An Atheist’s Open Letter to Those Praying for His Son

[moriah]

38. You actually think his "quote" was alledging that was their actual words?

Give me a break.

Look, it's about the fact that most Christians aren't hateful bigots, and when they see a sick baby, they want to reach out to the family to say they care. The way they are most used to doing that is by saying the family is in their prayers.

If people are offended by a simple attempt at a gesture of goodwill, it speaks more to their own issues than to the person trying to say "Hey, I care about you."

Edit: And as for my personal experiences, forgive me. I was raised far more in the 12 Step Program world than any church, and the proper way to communicate about issues in meeting is not to state a judgment or tell people what to do, but to offer your own experience, strength, and hope. I have a tendency to do that in regular conversation on sensitive issues to avoid directly saying "You are making a mistake" -- even if I think they are -- by instead saying why in my experience doing the same thing has been a mistake.

YMMV.