Does praying for someone to get hurt or die make me an accessory to their demise?
What’s the legal status of a prayer?
Suppose for example, I went to church and prayed that some evil person (the dictator of your choice) die and ugly and painful death to make up for his misdeeds.
And then the evil person dies ugly fairly close to the time of my prayer.
Am I an accessory to the person’s death? Am I culpable? Did my wish lead to his death?
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19 Answers
No, no, and… Oh my…, no.
It is the same as if you bought a set of 7 plastic dragonballs on Amazon, and made the wish to Shenlong.
Shenlong is not real, the dragonballs are not real, and neither is whatever God you prayed to. It is pure coincidence.
Nope. But I would say you are giving an awful lot of power over you to that person. You are harboring hatred that only hurts you.
Note: praying for trump’s demise doesn’t work.
Only if you want to believe it does.
Legally no one could prove beyond a shadow of the doubt that you’re prayer (your words) caused the death.
I also think that praying for anyones demise would not be fulfilled by my God but perhaps another entity.
Matthew 5:21–22
New King James Version
Murder Begins in the Heart
21 “You have heard that it was said to those [a]of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother [b]without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’[c] shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, [d]‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of [e]hell fire.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205:21-22&version=NKJV
Personally I pray for people I don’t like. See, God only gives good gifts, and if He chooses to save and turn a murderer into a kind decent person, That’s wonderful.
It would if it worked, but it doesn’t so it doesn’t.
No. It creates other issues though, unless you have no soul.
No culpability.
When I was 18–20 years old, and on/off since, I worked roofing and painting. We also occasionally tarred rooves.
In the summer heat, and really just because of the work, it was grueling. Extreme heat, rickety old ladders, and the old rooftops of downtown Charleston, made it super dangerous too.
I was still kind of a theist then.
There were many nights that I would pray for rain the next day.
IF it rained, streets downtown flood, and I’m sure it’s a negative event for some, or makes things harder. But. I know now, that it rains when conditions create it.
It was never a question of WHAT I was praying for. It was weather.
Not that I didn’t understand weather, I was just foolish enough to think perhaps something somehow controlled all of the elements involved in making rain, and that something actually ;
A. Could “hear” my prayer.
B. Would care at all, especially enough to change the weather of the planet.
I used to say “I hope he gets spinal cancer,” about Rush Limbaugh.
Well. He’s dead. He didn’t die of what I thought he deserved. But he did die.
Ultimately. We ALL WILL die.
So. You can pray all you want, but life doesn’t revolve around any of us.
@MrGrimm888 in a way, your answer is disappointing. I wish I did have the power.
NO…still I’m praying that you receive the power!!! Still, IF this person does die in the way you prayed, I strongly suggest that you don’t run to the cops to confess or they might persecute you anyway!!!
OK.
I thought of a practical answer.
Let’s say you prayed for someone to die, and then they died.
I think, you’re in the clear.
However.
If you then pray for another person to die, and they die, now we’re getting to the point where maybe you should stop praying for people to die.
If you get to four or five dead people, yes, I think you have some culpability.
@MrGrimm888 interesting take on it.
So if multiple people die after I pray for them to die, the prosecutor would have to prove that I contributed to the death through prayer. I think that would be a challenge for a couple of reasons:
- lack of physical evidence of any action on my part.
- the religious freedom laws in this country that allow anyone (including me) to pray based on my beliefs.
The flip side, of course, if that I pray and nothing happens it doesn’t say much for the efficacy of prayer.
^“Some of God’s greatest gifts, are unanswered prayers.”
No. Prayer does nothing more than make you feel better about something.
Praying is like meditation. Even if you aren’t a believer it’s still calming. Unless you’re meditating about blood and mayhem!
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