> > While, as an atheist, I necessarily believe that
>>prayer is ineffective...
>
> That depends on what you mean, exactly. While I
>would agree that an atheist must believe that
>prayer cannot have a supernatural effect, there
>have been many studies that show that hospital
>patients recover more quickly if they're being
>prayed for (more accurately, if they *believe*
>they're being prayed for).

I'm glad you put that parenthetical part in, because I'm pretty sure it's the only part that makes the statement true. In fact, to my knowledge and my admitedly cursory study of the subject, there are *no* good, scientific studies that show that prayer works any better than chance would expect. However, for a person who thinks he or she is being prayed for, and who believes at least in the possibility of such prayer working, then the placebo effect certainly can explain why it might seem to work in such cases.

-- Dave