[Hac-announce] Fwd: Tell AARP Magazine that older Americans aren't necessarily prayerful

[Halina Platt]

Dear HAC members,

If you are a member of AARP, you may have seen this one-sided, offensive or nonsensical article in the Feb/Mar edition, "The Paradox of Prayer".
Here is a way to respond:

Begin forwarded message:

From: "FFRF" <info at ffrf.org>
Date: April 17, 2015 5:18:10 PM EDT
To: Halina Platt <hplatt15 at gmail.com>
Subject: Tell AARP Magazine that older Americans aren't necessarily prayerful
Reply-To: "FFRF" <info at ffrf.org>


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Action Alert!

Tell AARP magazine: Prayer is not "primal"
April 17, 2014

Halina and Thomas,

The February/March 2015 issue of AARP magazine included an article entitled, "The Paradox of Prayer: A Pilgrimage," by Bill Newcott, which explores prayer across cultures and generations. Its inclusion in the magazine prompted Editor-In-Chief Robert Love to comment in the same issue, "I learned that prayer is a primal human instinct that crosses faiths and cultures, and extends even to those who don't believe in a personal God." He also claimed, "We older Americans are a prayerful people."

Love is mistaken. Prayer is not a primal instinct. Reliance on prayer is taught. Without learning religion, people naturally depend on themselves and each other instead of a higher power. Additionally, people who don't believe in a god also know that nothing fails like prayer. To insist that prayer extends to those who don't believe in a personal God is incorrect. It is desrespectful, if not absurd, to claim nonbelievers find meaning in prayer.

Several FFRF members who are subscribers to AARP magazine were irritated by the implication that they, too, pray. Sue, a member from Wisconsin, wrote to Love to say that she found his comments "offensive," stating, "it is bothersome to us nonbelievers when someone lumps everyone together," referring to his comment that older Americans are "prayerful."
Michael, a member from New Jersey, wrote the magazine to express his frustration at the article's inclusion in the first place. "If I wish to read proselytizing messages and articles, there are dozens if not hundreds of magazines, periodicals, and faith-based organizations of which I can avail myself."

To balance its coverage of religious issues, AARP magazine should consider reporting on the growing number of people who, when asked their religious preference, answer "none." These "nones" make up 21% of Americans according to a 2014 General Social Survey, which is on the rise from previous years. There are almost as many "nones" as there are Catholics (24%) in the United States, which is something the editor-in-chief at AARP Magazine should consider when selecting content.

CONTACT

Contact AARP Magazine Editor-in-Chief Robert Love at aarpmagazine at aarp.org or via USPS to: Letters, AARP The Magazine, 601 E ST. NW, Washington D.C. 20049. Tell him that prayer is not primal, and to remind him of the many non-believers who don't pray. Ask AARP to write about the growing number of non-religious Americans in its next issue. 

For maximum effectiveness, be succinct and polite in messages, and identify yourself as a constituent when relevant (not as a member of FFRF responding to this action alert). For obvious reasons, do not forward this action alert to the targeted officials. You may wish to send blind copies (using bcc: in your email) to FFRF at: action at ffrf.org.

TALKING POINTS

Feel free to copy any of the talking points above or below in your elector to email. If you are a member of AARP or are 50 or older, please mention that in your comments:

[I am a member of AARP/I am in the AARP age range.] As an atheist/agnostic/nonreligious reader, I do not pray and I found your prayer promotion insulting to me and to reason. Nothing fails like prayer. The number of unanswered prayers could fill the universe. I believe humankind should get off its knees and get to work, instead of pretending it can suspend the natural laws of the universe or alter reality through wishful thinking. Please devote at least 6 pages of an upcoming AARP magazine to the joy and freedom of relying on human ingenuity and of being a nonreligious senior citizen (21% of the US adult population).

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wis., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational charity, is the nation's largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics), and has been working since 1978 to keep religion and government separate.
 
			
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