Hi Jim...
-> The wife and I have a Shih-Tzu that was a Pet Therapist. My wife used
-> to take the pup to hospitals, nursing homes, etc. The medical
-> profession doesn't know how _that_ treatment works, either, but it
-> does.
Maybe there's a cluster of alternative therapies, such as prayer, touch
therapy and pet therapy, that work because they allow us to feel
unconditionally loved.
-> ...I'm an atheistic agnostic. (And, yes, according to my dictionary I
-> _can_ be both.)
So your position is that we can't know whether or not there is a god,
and you yourself do not hold the belief that god exists?  I've wondered
what we have in mind when we say 'god'.  It could be very different for
different people.  The god that comes to mind for me is a nature spirit
that exists in everything for all time.  A lady I admire says 'god is
people being good to other people'.
I know that praying has brought me comfort and allowed me to be more
creative at understanding and solving my problems.  One explanation I've
considered for this is that praying sends a message to the unconscious
mind, that 'God' was invented to explain praying, and that religion was
subsequently invented to codify it all.  IOW, petitionary praying could
be effective whether or not god exists.
--- PCBoard 15.2
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