Theres this religious group that sometimes meets in one of our cafes to try to screen potential new members.

I listen sometimes to the things they say because some of them are just- jaw dropping.

The one time some guy told a story about going to the hospital after havingn a headache and fearing that he had a tumor- so he prayed to god at the hospital not to have one and when the scan came back he was tumor free! So he went on about how God had obviously heard him and cured his tumor because he was a true believer. The fact that millions of people every day have headaches and only a very very small fraction have tumors causing them apparently was completely irrelevant apparently.

And another time I was sitting there and the guy claimed that prayer caused God to cure his anxiety. Then said that if more people prayed to God then there would be a lot less people in the hospital.

At first listening to these things was kind of upsetting. But now I listen to them because I just cant NOT listen to them- they are that incredulous.

Anyways. I have nothing against religion. But I DO have something against leading vulnerable people to believe that “if they just pray hard enough” all their problems will go away. Because guess what- for every “true miracle” that happens- there are probably a tens/hundreds/thousands of people who prayed for a miracle and didnt get one.

I admit to being a bit biased though because- I had religious hallucinations and delusions- so I feel particularly personally vulnerable and afraid of the “religion cures all” mindset just because of that vulnerability.

Anyways. Im not saying religion is bad. If I had to say whether I believed in God or not, personally I do. Im just saying that the whole “believe hard enough and god will provide” mindset is... really dismissive and actually really scary when you think about it.

Ok! I dont want to derail this thread too much so time to go get icecream I think!