Say your prayers...
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By Committee
Member # 4233
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 03:56
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Do you pray before you eat? A lot of people claim to be Christian, but there are Christians, and then there are CHRISTIANS. I reckon this would be a pretty good gauge of the degree of piety in the community. Poll Information This poll contains 1 question(s). 50 user(s) have voted. You may not view the results of this poll without voting. function launch_voter () { launch_window("http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=poll;d=vote;pollid=iSfBdGoVNlbh"); return true; } // end launch_voter function launch_viewer () { launch_window("http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=poll;d=view;pollid=iSfBdGoVNlbh"); return true; } // end launch_viewer function launch_window (url) { preview = window.open( url, "preview", "width=550,height=300,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status,menubar=no,scrollbars,resizable,copyhistory=no" ); window.preview.focus(); return preview; } // end launch_window   Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 2984
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 04:09
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It's a custom in my family, although we're not too religious otherwise. The last time any of us went to church was Easter, I think. That makes the meal prayer all the more surprising, but it's more of a matter of proper family unity than any religious ritual. I myself am soundly agnostic, and when I've eaten alone, I've never prayed. -------------------- The Encyclopaedia Ermariana <-- Now a Wiki! "Polaris leers down from the black vault, winking hideously like an insane watching eye which strives to convey some strange message, yet recalls nothing save that it once had a message to convey." --- HP Lovecraft. "I single Aran out due to his nasty temperament, and his superior intellect." --- SupaNik Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00 |
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Lifecrafter
Member # 4682
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 06:23
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My family says a blessing over the food, but we're Jewish, so.... -------------------- If anyone ever asks you why you did something, say "Because I could". Posts: 834 | Registered: Thursday, July 8 2004 07:00 |
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Master
Member # 5977
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 06:29
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My father is Christian. Sorry WAS christian. My mother is Jewish. However, we don't say a blessing. We just start eating strait away. of course we do wait untill everybody has his/her food on his/her plate. -------------------- Thralni's almighty Avernum pages: My webpage, containing scenario's and graphics made by me (And maybe someday the homepage of the almighty chicken gods). Click here for more information on Olga's fortune teller kiosk Olga's fortune teller kiosk has been temporarily closed down, but you can contact the prophet with a PM - Was signed by the prophet of the almighty chicken gods, gods of everything that is a chicken. Work has begun on the Nephilian grammar and vocabulary guide! Posts: 3029 | Registered: Saturday, June 18 2005 07:00 |
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Lifecrafter
Member # 3320
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 07:15
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We used to pray before our Sunday meal, but never at every meal. -------------------- "Keep your wits about you, the game is afoot!!" - Sherlock Holmes Gay Christian Network The Polaris Board Posts: 935 | Registered: Friday, August 8 2003 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 3349
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 07:44
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I pray before Dinner and before bed. -------------------- And everybody say....Yatta! Posts: 1287 | Registered: Thursday, August 14 2003 07:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 22
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 07:58
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People still do this? Wow. I must be more out of touch with the Christian community than I thought. [ Wednesday, August 03, 2005 07:59: Message edited by: Morgan ] Posts: 2862 | Registered: Tuesday, October 2 2001 07:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 5437
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 08:15
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When I am with friends and family who prefer to pray before a meal I will pray with them, but I don't say a blessing before meals on a regular basis. -------------------- Nena Posts: 2032 | Registered: Wednesday, January 26 2005 08:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 2238
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 08:45
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Only when my mother is there. Otherwise, there's never an organized meal to pray over anyway. And I'm not Christian, but the majority of my family is. -------------------- The critics agree! Demonslayer is "a five star hit!" raves TIMES Weekly! "I've never heard such thoughtful comments. This man is a genious!" says two-time Nobel Prize winning physicist Erwin Rasputin! Posts: 1582 | Registered: Wednesday, November 13 2002 08:00 |
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Too Sexy for my Title
Member # 5654
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 08:51
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quote:You are not the only one. I am a Catholic because both of my parents are and most of my family as well. I did the Holy Communion when I was nine and I have received the Eucharist. Nevertheless, I'm not a good catholic. I don't believe in the pope (and please don't start a discussion about it); I don't go to church every week; I don't say my prayers before meals, and I don't believe in saints. Nevertheless, I consider myself a good person. I pray before going to bed; I help as many people as I can, I do community service, I read the bible whenever I feel like getting closed to God, and I'm a good person overall. I never do anything that bad, always respect my parents and elders, and am hardly selfish. I may not be the greatest CHRISTIAN, but I’m not the worst. Posts: 1035 | Registered: Friday, April 1 2005 08:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 3521
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 09:15
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We Hindus have prayers to be said before meals just as Christians do. However, I only bother to say them when I'm at the house of a family friend and everyone else is reciting these prayers. I am quite religious, but I've never placed much importance in rituals and such. Besides, as I don't believe that God/Brahman interferes at all with the workings of the mortal plane, there is little point in praying in times of need. Some Hindus believe that praying over food will "sanctify" it, but I don't believe this has any effect. My religious thoughts tend to focus exclusively on how I can bring myself closer to the state of even-mindedness, or moksha. -------------------- Stughalf "Delusion arises from anger. The mind is bewildered by delusion. Reasoning is destroyed when the mind is bewildered. One falls down when reasoning is destroyed."- The Bhagavad Gita. Posts: 1798 | Registered: Sunday, October 5 2003 07:00 |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 6102
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 09:44
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I'm atheist as my family and I do not practice, believe or follow any religious activities. With praying, that's sort of a "no-no" in my family as my parents raised me that God exists only in people that believe in him and that every "miracle" in the world has some kind of explaination, minus the supernatural stuff. Although my parents crammed stuff into my head at an early age that "religion" is just a way to keep people to conform to a society and to have "hope", I still believe, somewhat, in supernatural stuff. Though I was raised this way, I personally do believe that we all have one God and that we should do good things for others so that good comes back to us. I'm guessing a lot of people probably do follow this concept as well and are probably atheists themselves around these boards. This concept probably would be the one thing that would sort of make me a non-atheist as I believe in the whole "universal God" thing. As for the question, I do not pray for any of the 3 food servings of breakfast, lunch (or brunch), dinner, and the occasional snack. I do, however, have the manners to wait before everyone gets their food first, then I begin to eat mine. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion of comformity. This was just how I was raised. EDIT Post Statement: A person who can get by w/o religion and have no one to pray to or to depend upon would be quite a success story to me. Almost everyone I hear of around me gets success because of religion, hence the "faith", and people backing them up. It's rare to find someone that is a complete individual, meaning that they follow nothing of a society or it's conformed religious practices, even mixed representations. Of course, we know those people as either insane or psychotic. EDIT Post Statement 2: For those that may be offended that my parents raised me as treating religion as "false hope" is a misunderstanding. I simply meant that our family doesn't use religion, and some people use it to satisfy their needs of "faith" to conform to society, but rather through hard work and dedication throughout your life. Our family values do follow a lot of guidelines that religions use; we simply do not believe or practice them through religion, hence our position of being atheists. My apologies if this was offensive to anyone. I personally am not against religions, I just chose to not follow in one. Hopefully, this clears up my previous statements that avoids future arguments. Thank you. EDIT Post Statement 3: Now stranger, I also do not want to start any arguments as well. Hopefully, my previous post statement will clear things up a little better. My fault for making it sound too cold hearted. Thanks for your input. [ Wednesday, August 03, 2005 10:49: Message edited by: Jeros ] -------------------- "Truly, if there is evil in this world, it lies in the heart of mankind." -Edward D. Morrison Posts: 220 | Registered: Monday, July 11 2005 07:00 |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 10:04
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I usually make a silent prayer of thanks before eating wherever I am, and when we sit down to eat as a family my wife and I take turns (meal by meal) praying briefly aloud. We often omit this if we have guests whom we think might be made uncomfortable by it, since our purpose in the practice is to cultivate our own sense of thankfulness, and this still works if we skip the odd time. I don't imagine that it will protect us from food poisoning or anything like that, and I don't believe I can tell God anything God doesn't already know. It does have some affect on our own attitudes, and for me this is the point of this kind of prayer. -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 1558
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 10:26
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Jeros, you certainly portray your parents as melancholy no-hopers. I don't want to start an arguement, but could you justify your comments in your edit? [ Wednesday, August 03, 2005 10:26: Message edited by: stranger ] -------------------- I'm tired of the strain and the pain ___ ___ ___ I feel the same, I feel nothing Nothing is important to me ___ ___ ___ ___ __ And nobody nowhere understands anything About me and all my dreams lost at sea ___ __ But we’re not the same, we’re different tonight We’ll make things right, we’ll feel it all tonight _ The indescribable moments of your life tonight The impossible is possible tonight ___ ____ ___ Believe in me as I believe in you, tonight Go All Blacks xtraMSN Rugby _ MuggleNet Posts: 1112 | Registered: Friday, July 19 2002 07:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 73
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 10:34
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I was raised as a Catholic, but I don't have any religion anymore. Last Easter, my grandmother was insisting that I say grace before we ate dinner. She said, "Vincent, you have to say grace." I said, "Umm... No." "What do you mean, no?! You're the man of the house now! You have to say grace!" "No." "Why not? You're a Christian! You have to say grace!" "I'm not a Christian." "What do you mean you're not a Christian?! Of course you're a Christian! Your whole family's Christians!" My cousin then said, "I'm not a Christian." The conversation continued in this vein for some time. Everyone was laughing the whole time. Eventually my uncle brought up how my grandmother never went to church with the family when he was younger because she wanted to watch TV. She started arguing with him, but eventually gave up. Then he started making dirty Jesus jokes that were pretty funny, although I can't remember any of them. Then we ate.[/ramble] -------------------- The Lyceum - The Headquarters of the Blades designing community The Louvre - The Blades of Avernum graphics database Alexandria - The Blades of Exile Scenario database BoE Webring - Self explanatory Polaris - Free porn here Odd Todd - Fun for the unemployed (and everyone else too) Famous Last Words - A local pop-punk band They Might Be Giants - Four websites for one of the greatest bands in existance -------------------- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Posts: 2957 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00 |
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Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!
Member # 919
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 12:08
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I only pray before a meal if I have reason to suspect it's poisoned. :P While I believe in God and in Jesus as our savior, I am not strictly a Christian and feel that prayer is mainly a way of emphasizing one's belief and highlighting areas of need. God knows your thoughts whether your hands are together or not, and I feel no need to follow an empty tradition. The family reasons mentioned above are valid, of course, but it would take more than an evening prayer to bring my family together, and I'd rather leave things the way they are. Jeros, I find that ironic and somewhat encouraging... I'm glad you're open-minded... -------------------- And though the musicians would die, the music would live on in the imaginations of all who heard it. -The Last Pendragon Polaris = joy. In case of emergency, break glass. Posts: 3351 | Registered: Saturday, April 6 2002 08:00 |
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Agent
Member # 1558
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 12:12
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For me, Jeros, the point in question was your slanting in ... ALL of your posts. -------------------- I'm tired of the strain and the pain ___ ___ ___ I feel the same, I feel nothing Nothing is important to me ___ ___ ___ ___ __ And nobody nowhere understands anything About me and all my dreams lost at sea ___ __ But we’re not the same, we’re different tonight We’ll make things right, we’ll feel it all tonight _ The indescribable moments of your life tonight The impossible is possible tonight ___ ____ ___ Believe in me as I believe in you, tonight Go All Blacks xtraMSN Rugby _ MuggleNet Posts: 1112 | Registered: Friday, July 19 2002 07:00 |
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Master
Member # 4614
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 12:19
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Practically always. Well, usually not me, but my dad, and the prayer is always the same. But it's still a prayer and says what it needs to say. Basically, we're not supposed to start stuffing the food into our mouth until we pray over it, but it's not a strict life-or-death rule. -------------------- -ben4808 For those who love to spam: CSM Forums RIFQ Posts: 3360 | Registered: Friday, June 25 2004 07:00 |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 6102
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 13:30
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quote:Slanting? As in changing my opinion when I receive criticism or becoming open minded in an odd sort of way? Just curious. It does seem pretty ironic and obvious that my opinions seem biased against the topic in question, but that's how I am. Sorry if being open minded means offense to others. To me, personally, there is nothing wrong with prayer. Prayer encourages conformity for a lot of families, whether a loved one is sick or is at the dinner table. It is just I was raised as an atheist and nothing else. Our family follows the a lot of the same moral qualities that brings us closer; it just doesn't involve religion. I wonder if there was a world w/o religion...would there be more or less conformity between friends and family? That all depends on the bond of loved ones and the individuals that bring them together in the first place... [ Wednesday, August 03, 2005 13:42: Message edited by: Jeros ] -------------------- "Truly, if there is evil in this world, it lies in the heart of mankind." -Edward D. Morrison Posts: 220 | Registered: Monday, July 11 2005 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 2210
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 13:47
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How disrespectful, I pray before meals during holidays, but don't remember most of the holidays. I also sometimes pray or meditate before I go to sleep or very early in the morning when I first get up. Food is rather distracting. I am a deist so there. -------------------- Wasting your time and mine looking for a good laugh. Star Bright, Star Light, Oh I Wish I May, I Wish Might, Wish For One Star Tonight. Posts: 1084 | Registered: Thursday, November 7 2002 08:00 |
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Mongolian Barbeque
Member # 1528
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 14:46
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I once had a long conversation with my college roommate over dinner after we said grace over it, about what one's criteria is for having to pray over food. For instance, you can have a huge snack in the afternoon and then a tiny, late dinner several hours later, but you pray over the dinner but not the snack. Size is apparently not the sole criteria—time of day has something to do with it, and how "formal" the meal is. After we got back to our dorm room we wrote up a list of tongue-in-cheek "rules" for when you have to pray over a meal—rules that we all apply without even being aware of them. I wish I could find it, it was really hilarious. -------------------- The A.E. van Vogt Information Site My Tribute to the Greatest Writer of the Science Fiction Golden Age Posts: 907 | Registered: Monday, July 15 2002 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 1558
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 16:39
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quote:You are right in claiming your open-mindedness takes an odd form. No, I mean that when you state your opinion, you show so much bias that I wonder if you're cleverly taking the mickey. quote:Wouldn't it be less because: a lot of religions are positive in respect to nurturing relationships, providing morals and offering marriage ceremonies (w/o religion there would be no concept of marriage). Religion is essential in the legal and social framework of (I daresay) most countries, without it there might be problems with morals and therefore social security, causing less conformity between friends and family. [ Wednesday, August 03, 2005 16:40: Message edited by: stranger ] -------------------- I'm tired of the strain and the pain ___ ___ ___ I feel the same, I feel nothing Nothing is important to me ___ ___ ___ ___ __ And nobody nowhere understands anything About me and all my dreams lost at sea ___ __ But we’re not the same, we’re different tonight We’ll make things right, we’ll feel it all tonight _ The indescribable moments of your life tonight The impossible is possible tonight ___ ____ ___ Believe in me as I believe in you, tonight Go All Blacks xtraMSN Rugby _ MuggleNet Posts: 1112 | Registered: Friday, July 19 2002 07:00 |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 6102
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 17:21
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Well, I'll take your advice stranger and try to be less bias. As for the conformity with religion, I do agree with your point that if it ceased to exist, there would be no traditional things such as wedding vows or certain legal rights. As for people who disagree, they could say that it brings a greater sense of individuality, but in a way, that's sort of breaking away from conformity in the first place. Although I may not use religion to keep my family together, others do and I respect every sense of that. Different people have different ways to love and conform to one another. My grandparents had a habit of making "false threats" in order for my parents, when they were kids, to obey certain rules. In my generation, it's all about trusting one another and knowing that we each have other's backs, to my family that is. Certain things exist for certain reasons. If things like laws never existed, there would be a constant critter of chaos. To others, they think that laws and rules are meant to broken, hence they are made in the first place. I perfer to live in a society with rules and laws and not of the latter. Well, this could be my very first non-bias post, unless there's something bias about it... [ Wednesday, August 03, 2005 17:26: Message edited by: Jeros ] -------------------- "Truly, if there is evil in this world, it lies in the heart of mankind." -Edward D. Morrison Posts: 220 | Registered: Monday, July 11 2005 07:00 |
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? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 19:21
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I say a prayer of thanks whenever I catch a fish or arrive back at port safely. Of course, I am praying to the river god and ocean god, not some gentrified omniscient thing. I also give an offering when I first hit the water, usually a splash of coffee to wake up the fish. It would seem redundant to pray before eating. I guess I'm still a hunter-gatherer at heart. *this message sponsored by posideon and odin* Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
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E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
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written Wednesday, August 3 2005 19:54
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quote:Uh, yeah, lots of people still do this. I'm not one of them though, despite considering myself a devout Christian. -------------------- Sex is easier than love. Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00 |
