Do you think religions that tell you to pray to a deity actually makes any sense?

>>17862593 (OP)
No, and I hate to steelman abrahamtards, but I think the Abrahamic justification for this is that prayer is a way to win Gods favor and show him that you believe in him so he can reward you in the form of "making things right" as a test per se

>>17862593 (OP)
The pagan ones that make it pretty clear that ritual action has an effect on the material world, absolutely. For the Abrahamic religions? No, not theologically. But practically? Yes.

>So we just need to do what god says?
>No, god doesn't say anything to you, you have to do what *I* say.
Nice try, mossad.

>>17862593 (OP)
Yes. Prayer isn't primarily about requests on how to arrange matters. It's a living relationship.

>>17862610
>>17862596
So he creates problems just so you can grovel?

Why does he act like a spiteful ex girlfriend lol

>>17862615
>>living relationship
>grovel
Huh?

>>17862615
It's meant to be a test
Why would an all-knowing God even need to test people if he already knows the outcome?
I dunno, and to be frank neither to Abrahamtards

>>17862620
Why does a calculator need to have buttons if it already has all the answers programmed into its logical circuits?

>>17862623
Because the people expected to use the calculator don't know the answer. The calculator itself doesn't "need" buttons per se

>>17862629
So now do you understand why the test is actually for your benefit instead?

>>17862634
No I don't because a calculator doesn't have any agency while God does so this comparison doesn't make any sense

>>17862637
God is the expression of pure idealized agency just like a calculator is the expression of pure idealized numerical logic.

>>17862593 (OP)
Yes. Humans are finite beings and our existence is finite. He hold onto permanence as a sense of coping mechanism to escape the finite reality. Powerful deity is one mechanism to uphold our life. Another is be extremely hedonistic or materialistic which are external permanence fixation. Only timeless/durable coping mechanism is ethereal/immaterial, aka God/deity of your choice. Since god is ethereal/immaterial, people of all kinds can picture God in their own image and fit to their needs. All you need to do is add in bit of standard ethics and you get a foundational principle that is pretty durable across ages. Meanwhile, houses, cars, hookers, drugs, booze, etc dont last. Even family/friends dont last, so God provides the best coping mechanism to uphold the daily lives of those who worship him.

Ofc thats not to say God exist, god is right, god is better, etc. In fact, I think the chase for God is delusional, just like the chase for material goods and hedonism in general. But for practical reasons, God has useful functions to keeping society running, for now. Personally, as a Buddhist, I dont buy into either. The foundations for a good living isn't God, but our mind. And not a mind and not a mind that is just a substitute but a mind that is functional only in sofar as it has a purpose of being living. A strong mind that that can bypass the coping in a finite world without delusion about permanence leads to clarity/serenity/omniscience of sense.