Late night posting. I should go to bed.

I'm rather proud of myself, I achieved a fair amount and did it despite the awful pain I had through quite a bit of the day. :-)

Now I'm trying to figure out why mySQL isn't showing up on any list of processes; I know it's working - I can see the results, and phpMySQL is showing it working, but it's not on any list of stuff-that's-working-on-my-computer. No doubt it'll be something really stupid, like being in user mode, or something. Or it's there, and I'm just too tired to read. Could be that, too.

We're having a discussion about prayer over on that_forum_I_attend. :-) Here's my take on it all:

Whew. While I appreciate the sentiment, [someone had noted they prayed that others might find "Christ" Whoever the hell that is.] and the undoubted kindness in your praying those who are lost - I'm rather to happy to know I've always known exactly where I am. Not always in a literal sense (hence my phone call, a few years ago while I was trying to find LAX, to the Mrs, back in NY, where I asked her: where am I? ), but always in a spiritual sense.

I'm not spiritual - I'm very literal about the world, the universe and the rest of it - and I really don't comprehend spirituality in others. I criticize it, though, not because I don't understand it - I criticize it because I think it's incorrect. Even in my darkest moment - I never once doubted my atheism. I had an argument with the doctor about god [capitalization is deliberate] - and I wasn't sure if she would approve my release. But I wasn't going to pretend; my freedom from her preconception and beliefs was more important to me than anything - at that moment. (Would I do the same, again? Oh, you'd better believe I would!) In the end, I was released; with the doctor and social worker almost shouting "Believe!" at me.

To me, praying for someone is a bit like wishing them well - without the overt statement. It's akin the "positive vibes" thing. I'm also a bit put out by it - there is an implication that maybe I can't get out of some situation all on my lonesome - that divine intervention is required, somehow. I've retrieved myself from some fairly precarious situations by relying upon my own wit. But that's the negative sentiment, the "don't bother doing anything for me!" bit of me poking through.

But I do appreciate the concern, however mistaken I think it is. I would ask that you not consider me "lost" in any particular manner, though. It's too pitying for my taste. And the last thing I ever want, or need, is pity. ...

But that's not right is it? After all - they have a fundamental political right to pray for whomever they want, or not. God, assuming the critter exists, has a right to listen, or not. Let's not forget that the right to speak is not synonymous with the imposition to listen. :-) God could listen, or not - so far, I think it's not paying more attention to its iPod than the prayers of its believers.

Most joking aside - if someone says they are going to pray for you, I think it's actually a bit of a compliment. It's a misguided sentiment, but hey - who am I to scold someone for being nice? Only Republicans, and those on the Far Left, seem to like doing that.

Basically, if someone wants to pray for you - who cares? Certainly not a non-existent critter. But it's nice to know that someone cares enough that they want to send the religious equivalent of "positive vibes" to you. :-)

It's when it devolves into pity that it becomes a problem. Personally, I've never been one for pity. It's a wasted emotion; it's also a potentially destructive one. Falsely recovering addicts rely on it; they ply the Subway and the Tube, relying on you pitying their sorrowful plight for their next fix. Keep your pity, thank you very much.

I did come across this, via Gatochy's Blog. Or, rather, I came across Gatochy's blog, and this was mentioned. :-) (Semantics, m'dear...) "Dating Non-Christians: Forbidden Fruit's Appeal" Oh my. Whatever next? Interracial marriage? Men marrying men? Cats and dogs having it off behind the woodshed? Oh my - the world will veritably end. Well, maybe it won't. We do have to look on the positive side of all this, don't we, dear? The depths of human foolishness continue to astound me - even though, at this point, it shouldn't.

(When I last looked, they were advertising some book called "High is the Eagle" My first thought was to wonder what it was smoking... Oh well. I'm destined for that Fundamentalist Hell, anyway. I might as well go there in style! :-) )

Isn't dogma a strange thing? Contemporary dogma is just oh so convenient, so simple and easy to understand. I think it's called "stupidity", myself. The old fashioned dogma of the centuries gone by posed some real questions: moral behavior versus burning the witch. The witch burning was popular, and it did bring in a few dineros... Maybe it's not quite as reprehensible as it appears? Thankfully, no one burns witches anymore. I'd be royally screwed, otherwise. At least I'd make sure it was a Designer Dress. :-)

Carolyn Ann