Restaraunt gives discount for praying

[Cecilie1200]

Because religion, at its heart, is about belief. As a former non believer I can tell you categorically that non believers do not understand religion on a level that is necessary to discuss it knowledgeably.

It is a bit like getting advice on sex from a virgin.

Point not proven, at all. You have no basis beyond ipse dixit to declare the atheist who examined a religion and rejected it, did not do so because he examined it more thoroughly than you did.

Moreover, if you were a "nonbeliever" (a hopelessly unworkable term but we'll mirror it for now) and then progressed to "believer" --- how do you know you won't further progress back to "nonbeliever" given further wisdom?

A virgin by definition has no sex experience. That analogy fails.

He can examine it as long as he likes, doesn't mean he understands how it works for people that actually believe. There is plenty of evidence that religion makes a difference in people's lives. Denying that makes you a person that ignores reality in favor of personal beliefs, AKA a closed mind.

A person who does not belief has no experience with religion, all they have is book knowledge, not experience. I read a lot about sex before I ever had it. Trust me, book knowledge does not cover sex even slightly. The same applies to religion, and nothing you can say will change that.

Anyone who thinks learning about a religion you don't believe in for the purposes of cherrypicking verses to attack the religion is the same as learning about a religion you believe in for the purposes of applying it to your life is a fucking moron.

Period.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Matthew 6:5-6New International Version (NIV)

Prayer
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.


I love telling Christian's what's in their Bible.

Newsflash: There is a difference between saying grace over food and what that verse is talking about. I would explain it to you, but you already have all the answers because you are a close minded bigot who never listens to anyone but people that reinforce your own bigotry. I feel pity for idiots like you.

Spoken like a true Christian! ROFL!

Spoken like someone who still thinks impressing him matters to someone.

Here, let me say this for you and get it over with: Oh, noes! I have not met anukulardecider's standards for how I should be a Christian! Oh, woe is me! Whatever shall I do to acquire his oh-so-important approval of how I practice my religion which he does not share with me?!

Since you have piss for brains, I'm sure the sarcasm dripping off of that and puddling on your shoes will go right past you, and you will therefore be pleased as punch in the continuingly erroneous belief that your opinion on Christianity is of equal value to a fart in a wind tunnel.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Just a news flash, if you followed the link in the OP you would know that the restaurant was asked that question, and that they had no problem with giving the discount to Muslims, or any other religion, because the idea is to foster gratitude, not religion. ...

Here's a news flash backatcha: I read the linked story in the OP of Unkotare's thread -- you know, the one that was merged with your thread. It said nothing about Mary's response to the flack that arose from the story going viral. The reply you quoted was posted prior to the merger.

As I've now stated in this thread, I have no problem with the practice, as long as it's applied equitably.

How can such a policy be applied to atheists? An atheist doesn't pray, and in fact finds the practice repugnant and offensive.

By applying this practice to all religions, the owners of this discriminatory diner have announced to the wyrld that they hate enlightened atheists, such as mysylf, and the substantially less-enlightened agnostics who still cling to the irrational belief that there might be some all-knowing, omniscient being out there. They deserve to be shut down, in place of the bigoted bakery that hates Homosexual-Americans.

Why SHOULD they apply it to atheists, to everyone, or to anyone they don't care to? What is it with you meddling assholes and your idea that you have a right to things from private citizens?

There are already a number of groups in society who don't pay as much in restaurants as I do: children under 5, senior citizens, active-duty military, people whose birthdays happen to be that day . . . So what? Unlike some people, I don't feel a right to know about and micromanage what's happening at other tables in the restaurant.

Just a tip, loser: maybe people don't hate you for your atheism, "enlightened" or otherwise. Maybe they hate you because they're acquainted with you. Personally, I'd charge you an extra 15% just for the unforgivable offense of being yourself in public.

Consider yourself "enlightened", Sparkles.

 

[Cecilie1200]

How can such a policy be applied to atheists? An atheist doesn't pray, and in fact finds the practice repugnant and offensive.

I don't think this is necessarily true.

I'm an atheist, and I don't find prayer offensive or repugnant. I might find it silly and maybe even sometimes awkward but offensive? Nah, they do what they do and I do what I do, whatever.

I guess that makes you a fake atheist--a fathiest, to coin a term.

Oh, by the way, you're still existing. You might want to fix that.

 

[Cecilie1200]

This restaurant doesn't advertise this discount; are they not therefore charging everybody they don't see praying 15% more than those they do?

It isn't "giving your own money away" anyway. It's on the bill; they haven't been paid yet.



On the contrary it's the same thing expressed in reverse. See above.

*sigh* Just how many years did you spend on the short bus, anyway?

There are laws against hidden charges. There are no laws against "hidden discounts". Even you should be able to figure out why that is, and extrapolate the difference from there.

As for "haven't been paid yet", what's that got to do with anything? Confusing money and currency is only one step above choosing a nickel over a dime because it's bigger. Just because they haven't received the currency for the bill doesn't mean they aren't giving their money - expressed in this case as the product they're selling for less than they could have gotten - away.

It must really suck being a leftist. I don't think I could stand being that obtuse.

None of which addresses my argument, but I accept your concession since I know you need to change that diaper.

So what you're saying is that it was more than five years on the short bus? I'm sorry to hear that.

 

[LuckyDuck01!]

I wonder if they'd be nice enough to give that discount to someone praying to satan. If not, that would be an establishment discriminating against a religious belief.
As two studies involving patients in hospitals being prayed for (and not), demonstrated that those being prayed for by their church, had a poorer outcome than those who didn't have a church praying for them and thus demonstrating that prayer simply doesn't work, maybe the discount should be for those who don't pray, since it just takes up more table time at the restaurant.

 

[Capstone]

This post is just ... bizarre. ...

Oh, I agree wholeheartedly! That post (#124) IS bizarre. I'll go ahead and give you credit for admitting it upfront, though.

What, you've never stopped for a meal while passing through or visiting another major metropolitan area in your own home state?

First, had you bothered to break down and read the first fucking post I made in this thread (post 3 here), you would have seen where I said I do exactly that, which is how I know Mary and her restaurant.

It was literally the second sentence I posted in this thread, dude. Read much?

I didn't bother to go back and read every post in this thread immediately after the merger took place, because I felt obliged (don't ask me why) to first respond to your reply to one of my pre-merger posts.

However daunting a two-hour drive (4 to 6 hours there and back, meal included) might seem to you, pointing out the distance between Asheville and Winston-Salem doesn't seem very compelling to me as a reason not to make that little road-trip for the sake of interacting with some of the players in this national story.

And second, Asheville and Winston Salem are 145 miles apart, not a "reasonable driving distance". Much as I love Mary's, I don't jump in the car and drive two hours for breakfast. If I lived in Asheville (which I once did) it would be even further.

Well, although I'm presently living in south-eastern Ohio, I grew up in California about 3 hours from San Fran and close to 8 hours from Disneyland, so my perspective could be a little off-kilter; but leaving from Asheville at 6 AM in order to be back home by 11 or 11:30 AM doesn't seem the least bit prohibitive to me. Again, not just for breakfast, but for a shot at making a few more ripples in an already big-time story or maybe just for the chance to meet some of the people involved. It's not like I'm condoning a daily commute here.

...As for "out-of-staters", Virginia is closer than Asheville. So is South Carolina. ...

You don't saaay. Are there any well-known hubs along the borders of those states (or within a 145 mi. radius of the restaurant) that might rival The Pagan Mecca of the Southeast?

...And third, there is no "satanist religion". That's a joke, and you're the butt. ...

Just for the sake of argument, and possibly much to the consternation of any self-avowed Satanist who may be reading this (whether theistic or LaVeyan), I’ll concede the point that there is no “satanist religion”. Would you further deny the status of ‘religion’ to organized Wicca or to any other 'earth-based' path with roots in one or more of the ancient Celtic religions?

...Oh. I see, you read it on the internets therefore it's real.

Not at all. It's just that I’ve interacted with sincere believers in theistic Satanism, as well as those more in tune with the precepts and principles of Anton Lavey and the official Church of Satan, so I know that Diane Vera’s work is largely right on the money.

...Paganism has nothing to do with "Satan". …

Sorry, but your close-minded adherence to false ideas doesn’t make them any less false.

…Satan is a Christian invention. …

Yes, and? -- Would you feel less skeptical about the existence of satanic religionists if everyone started calling them Satanic Christians? – Because I, for one, would be fine with that.

Incidentally, the term “pagan” is also a Christian invention.

From here

[. . .] In the West, we have these various words: pagan, Christian, and atheist. In the eyes of some Christians, all who do not worship their God are pagans and outsiders. This is an indication of the weight that Christians give to the refusal to believe their doctrine. An interesting fact is that the term 'atheist' was first used by 'pagans' to describe Christians. Because adherents of the old religion were very pious, if someone refused to make even a tiny offering to the Gods, they were called atheists because the Christians did not believe in the Gods of the ancestral tradition. [2]
One thing is quite certain. The first use of the word pagan in antiquity referred to worshipers of the ancient Gods, the Hellenic Gods in particular, of the Roman Empire. Jonathan Kirsch in his book God Against The Gods says
" 'Pagan' is a word invented by early Christians to describe anyone who refused to recognize the Only True God, and no self-respecting pagan ever described himself as one." [3]
Therefore, our tradition has more "claim," so to speak, to this term than any religion or sect, whether the word is desirable or not. According to Robin Lane Fox in Pagans and Christians, it was the Christians who first used the term to refer to the adherents of the old tradition:
"Pagani were civilians who had not enlisted through baptism as soldiers (Latin: milites) of Christ against the powers of Satan." [4]
The word pagan comes from the Latin paganus. [1] According to Pierre Chuvin:
"A paganus is the inhabitant of a pagus, a country district, a man whose roots, unlike a soldier's, are where he lives." [5]
Further, Chuvin goes on to say that pagans are those who
"preserved their local customs, whereas the alieni, the 'people from elsewhere,' were increasingly Christian." [6]
So, from Chuvin's idea, we see another dimension, not unlike the idea of ethnic, rather than a condescending concept. Yet he states that the use of the term is consistently pejorative. [1] […][emphasis Capstone’s]

I guess pagan religions must be non-existent too, right? ...J/K.

…it's the height of ignorance to first invent your own devil and then hang it on those competitors who threaten you. Nothing new here; that's what Christianism did by inventing Saul Alinksy in the first place. Uh, I mean Lucifer. Whatever. That's still got absolutely nothing to do with anything here.

Unless, of course, someone foolishly espouses that any religious ideologies born of embracing the devil so nefariously created by Christendom …are non-existent by default, which seems to be what you’re arguing.

…Again, "Satan" is a Christianism invention; pagans don't believe in it. "Satanism" is satire based on that silliness, and you're apparently too shallow to process it….

What you’re apparently too shallow to process is that there are several schools of thought in play among many self-proclaimed Satanists. Not all of them follow the satirical dictates of Anton LaVey.

…Mary (the proprietor here) is herself one of those pagans -- except you're still in the wrong city altogether. WS is further from Asheville that Philadelphia is from Washington DC. How many Philadelphians do you know that traipse down to DC just for breakfast? Do you imagine Asheville has no restaurants?

Probably not too many “just for breakfast”, but I’m pretty confident that quite a few have made that trek for other reasons.

Regarding The Pagan Mecca of the Southeast:

…--- a phrase YOU brought in, a metaphorical phrase anyway, in reference to another unrelated city that's nowhere near this restaurant, and now when you've been called on geographical head-up-the-ass ignorance you're spinning like a Maytag on Monday….

What “spin” would that be exactly?

In-state or out, name another world-renowned hotspot for Paganism (in its myriad of forms, including a few Satanic ones) that’s as close or closer to the diner than Asheville.

…A friend and I once got in a car in western NC and drove to the ocean. It took us literally all day. Even where I live I'm further west than Cleveland. So the fact that two places both exist in North Cackalackee doesn't in any way mean they're in "reasonable traveling distance" of each other. Dumbass.

It’s all a matter of perspective. I’ve done more traveling than the average Joe, both professionally and for my own private purposes, so my sights are probably wider than most. However, I don’t feel that driving for 2 and a quarter hours with the right goal in mind is in any way unreasonable.

I’m always happy to agree to disagree with folks like you, though.

…And fourth, the restaurant and its staff are more pagan than anything else, which means they would welcome anything. They're certainly not conventional types....

That’s good to hear, but it doesn’t seem to account for the unhappiness of some of the workers.

What? Now you want to discuss the topic? I can't keep up...

You can say that again.

 

[SteadyMercury]

I guess that makes you a fake atheist--a fathiest, to coin a term.

Nah since I used the commonly accepted definition of one who doesn't believe in God., not whatever personal pet definition of the serial victim types where one is also required to be offended if others do.

Live and let live.

 

[Katzndogz]

It's a wonder liberal atheists haven't burned the place to the ground by now.

 

[Capstone]

...I have no problem with the practice, as long as it's applied equitably.

How can such a policy be applied to atheists? An atheist doesn't pray, and in fact finds the practice repugnant and offensive. ...

For anyone who feels that way and also frequents the diner, those feelings seem like the perfect justification to take up the habit of engaging in a moment of quiet contemplation -- head bowed, elbows on the table, hands clasped together -- during which he or she could think about the wonders of science or something. Just make sure the waitstaff is watching. Not to "game the system", but to legitimately fulfill one or more of its creator's stated purposes! Remember, according to the diner's owner, it's about the appearance of quiet respectfulness, not religion.

If you were terribly worried that someone from the scientific community laugh might spot you while your head's bowed, you could always have some t-shirts made up with enormous Darwin fish logos, front and back.

 

[itfitzme]

Religion haters are too stoopid and blinded with hate to just go in there and fake a fuckin' prayer for the discount!

Or they actually act on morals rather than just pretending.

You are a bit clueless.

 

[sameech]

I never expected my favorite breakfast restaurant to show up on USMB. Thanks for posting it. Haven't been there in several weeks.

As they say there: "Mary's --- you've had worse things in your mouth"

Nothing like a southern back-handed compliment. I haven't been to Winston in years. The last time I went I think was to see some KISS cover band at some club down there. I just really really hate driving on 40 from Gboro west. I go to Greensboro periodically though. There is some barbecue place in either Thomasville or maybe High Point that is really good but I cannot recall the name of it to save my life. It is somebody's name, like Frank's or Bob's or something like that.

 

[SteadyMercury]

It's a wonder liberal atheists haven't burned the place to the ground by now.

Oh yeah, historically far more violence has come from the non-religious.

 

[Care4all]

The Restaurant may have their heart in a good place with this gesture of theirs, but it truly is not what God teaches us about prayer being done in private, and they are encouraging others to pray "for money" and for "show", whether they realize this or not.

Which goes AGAINST God's instructions in the Bible.

That's just my opinion on it...

Otherwise, I am fine and dandy with this restaurant's decision to do this, whether a promotional gimmick or true felt good gesture....it's up to them, not me to decide for them.

 

[dblack]

There's a difference between taking someone's money, and giving your own money away.

Which is not to say that they can't charge for anything they want, so long as it's posted and people are aware of incurring that charge beforehand. I believe it's actually illegal in every state to charge people for something you didn't tell them you were going to charge for ahead of time.

This restaurant doesn't advertise this discount; are they not therefore charging everybody they don't see praying 15% more than those they do?

It isn't "giving your own money away" anyway. It's on the bill; they haven't been paid yet.

That would not be the same circumstance at all, but I suppose I would simply not take my business to that restaurant.

On the contrary it's the same thing expressed in reverse. See above.

*sigh* Just how many years did you spend on the short bus, anyway?

There are laws against hidden charges. There are no laws against "hidden discounts".

I'm not sure what Pogo was getting at, but I don't think the hypothetical (of a restaurant charging a surcharge for people who prayed) implied any hidden charges. Just as the discount for praying at the restaurant in the OP wasn't hidden. And as long as there was no deception involved, I don't see how it would be any different.

If you're focused on the distinction between difference between a surcharge and a discount, how about if the atheist restaurant offered a discount for people who refrained from praying? Would you agree that that would be, essentially, the same sort of policy?

 

[JOSweetHeart]

If you are praying to receive a discount on your breakfast you are doing it for the wrong reasons.

Amen.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I wonder if they'd be nice enough to give that discount to someone praying to satan. If not, that would be an establishment discriminating against a religious belief.
As two studies involving patients in hospitals being prayed for (and not), demonstrated that those being prayed for by their church, had a poorer outcome than those who didn't have a church praying for them and thus demonstrating that prayer simply doesn't work, maybe the discount should be for those who don't pray, since it just takes up more table time at the restaurant.

I wonder why idiots don't read the links in the OP before they come in and say something stupid. Tell me, is it because you want to appear clever, or is it because reading is hard?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

It's a wonder liberal atheists haven't burned the place to the ground by now.

Oh yeah, historically far more violence has come from the non-religious.

Good to see you admit it.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

The Restaurant may have their heart in a good place with this gesture of theirs, but it truly is not what God teaches us about prayer being done in private, and they are encouraging others to pray "for money" and for "show", whether they realize this or not.

Which goes AGAINST God's instructions in the Bible.

That's just my opinion on it...

Otherwise, I am fine and dandy with this restaurant's decision to do this, whether a promotional gimmick or true felt good gesture....it's up to them, not me to decide for them.

The restaurant policy has nothing to do with religion, but thanks for displaying your inability to read.

 

[LoneLaugher]

Hey Windbag.....be honest.

Why did you start this thread?