Since my diagnosis with oral cancer (still waiting for scan to confirm extent, stage, etc) i've only mentioned it to a very limited number of people.
A number of those people have either offered to pray for me, or told me that they'll be praying for me.
Personally i'd rather they saved their time, and breath, for something more useful. My partner is a Christian, and if praying helps her feel better about the situation i've no problem with her doing so, but the thought of strangers in the church community saying prayers to a non-existant god about my illness really just seems odd.
Is there a polite way to decline these kind offers. Don't get me wrong - i fully appreciate that they are doing what they feel is the right thing and I dont want to appear ungrateful for their kind thoughts. But if someone's going to spend 5 minutes saying a prayer for me, i'd rather they spent that 5 minutes picking up litter, feeding a hungry child, or doing something else that will actually have a positive effect on the world.
My partner's aunt is actually going to the effort of driving all the way to the church (apparently its open for private prayer) to pray for me. I'm not an eco-warrior by any stretch of the imagination (i drive a big thirsty 4x4) but it does seem a waste of fuel.
Ironically, "prayer" is one of the things that led to me becoming an Atheist. If a god is so conceited that he wants people to spend their sunday mornings on their knees in church telling him how great he is, then frankly I wouldn't want to believe in him anyway ;)
