I keep hearing that praying is a wonderful thing. Praying for this or that to happen; praying for this or that to not happen. Etc. But if you think about it, praying -- if it indeed became effective -- is the utmost act of evil: If a god were to grant your prayer, and reset the rough determinism of the universe because of it, then a chain reaction from the onset of the granting of that prayer would be set in place that makes significant changes throughout the universe in the future, causing some people to die who would not have died, some people to experience pain that would not have been endured otherwise, some people to undergo great material loss, etc. Even praying for something "good" (Please Dear God, let my mom live!), or self-sacrificial (Please, God, please take me rather than my child!) will cause death and destruction to many others that will be latter-day innocent victims of the granting of that prayer. And so, praying for a god to do something -- anything -- to alter the prevailing deterministic path of the universe is the most grotesque act of greed at the expense of another human being[s] imaginable. It is thus the most heinous act of hate imaginable.

But wait, you say, "God, in his most infinite wisdom, is wise enough to re-set the workings of the universe to re-maximize happiness and goodness -- the world will be a net better place after my prayer is granted because He will make sure that those other people will be taken care of nicely, too." Really? So what you're saying is that your god wasn't so wise after all -- that It thought It had goodness and happiness all maximized, but your prayer got It to realize Its earlier oversight, and do a more perfect job of maximizing goodness and happiness for all in the future (that coincidentally grants your seemingly selfish (or selfless) prayer?). And if this god does indeed have this power, which must encompass the ability to see every detail of the future, including the free-will decisions of everyone in the future, why did your god not see your prayer in the very beginning of time, consider its consequences in the future unfolding of the universe, and grant it from the very beginning (because the prayer's inclusion in the plan will maximize goodness and happiness)?

So you see, the act of praying is a greedy and evil request, and if the god had any sense of decency, would reject any and all prayers. What's more, a person with the expectation of acquiring the objective of the prayer is asking the god to perform a net act of evil (causing harm to others). The prayer also assumes that the god is a little stupid or neglectful of Its duty to maximize the happiness and goodness of those who It deems is deserving of such, and that the person doing the praying actually thinks he might be a little smarter than the god by the very act of suggesting that there might be a superior model of happiness and goodness than what the god has in store for the future. The person doing the praying is smarter than the god -- wow, you can't get any more arrogant than that!

Stamp out evil: stamp out praying!

PS Dear God, could you please have the 49ers win the Superbowl next year? Lord, hear my prayer.