If I pray when I'm scared, am I not really an atheist?

Question

I was raised christian, and now I dont think I believe in a higher power, but if I'm really frightened I'll pray.......like a reflex, like when I was a kid.

Do other atheists ever do this? Do you have to be religious to pray? What is prayer? Is it similar to hope? As an atheist I'm not uncaring, I've hoped that things would work out for people I've cared.

Hope is comforting, no? Or am I just weak?

Answer 1

No, you're not weak. Hope is very comforting, and what's wrong with just talking to someone? Atheists, as you've said, are not uncaring. They care very much, but they just don't choose to believe in a deity. Talk to the spirit in a tree if you wish. The tree listens and you can get the fear off your chest.
Hope is that light in the Darkness carried by a single candle. It can be God for one person and a candle for another; but it is light in the darkness nonetheless.

"When Faith gives way to Fear, when Motivation disappears
All is lost when One abandons Hope."

Answer 2

I kind of understand what you're doing. I was also raised Christian, and as I grew up, I developed my own beliefs. I wouldn't say I'm Atheist, I would call it more Agnostic. I'm not sure if there is or isn't a God. But I do pray sometimes, even though I don't know if there is a God that's listening or not.

I don't think you have to be religious to pray. I think prayer is just a way of expression, like when there's no other way to help, a sort of last resort thing. I believe that prayer is comforting, and is does give you hope.

Hope this answers your question.

Answer 3

you don't think you believe in a higher power- so it sounds like you're not sure. That would make you agnostic. I don't know if I'd say that praying automatically makes you not an atheist, it depends why you are doing it. If your just doing it for your own benefit or out of habit without actually praying *to* anyone, then I guess you could still be atheist. But in your case it sounds like you're just not really there yet. It may take a while, I was agnostic for about 5 years after leaving the church I was raised in before I realized that I absolutely 100% don't believe in God

Answer 4

I'd say that's basically theistic, if you pray (and mean it) when you're scared. If you were really an atheist, then you wouldn't believe in any god to pray to!

I think you have to have some form of religion to pray (if you mean what you're thinking/saying when you pray).

Prayer, to me, is one way of communication with your deity or deities. You pray to raise a sense of connection with him/her/them, and that is a way of communicating with the higher power(s).

Hope is just thinking that you would like something to happen or work out. Hope, to me, is not religious at all. Atheists, pagans, Jewish people, Muslims, Catholics, all can hope for things to happen or turn out well. For me, it is not connected to religion at all. Prayer is, though.

Hope IS comforting, and so is prayer and communication with, and a sense of, a deity or several deities.


I think it's cool you still pray. Maybe you're not really atheist? You might not believe in Jesus or the Bible or anything like that, but you don't have to be atheist to not believe in that. You might be pagan. We believe in higher powers, just not necessarily the Bible and its stories. Maybe you could look into some other religions and see if any of the general beliefs match yours? You may find that you do believe in higher powers.

Of course, all of the above is my opinion alone. I'm not claiming this is, or this is how, anyone does or should think.

Answer 5

Let me make this perfectly clear...if you PRAY, then you are NOT an atheist.

All of these people on here trying to say that its not really praying, that you are "hoping", and that hoping like that is okay...are full of it.

You cant have it both ways. And you saying that its a "reflex" is an excuse.

Like one person said..."Selective Atheism". Thats funny. The term Atheist literally derived from Greek terms meaning "those without God" and it comes to mean that you dont believe in powers over humans.

So, dont say that you can pray and that you arent praying to a higher power, that you are really just hoping...because thats another excuse.

If you are praying...then you are praying to a higher power, one of whom you have faith will help you with your prayer.

Hell...if I was going golfing I would "hope" that it wouldnt rain. But, I dont "pray" that it doesnt rain. There is a big difference between hoping and praying.

You got a bunch of answers from people claiming to be atheist, who really need to rethink their actions. To be an atheist means you believe that humans control their own destiny, that no "higher power" is there to help them, and that when they die...they just... cease to exist anymore and are done. Period.

So, even the fact that an atheist mentions "hope" as being something that is okay to believe in is funny. If there is no gods, no higher powers...then there is no faith in anything other than people. The cornerstone of atheism is that "crap happens and there is nothing you can do about it".

So, if you are in trouble...you are just in trouble...and if you get hurt, well...then it was just unlucky for you to get hurt.

Dont clasp your hands together and starting "hoping" that you will be okay. Because according to your own choices...there is nothing you could do to change it anyway.

Stop believing there is no God but praying when you are in danger. Talk about a hypocrite...

Answer 6

Yeah, I used to do the same thing. It's probably just a habit...don't worry it will eventually go away. Yes, I suppose praying in an atheist's case is like hope. Hope is comforting but don't completely rely on it because after all it's just hope. It wont make any promises, but it does help to have some hope instead of none at all.

Answer 7

Your sentence saying,"I dont think I believe in a higher power," tells me you aren't yet an atheist. Instead you are "agnostic," meaning you have strong doubts. You are questioning your Christian upbringing, but you aren't ready to completely break away. Yes, prayer is an expression of hope, addressed to fate, luck, possibilities, or whomever just might be "out there."
You are wise to allow yourself to grow and explore your beliefs. This is much better than blind acceptance of what you have heard all your life up to now. Good luck (or God bless) in your journey toward a firm belief or philosophy.

Answer 8

This explains why there are so many chrisitians. Because
when people are in trouble they tend to pray and hope
for the problem to resolve. Once the problem coincidently
resolves (prayed or not the problem would have resolved
anyway) people gets overly excited and converts to a
chrisitian. In fact Christians are people who are insecure
and afraid. Therefore they become easily convinced that
there is a God protecting them. You can't blame them for
that, some people are afraid and believes in what they
need to believe in to feel secured.

Answer 9

I am not an atheist -- however

There is nothing wrong with being weak -- get the midieval male stereotype out of your head.

Most people pray when they are frightened, that doesn't indicate that they believe, only that they are desperate and that they hope - even though they don't believe.

Some atheists do it, some do not. There is nothing wrong with you at all. You are wonderful, just as you are.

Kind thoughts,

Reyn
[e-mail]

Answer 10

There's certainly nothing wrong with hope. I think its interesting that you refer to prayer as a reflex. You realize the Christians are going to zero in on that, right? Well.. do you feel as though you are praying to something or someone? Or just hoping?