what am i suppossed to do if im athiest and im at a friends house and they make us pray at dinner?

im afraid they will ask y im not and im afraid it will hurt their feelings or somthing.

The only thing you can really do is politely tell them that you don’t practice their religion and that you’re not trying to be disrespectful, but you’d feel more comfortable if you didn’t participate in the prayer.

I had something like this happen to me before. I was doing community serivce at a soup kitchen and some of the volunteers wanted everyone to stand in a circle, hold eachother, and pray. One of them kept waving me over even after I said “No thank you.” so I said, “I don’t believe in God.” and he just looked sideways at me for a second and finally said, “That’s fine.” :D

ok, thanx!

You’re welcome. :)

Everytime im at a person house who does that i just sit with my hands in my lap and wait untill they finish their prayer. its kind of uncomfortable but ive never offended anyone by it.

i agree. if your involved in a situation like this then respect them by sitting there quietly. i mean you don’t want to be rude.

If they ask you to pray along, just say that you are uncomfortable with it. Otherwise just bow your head and wait till the prayer is finished. you don’t have to pray with them. Both my boyfriend and i am not religious and that is what we do when we are at a friend’s house who pray.

Atheism is not a religion, it’s a lack of religion- so you can’t be contradicting yourself! Is saying a little prayer really going to hurt you? No. Just pray with them- what’s the harm? If you kick up a fuss you’ll loose your friend.

Just wait for them to do their prayer and then eat. I noticed that around every large group before a feast there are a few of us just looking around acknowledging each other when all the believers are praying and when the prayer just goes on and on one of us might roll their eyes while the rest of try not to laugh. Since the believers are all busy groveling to their deity they have no idea..

I’m Pagan so when my Christian friends start to pray, I just sit there quitely . The first time, they asked why I didn’t pray and I politely explained that I didn’t believe in God and that I had no wish to participate in a prayer to Him. They just let me get on with dinner. I guess it really doesn’t matter what you believe. Just don’t eat half your dinner before telling them you’re a vegetarian and they’ve given you a meat dish. THAT’S uncomfortable :/

So one time i was at this friends house and i dont know what the heck their religion was but they stood up and started singing somethin and wavin their hands then prayed in some foreign language and i was all like wtf is this?? really, if you were there you would understand. it was dark in the room cuz they turned the lights off and it was damn horrible i was sittin thinkin id be some sacrifice or something. but i just tried to stay calm and not cry ;)

sit quitley as though you are praying, but you really don’t have to be

I know how it feels. From time ot time when I visited certian friends of mine I wound up going to church to please their family so they wouldn’t know. I always wound up feeling a bit aqward when praying, but I felt as though I would be disgracing their prayers & them if I didn’t, after all I was in their house, etc. Even in a choral group when we went to states & a person asked everyone to pray for her dead brother & we weren’t in anyone’s house just out infron of the motel. Usually I just keep silent & let them pray and try to mean it myself or at least look as though I am praying. Remember, you’re under their roof, in their home so try to be respectful. You don’t actually have to pray but if you have a feeling you wont be welcomed back if you don’t then at least look as though you are would be my advice.

It is very nice of you, Angelina, that you are so considered with the reactions of others on what you do. I believe that in itself would probably impress very much the parents of your friend for the good, with no need to pretend to be something you are not. It is just an opinion…

lomao thats funny

lol about the vegitarian thing that does sound uncomfortable i always think about that happening to me and i get really uncomfotable just thinking of it.

well you need to be reapectful , i am too but if im with family and such and we have to pray , i just look at my shoes and think about other stuff

Just out of respect pretend to pray. There is no harm in pretending. Or think about something you really want or want to do and never have got it.