayer.

 

[Rachel Rugelach]

Hi, all,

This thread is a continuation of the previous one about the addition of a "Prayer/well-wishes" (or "Prayer/Best wishes") rating:

New Frubal?

Greetings RFians! After receiving a suggestion for such, the staff have been considering adding a "prayers/well wishes" frubal. But, we wanted to get an idea about how the community felt about it. We understand there are a lot of frubals already; there is an option in the poll for replacing...

www.religiousforums.com

The poll shows a considerable amount of interest in the rating, and since many forum members (me included) already use the "Friendly" rating to show support or empathy, adding the "Prayer" rating would not take away from that but would satisfy the interest we have seen in the poll.

We will probably use either this icon or a similar one:



However, some members have expressed that they would be less inclined to give such a rating even if it were titled "Prayer/well-wishes" rather than just "Prayer," due to the potential for that to be interpreted, in light of the above icon and the "Prayer" in the rating title, as their expressing a gesture (prayer) that they don't believe in.

The purpose of this thread is to gauge whether we should title the rating "Prayer/best wishes" or just "Prayer." This poll is public so that we can see how many members who don't believe in prayer would find the rating more usable if we added "best wishes" to the rating title. The number of votes for each option will determine the rating title.

I believe in prayer but I probably wouldn't use the "pressed hands pointing upwards" symbol because, in Judaism, that's not the hand gesture we use for prayer and it's a hand gesture that is associated with Christianity.

I appreciated the information on the Anjali Mudra interpretation of this gesture provided in the previous thread by @SalixIncendium and @Debater Slayer as this being more of a "grounding/anchoring" gesture, and I read the Wiki article at the link that Salix provided, which said that the gesture connotes "respect, reverence, benediction, salutation."

As a symbol of "respect", rather than merely "prayer," I would be inclined to use this symbol. In fact, I really like the idea having a symbol that connotes "respect for you" on this forum. I don't think we have anything like that already.

I'd also continue to use the "friendly/heart" symbol to indicate "support and empathy for you."

Also, please note that abuse of the new rating will include mocking, taunting, and passive-aggressive usage, such as giving the rating on a post of a member with different beliefs to essentially say, "I will pray for you" as if they were misguided, or giving the rating during a disagreement to imply condescension. All instances of such rating abuse will be moderated per Rule 9, as we currently do with abuse of the "Funny" rating.

I think that, if the proposed symbol is titled "respect" (either in whole or in part), then there shouldn't be a problem with anyone misusing it in that way.

Edited to add: I just saw that I shouldn't have cast a vote, as the poll is only for those who don't believe in prayer. Sorry! I don't know how to delete my vote, so can a Mod remove the "Other" vote that I cast?