keyser_soze

So I'm at work this morning, and I run into a woman who I've seen regularly for the last couple years. I remember back about a year and a half, she started exercising on her breaks, and she already worked a lot in her work. She also stopped the double orders of fries, etc. So you see her all the time walking, or climbing steps...You think, "great, good for her!".

You'd be wrong. We ran into each other in the hall, and I congratulated her, because she looked like she easily lost 80 pounds or more, and looked pretty fit. She thanked me, and we talked randomly about something or the other, idle chitchat. So I asked her what all she did to lose it so fast(I already knew she was working out like mad, but hey, I thought I'd giver her props for the work. She says: "Prayer!". She then went on for about 10 minutes how god had answered her prayers, and she had a lot of people praying for her. I stood there stunned. I mean, I'm thinking the whole time, "Gee, do you think it could have been the 3 or 4 hours of workout each day, and not eating crap?" I was dumbfounded, she actually believed that it wasn't all her hard work, it was her church praying for her. I am so totally awe-struck by the stupidity. Anyway, just needed to vent, because I think the world is losing to this crap....

Doctor X

Get use to it . . . a more rational one would reply that a god gave her the strength exercise. . . .

--J.D.

Rational BAC

Whatever works for losing weight is fine with me.

We have turned into a terribly obese nation. And that will cost us all BIG bucks in social remedies for our lack of willpower.

If she had said Satan made her lose weight-------fine with me.

keyser_soze

It was just shocking, that she is going to give over the credit for the work that SHE did, the endless exercise and self denial of food, to her church praying team. I mean, come on, who did the work?

Rational BAC

Some people are weak willed naturally.

Whatever outside force gave her a kick in the pants is fine with me. Whether it was Jesus, or Satan or Allah or Buddha or atheist concepts -----------what difference does it make really?

sakrilege

And who made her fat in the first place?? She probably blames herself for that but she can't take the credit for losing weight.

wade-w

RBAC, the point isn't that she gave her prayer or her god the credit for "giving her a kick in the pants". She didn't do that. She gave the credit for actually losing the weight to prayer. And that's just plain ridiculous.

Ojuice5001

Okay, first of all, the Christians have an understanding of metaphysics that allows understanding of which events are the work of god(s), but only if you approach it in the right way. Some Christians don't. And then, these ideas have to go through a naturalistic filter when being interpreted by a naturalistic atheist. This form of comparison between naturalistic explanations and supernatural theism is very common, but it's no more and no less meaningful than asking whether her condition of overweight was caused by heredity or environment.

Let me put it as simply as possible:

Weight loss is due to a lot of different factors. Hundreds of events that happen every day, and dozens of stable conditions in a person's life, affect weight loss and gain. Some of these events and conditions would have happened differently if not for the gods. Thus, the intervention of Yahweh is (likely to be) one of many factors in her weight loss.

But go on. Keep on saying that dietary habits are the cause of weight loss (which is true), and therefore divine intervention can't be (which does not follow). But to be consistent, you would have to be just as annoyed at the person who says, "I think this snap of cold weather helped me lose weight." I mean, they were adhering to a regimen of diet and exercise, so the reason for their weight loss couldn't have been the increase in heat loss through their skin, right?

Rational BAC

Wade---

Not ridiculous at all--

Weight loss is mind over matter. Whatever works is fine. If you think that moral atheist principles made you lose weight ---fine with me. If you believed that Satan made you lose weight --fine with me. If you believed that Jesus made you lose weight ------fine with me.


No matter how you did it, you are getting your fat ass off of the back of the commonly supported health care system in this country.

And that is a cause for rejoicing------religious or otherwise.

Ennazus

The Christian god doesn't have the inclination to cure AIDS and cancer, why should he bother with obesity? Besides, didn't god create fattening foods like Twinkies? Or allow them to be created? He should have smote the evil Twinkie man and banished cream filling from the earth. He got pissed off when Eve ate an apple, but lets his children eat deadly shit now?

Yahweh hasn't shown himself to care about anything except Grammy and Oscar winners. Oh, and sports scores, he cares about those too. Once my husband (atheist) screamed at the TV, "Oh God, let him hit the ball!", while Sammy Sosa was batting. God answered the atheist prayer and Sammy hit a homer!

Too bad the next time he prayed for Sammy, God said no and Sammy struck out . God must have been too busy blessing a Grammy nominee or something.