I'll pray for you

"I'll pray for you."

I see that a lot at atheoblogs. Some Christian commenter takes pity on the poor faith-free blogster during a debate and says, ever-so benevolently, "I'll pray for you." I'm going to copy & paste this in future:


Dear Christian,

Thanks for the offer of prayers to your god on my behalf. However, I must be honest and say that I don't want them, don't need them and I don't believe they'll be heard by anyone but you, much less acted upon. Your pity for me and my beliefs is misplaced, misguided and frankly offensive to my intelligence.

I must say I actually feel sorry for you, that you feel you must implore your gods for guidance or salvation or wisdom; or to bring others around to your point of view or intervene in some other miraculous way. It's a shame you rely on begging supernatural agents for assistance instead of using your brain to figure out your own problems & find your own solutions and to convince others yourself through the persuasive power of your own arguments. It's a slap in the face of the creator you worship that you keep coming back to them on your knees with problems and questions, rather than use the great capacity for intelligence you credit that same creator with.

But if you continue to pray for me anyway, despite my objections, rest assured that in return I'll think for you.