I will pray for these people Carissa, and pray for anonymouser to learn compassion, and learn how to spell,

Pray to what. The invisible imaginary guy that lives in the sky.

don't you wish...

Carrissa, I'm an Atheist, and I follow the Buddhist path.  If you think praying will help the victims in Burma, I will certainly pray with you.  World Vision is definitely worth donating to.  It's very sad what has happened in Burma.  I'm horrified at what these people had to go through.  I donate to these causes when I can, as I did when Katrina hit the U.S.  Good post, thank you.  

Starbucks...  I hear ya...  I hear ya.  (smile)  And, luckily I don't believe God wanted these people to suffer.

Anonymous,   Yep that guy... it may not help victims in Burma, but it will help many who believe in that guy.

You know, I’m one of those guys who believes it takes different strokes. 

I’m one of those guys who believes the more learned among us actually revel in our differences rather than being all “cloned-up” and conforming to a subjective USA normality.  After all, the western normalcy equals “infidels” in some religions.

I’m just one of those guys who believes I NEED to respect a person’s desire to hold a firm belief, because that’s what makes that person a unique individual, and ensures my ability to practice my own foundational beliefs of individuality. 

I’m one of those guys who is unafraid to point out inconsistencies in reasoning (as I encounter them) for the SOLE stated purpose to encourage thought and discussion, which I hope will lead to the strengthening or abandoning of that position, but NOT the sitting on it because it seems like a good idea at conception ideal!

As such, I’m one of those guys that believes that there’s no personal growth in inaction, and I’m one of those guys who thinks “thinking” is a highly productive and worthwhile hobby / pastime / pursuit.

Inarguably, one’s faith, defined, is believing in something without absolute evidence or proof.  FAITH takes courage. 

For an intelligent, logical, and contemplative person, it seems foolish to believe in something we cannot tangibly experience with one of our senses.  Yet it occurs to me that faith in something, at it’s earliest stages, is activity engaged by the MORE intelligent in our society. 

Were that NOT the case, NOTHING would ever be invented, except by accident. 

A man stands near an outdoor fire, warming his backside after a bountiful meal.  He passes a little gas, and a brief flame erupts.  He then tries to convince everyone in witness that he just invented fuel, and hence energy!  Sorry, I’m not buying it.

There is ample empirical evidence that inventors endeavor to create, intentionally.  Edison, Einstein, da Vinci, et. al., they believed (or had faith) that “X” was possible.  Then those brilliant thinkers set about creating a circumstance wherein that possibility could exist, survive, and thrive. 

Just because believers have experienced FAITH in something you’ve not experienced does NOT mean that a deity does not exist. 

Reading Sparks’ comments, I’m baffled by what I can only label an inter-cranial theoretical contradiction, if not a foundational individual moral incongruence.  As I understand the word “atheist” it denies the existence of a supreme or superior being, or that of a deity.  If that is so, then what possible justification would ANY atheist give to follow a Buddhist path.  Buddha a deity, no?  Praying an appeal to a higher power?  For what sake?  My head hurts!

It seems almost as though she’s admitting that there IS some higher power, a potential deity, but she claims the label atheist that as clearly denounces any form of faith out of prideful self-comfort; after all, who in this country will question her right to free religion, or the absence thereof?

It seems (to me) reading between the lines, that she WANTS to believe in a higher power, but is afraid she’ll suffer criticism that … having faith in something she’s never tangibly experienced nor can fully understand, will bring. 

Eastern beliefs present a faux higher understanding that most in western society fail to comprehend.  The mystique of Buddhism carries an allure beyond comprehension of the ordinary western civil.  Get beyond that Mademoiselle Sparks (with all respect I have and unequivocally love) and you’ll find the most pure definition of FAITH, be it in Buddah, Allah, or Jesus.

FAITH:

You know …

I don’t exhaustively understand electricity.  I can’t wire my house as an electrician would.  But that does not inhibit my TOTAL DISBELIEF that the television FAILS to work during a power shortage!

NOR … can I explain the exact path the electricity takes, emanating from my car battery, when I turn the key to start the engine, and drive off to work in the morning.  But I have FAITH that I can utilize that power, and transport my ignorant butt to my job, and then to the grocery store on the way home!

I have encountered people in society who DO understand how to wire a house, and who DO know how to fix or maintain or even how to build from scratch an automobile.  But I do NOT call them foolish because they understand something I do not see or taste or hear or feel repeatedly. 

So why would anyone (I’m sorry Ms. Sparks) offer to pray if she felt it made no difference?  That insults we believers in Christ, and demeans the autonomy of YOUR belief.  Praying is not the domain of an atheist and I take some insult from “your stooping to our level” in the caveat of your stated belief, as though you’re willing if we small-minded folks believe it will do some good.  Yes, we believe it will do some good.  THAT is our faith, and we request you ONLY participate if you TOO believe it will help.  It’s an issue of mutual respect, and I hope you’ll understand it as such, NOT as a tongue lashing.

Then, why would any advanced thinker, capable of editorial comment ask a person of faith to question that faith in a higher being?  Because being a faithful believer is somehow deficient?  Perhaps that’s the reasoning.  But why would any naysayer so supremely limited in their creative scope as to quantify the “possible” existence of deity with a simplistic label such as “invisible imaginary guy that lives in the sky”, why would that person express publicly their superiority in theoretical argument or belief? 

I was raised “better to be thought stupid, than to open mouth and remove all doubt.” 

There were TONS of folks who believed the earth was flat.  It ain’t!

It’s overly simplistic to observe another’s thought, or belief, or faith, and discount it because evidence has not been individually demonstrated to you. 

Do you believe yourself smarter than your dog?  Your cat?  Your hamster? 

Every day we get up, shower, brush our teeth, and rush off to work to earn a living, come home, eat, watch some TV or surf the Internet or read, or otherwise entertain ourselves, often to the exclusion of our own children.  (If you’re not yet a parent, consider if your mm / dad have done this in your life.)

My cat wakes up, gets fed, plays, naps, plays some more, sits, observes, contemplates, naps, eats, and that’s just his morning!!!

What makes me more reasoned than him?  What makes my existence superior to that which he enjoys?  Readers and philosophers and writers to the Tehachapi News blog might contemplate such.  Practice the art of thinking.  Consider others’ observations as equal.  

Sometimes, when we’re driving to work, that “jerk-wad” that just cut us off, wasn’t really doing anything of the sort.  Consider the times when in oblivion, we’ve just changed lanes for no damned reason!  No insult intended!  No thought given!!  No malice!!!

More often than we realize in life, it’s just this simple: 

My cat has absolute faith that there will always be mice in the garage for him to catch and play with, and to award my wife and I as he cannot shop at K-Mart to demonstrate via gift his affection for us.  Sometimes there are mice out there, sometimes there aren’t, and sometimes he’s not talented enough to catch the Pappy Boyington of mice in that arena.

I hope you all are blessed with powers of observation, and the understanding of human nature that it affords.

bvsJeff, I'm an atheist too. Most atheists don't actively deny God(s), they just find no evidence to believe in any. While I can't speak for Sparks, I think we probably share the same outlook about a deity. There's a lot of Christians who don't really understand atheism, who believe we actually hate God (impossible, 'cause we don't believe in it) or believe we worship Satan. I'm just trying to enlighten those folks who have the wrong idea about us.

AFAIK, most Buddhists don't deify Buddha either, as Christians deify God or Jesus. I haven't studied it as Sparks has, so she may have a different outlook on the subject. I don't think you have a precise handle on the matter, and therefore some of your conclusions are off base.

Hope this helps your train of thought.

As far as faith goes, I find it interesting you equate your faith to that of a cat. I contend that a cat hasn't the capability of faith, as humans do. But that's your bag, not mine.

And then there's prayer; I don't quite understand the concurrent beliefs of the faithful, one being that God does what He wills, but that human prayer can change the course of his direction. I always thought that prayer was more useful in bringing understanding of God's will to the prayerful, rather than helping the afflicted. I guess that's one reason why I became an atheist.

bvsJeff..   wow...you can rattle on.   

Put simply..  I don't believe in God.  That doesn't mean that I don't respect people who do, THUS, if it would help others who do pray to their God/Gods/Goddesses for me to pray along side them, I certainly would. That is who I am.  As for Buddhism as I said I follow the path..  I love all people, regardless of creed, race or sexual orientation.  All people.  No, I don't believe in reincarnation and I don't take everything I read as carved in stone.  I simply like what the Dali Lama teaches.  He teaches love for all.  I believe we all have a right to be who we are, no matter who that is.   I'm sorry you find this hard to understand.

If the way I found strength was to meditate and chant... would you meditate and chant with me?   Maybe not, but as I have said before, I would certainly pray with you, or at the very least hold your hand as you prayed.   I didn't offer to pray to Carrisa's God, I offered to pray with her.   I do pray, and when I do..it's to a spirit within.  I normally find the answers if I seek the truth within me.

Who told you that you have to believe in God to have faith in something? You certainly have a lot of assumptions about me, most of which are incorrect.

Oochild, right,  Bvsjeff doesn't realize that I don't deify the Buddha.  He also doesn't understand that being an Atheist doesn't mean you hate God or the people who believe in God.   He has a lot to learn, and hopefully he will learn someday.  It took a lot of frustration to write that novel he wrote up there...  it's kind of sad what not knowing, or not trying to understand about other people can do to some.   It creates hate.  UGH

bvsJeff wrote:

"Reading Sparks’ comments, I’m baffled by what I can only label an inter-cranial theoretical contradiction, if not a foundational individual moral incongruence.  As I understand the word “atheist” it denies the existence of a supreme or superior being, or that of a deity.  If that is so, then what possible justification would ANY atheist give to follow a Buddhist path.  Buddha a deity, no?  Praying an appeal to a higher power?  For what sake?  My head hurts!"

Buddha a deity?  NO    Can one pray without believing in higher power?  Yes

I hope your head feels better soon Jeff. (smile)

" There were TONS of folks who believed the earth was flat.   It ain't! "

But they had faith that it was, bvsJeff. Right?

I found his sermon to be more than a little off-putting. This is the same "Christian" who stated all tow truck drivers are uneducated low class scum of the earth.

Now, as to the subject of the post...I believe charity begins at home. I didn't always feel that way, but having survived Katrina and witnessing the horror of the aftermath - which is still going on right here at home, I cannot, will not worry about another country.