One of the practical problems with religion is that the various gods have not left too many tools for their followers to use. Sure, followers can think, talk and write, but when it comes to achieving something, there’s not a whole lot that has been implemented by their deity. That is why many religions have invented the concept of prayer.

Prayer has been sold as a means of establishing a direct communication channel between a person and their god, and people are encouraged to pray regularly – for all sorts of outcomes and causes. For some reason it is considered poor form to pray to the god of a different faith.

It is estimated that up to 100 billion people have lived in the previous 6,000 years and it is reasonable to believe that a fair chunk of those have prayed to their deity of choice every day for years and years and years. Do you know how many of those trillions of prayer events have been proven to have resulted in an altered outcome for the prayee? None.

On the contrary, it has been scientifically proven that (at best) prayer achieves nothing, and (at worst) can actively damage people. Yep, you read that right (click the button below for more details).