If you aren't religious, do you get offended if someone says they are praying for you?

I still respect other people’s religions, so no, I just take it as a compliment that they have good thoughts about me :)

I’m agnostic but I recognize the good intentions of all people of good will.

Even if I am religious…I sure wouldn’t want to be hit by a bus.

No, I appreciate they are wishing me well.

At times,yes.

What? No! It’s a compliment, and even if I didn’t believe in it, it’s the thought that counts!

It depends. For example, if they say they’re going to pray for me because I’m gay and they think their prayers will “fix” me, then I get offended. But when they offer prayers because of difficult times or an actual illness or whatever, I very much appreciate it. Even if it doesn’t actually help, it certainly isn’t going to hurt, and it’s helpful to know that people are on your side and are thinking of you.

Ok first of all, is your name Raine????????????????????????????????? I love that name! My name is Raine too! And second of all, no I do not get offinded.

I’m not religious, and don’t get offended when people say they are praying for me when I’m going through a difficult time. It shows they care and they are trying to help in the best way they know how. As long as people don’t try to convert me, I have deep respect for their religious views and understand that their religion is part of what makes them who they are and helps them strive to be a better person. No harm, no foul.

Honestly, a little.

Not at all.Why would i get offended by that? I get flattered that someone cares about me no matter in what he/she believes

Yep. Find it quite patronizing.

Nice intentions, but those don’t really mean much in reality.

Not at all. At least they aren’t whipping D batteries at me.

we’ll meet again mormons. . .

Nope. There’s nothing I could do to stop them anyway, is there?

It generally pisses me off. Most of the time, it seems like they say it exactly for that reason.

I agree with @MacBean. If they are praying for me because of something I have done that they don’t approve of then I don’t get offended as such but I do think “up yours”. If they are praying for me because of s difficult time in my life then I feel very comforted by it.

I believe in some form of God/higher power but I don’t consider myself religious. I assume I am qualified to answer this question.

@Blondesjon Batteries? Dare I ask?

Yes, I prefer cash.

No even an atheist would agree. It cant hurt. I would just consider myself lucky to have a friend that’s thinking about me and accept it as a compliment.

@dukeG This atheist didn’t agree.

prayers are good thoughts, it would be ok a time or two, after that it might start
sounding like the mindless “have a good day” and then would be irratating….

My mom is a priest, so I don’t think much of it since she says it a lot – she said she was going to pray for me when I took the GREs last week, and I thought that was nice of her. If, however, like @MacBean said, someone said they were going to pray for me because of who/what I am (example include gay, and evolutionary biologist, agnostic) I would be very offended. Luckily it’s never happened.

If it seems well meant I take it as a caretaking gesture, and it generally makes me feel good. If someone prays for me because I believe in abortion rights, or gay marriage I get pretty annoyed. What does embarrass me is being asked to pray for someone who is ill, or in trouble. I never know quite what to say. I want to acknowledge that I wish them well, but I don’t know how to say politely that I think prayer is a fairy-tale.

No, I’m flattered. Not only am I not religious, but I’m completely ignorant. I always thought prayers were for huge things in that person’s life (loved ones with cancer, etc.) but then someone told me he was praying for me when I broke my arm and needed to find a quick flight home. I think it’s synonymous with “I’m thinking of you” but even more powerful.

If they are praying for you, what is the reason? I haven’t had someone pray for me to continue to be happy, etc. It’s always for something to be resolved in my life, and that is usually defined by them (meaning I may not think it is a problem). They believe my problem involves an intervention by their God, which I usually make clear I do not believe in.

Not offended, but I do feel very uneasy. I handle it better now, I have more of an understanding that they have good intentions, and it is also simply vocabularly they are accustomed to using, almost like a “saying.”

Makes me a bit uncomfortable, and at the core, I think it’s really presumptuous, but I accept they are well intentioned, and I generally expect people who are religious in nature to presume that everyone thinks the way THEY do, so I’m used to it, and I shrug it off.

@pdworkin Good point you brought up, about people asking you to pray, I feel the same way as you. It’s like now you are on the spot. You can’t say, “I don’t pray,” in those situations. Generally, I just smile and tell the person I am talking to, to let me know if I can help in anyway, watch their children, take them to the doctor, whatever suits the circumstance. Try to show I care and they are in my thoughts.

@pdworkin: In those situations, I usually smile and say “So-and-so will be in my thoughts” or something similar—basically they can decide what they think that means. It’s true usually—if I know someone well enough that I’m being asked to pray for them, they will be in my thoughts, and that’s generally not the time to get into my “um, that’s not…” spiel.

@EmpressPixie “if I know someone well enough that I’m being asked to pray for them, they will be in my thoughts, and that’s generally not the time to get into my “um, that’s not…” spiel.” Sounds like perhaps you take the time to get to know them better than vice versa.

I prefer the I won’t be doing that as I am an atheist but they will be in my thoughts. Get it over and done with so that we can get on with the relationship and not get stuck in an infinite loop of misunderstanding. I don’t see the lack of religiousity as something offensive or even worthy of the time it takes to hide.

@75movies I find that when people are very upset about things, they often forget smallish details. My atheism is very quiet in real life. I’m no @Qingu to go around ruining Christmas or Passover, I experience the holidays and go with the flow without a fuss. So forgetting that I’m not likely to be praying isn’t a big deal to me.

@EmpressPixie I think the last time someone said they were praying for me it went like this:

Me: I’ll be leaving for London on Thursday.
Dad: Your Mom and I will be praying for a safe flight.
Me: And I’ll get the plane’s maintenance report.
Dad: Great, we’ll have everything covered.
Me: Agreed, you take care of fantasy land and I’ll cover reality.

I think it’s nice of them.
I don’t think it works, but it shows good intentions, and I appreciate that.

And sometimes I wish I had someone to pray to for other people.

It depends what it’s about. If its a genuine thing like an illness or something like that, then I am not offended at all, and would thank them. On the other hand if they’re praying for me to turn straight, or turn Christian, or stop doing whatever they think is a sin in their eyes, then I will be offended.

I feel the same as @MacBean. If they have good intentions, then it’s nice that they are thinking of me. But, in the situation Macbean gave, I find it to be more hateful than anything.

I wonder sometimes if they’re trying to kill me.

(This was a study of the effect of intercessory prayer on cardiac patients. The results were that intercessory prayer itself had no effect on complication-free recovery, but certainty of receiving intercessory prayer was associated with a higher incidence of complications.)

No. I take it as their way of showing that they care about me.

in certain circumstances i find it annoying, for example if someone knows that I am atheist and repeatedly says they’re praying for me or god bless you. Then I get irritated.

But usually I am pretty indifferent about it.
Although I still roll my eyes mentally, shhh…

I don’t get offended but it is something I will never say to anyone. I’ll say, “I’m not a praying person but my thoughts are with you.”

Only if the reason they are praying for me is BECAUSE I’m not religious, otherwise i don’t care.

Not at all, because it’s their thought that counts, and every little helps, even if it’s from a religion I don’t believe in.

Although I am an atheist, I am not offended in the least. The person that is offering prayer is really just saying that they have hope that things turn out well.

Hm, normally I’m grateful, but only because it signals the end of the meeting with said person…

As long as they don’t say it in a condescending way, then, no, it doesn’t. It’s their way of showing moral support.

Sometimes you have people saying they’ll pray for you and it’s condescending and judgmental. Like, if someone were to tell me they’ll pray for me because I’m queer, I’d find that offensive because I don’t think being queer is anything that needs praying about.

But if it isn’t meant judgmentally, if it’s sincere and compassionate, I wouldn’t find that offensive. I may not believe it will do any good, but what harm could it do? And either way, if prayer is how that person wants to respond to my situation, that’s really none of my business. We all deal with things that life throws us differently: who am I to dictate the ways someone else deals with their life when those ways don’t affect me?

No, I appreciate the intent. I know it is their way of showing care and concern. I worry more about it in the other direction – when people ask for prayers and I say I will keep them in my thoughts. I feel like that will upset them, but saying I will pray when I know I won’t seems wrong So, either I am offending them or not staying true to myself.

I don’t get offended, but I do see it as a waste of time. As I see it, prayer works only as a placebo. If I’m not interested, praying for me is a waste of time and energy. Having said that, if it makes YOU feel better, have a good time, just don’t bother me too much about it.

I guess it depends on the context. I’m more or less an agnostic, so when people say they are praying for me and I can tell it’s because they think I’m an evil heathen and they are praying for the devil to leave me, then yes, I may be slightly offended, but not really, because it’s nearly impossible to offend me. If someone says they are praying for me because they actually wish to help, I thank them politely and move on. Nothing of value has been lost.

Not at all. I welcome it. As several others have said, it shows that they care about you.

Oh – I didn’t take the question as praying for me because I’m evil or a non-believer. That would offend me. I took it in terms of what people say when you are sick or going through something bad. As I said above that doesn’t bother me but it is something I don’t say to other people.

@TitusFargo
Pardon me for pointing this out, but the premise of this question was “if you aren’t religious…”

If their concern and intent for praying for me is genuine, i don’t mind, and am actually flattered. Because even though I personally believe that prayer does nothing, it still shows that they believe it does, and want to do something good for you. It’s the thought which counts.

On the other hand, most people who have said that they will pray for me usually do so in order to spite, mock and insult me.

no, why get offended? if their heart is wrong they will have to answer for it and if their heart is right, it will only bless me. i would just be happy to know that there are people out there that will walk out their faith and be proud of it.

I happen to believe that there is never a time we are not praying…we just do it haphazardly…and that the more energy we focus toward a thought or desire the more likely we move toward actualizing whatever it is we’re focused upon.

I said all that to say this…THIS is what I’m thinking whenever someone says “I’m praying for you”. I wonder if they mean what I mean or if they’re “putting in a good word in for me” or if they’re (not so) subtly chastising me for being other than they think I should be.

And then sometimes I don’t think anything.

I just say “Thank you”.

I have an example of someone offering prayer in a way/for a reason I find obnoxious!

My sister and her three younger kids (ages 3, 6 and 10) have been here visiting since last Sunday. Today her two older boys (ages 18 and 23) came down to see her and their siblings, and we all had dinner together. After dinner, I asked the 18-year-old if I could see his new tattoo. It’s a really awesome piece that his father’s brother is doing for him. It’s on his left side, armpit to the bottom of his ribs. It looks like ripped open skin with broken ribs underneath and demons trying to crawl out. It’s seriously badass.

While I was looking, my sister (WHO HAS A TATTOO) was spouting off with all kinds of “Why would you do that to your body?” crap, and I was getting pretty annoyed with just that. But then she actually saw it. She turned to the younger three kids and said “We need to be praying for him.” And then with all the holier-than-thou arrogance she could muster, she looked back to the older kid and assured him, “We’ll pray for you.”

I wanted to punch her in the throat.

Pray that someone else punches her in the throat, so that you don’t get charged with assault.

@MacBean Lol. What the heck? Pray for someone for having a tattoo? So weird.

@casheroo: Well, he is OBVIOUSLY a DEEPLY TROUBLED young man who needs to be SAVED and would only benefit from the influence of JAY-ZUZ and the church!

No. It does not bother me at all, since most people who say it will not do the praying. Many of these people are phonies sometimes. This is something I have learned from experience. I feel comfortable with how my spiritual journey has evolved. As a result, I am not phased by such sayings. Additionally, depending on how this term is used in a sentence (depending on its context), I find it quite amusing at times.