This sort of attitude actually played a huge part in my realizing that I was an atheist when I was 16 years old.

I attended private Baptist schools until high school, when money issues dictated that public school would have to suffice from then on.

While I was attending those private Christian schools, I often either played on sports teams or rooted other teams on.

We invariably prayed that God would help us win, sometimes adding on, "if that is Your will."

Even at the tender age of 13, I realized how theologically ridiculous those prayers were. I realized that the other schools we were playing were also private Baptist schools. I realized that they were ALSO praying for God to help them win.

I might have been of a tender age, but I wasn't stupid, like many of my teachers and coaches obviously were.

I even brought it up with one of the leaders of my school, at one point. I asked him why he could think that God would favor one of two sports teams, both of which were praying to him.

He had no sensible answer, and yet he all but ridiculed my "lack of faith."

Since then, after much reading and thinking about prayer, I realize that it's philosophical and theological nonsense. It's magical thinking. It's pure ignorance and stupidity.

It's people asking their fairy godmother to grant them wishes.

Understanding how ridiculous that is is part of what helped me reject Christianity.

And good for me, since I'm gay, and accepting Christianity at that time would have meant accepting my moral condemnation.

In most of Christianity today, that's still the case.

So I comfort myself that Christians are ignorant and stupid enough to believe in prayer, so the rest of their beliefs must be absolute ignorant garbage too.