On Aug 16, 4:06 pm, "P. Rajah" <u... at (no spam) newsguy.com> wrote:
ranjit_math... at (no spam) yahoo.com wrote:
On Aug 8, 8:35 pm, hari.ku... at (no spam) indero.com wrote:
"Would you say thatprayeris another form?"
It can be in some examples.
"In what examples are astrology (consulting astrological diviners) and
prayer (imploring invisible beings) not superstitions?"
In the first case truth claims about the way sky patterns in the
physical universe are said to affect human events is evoked. This falls
within the purview of the process of science to confirm or not. To date
it fails to be confirmed.
The second involves the divine, for those who accept same, which can not
by process of science be confirmed. I have heard it said that divine
always responds to requests, sometimes it is "yes" and sometimes "no"
and sometimes "not now". Free will of divine is not bound by any
principles that can by science be tested.
What is accepted on faith can not be confirmed or not confirmed in
science such as can astrology with its physical universe truth claims.
Superstition relates to claims about irrational and illogical claims
about physical universe. Science is the test of same. Claims of divine
can not be so tested by science and to that extent does not fall within
category of superstition.
I said "prayer", not "divine". That is, do any deities that might
exist pay any attention to people's prayers?
Does anyone claim that prayer is a science? Astrology claims to be a
science.
The science of prayer and healing:
http://www.healingtherapies.info/prayer_and_healing.htm
