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Not too long ago, I made a post about how I sometimes pray in times of great desperation or need. In fact, I realize how natural this kind of reaction is -- probably for everyone, regardless of their faith, religious background or lack there of. The concept of wishing and giving thanks is not at all abnormal to human behavior. It is a coping mechanism and a way to give ourselves the glimmer of hope and reassurance for the time being.
As an atheist, I used to assume the universe was somewhat conscious. Similar to the concept of a god, just remove the humanistic/male-like representation of his existence. Now, I perceive it as indifferent. I think my lack of belief has done nothing but increased my self-responsibility and illuminated my responsibility to and for humanity.
It seems that, as intelligent as we are, we are not very proactive or reactive. And, we take very little responsibility for humanity. We can fix large issues such as poverty and famine if…IF they were indeed a priority to us. There wouldn’t even be erratic homelessness in developed nations IF we indeed considered that unacceptable. If the quality of life of human beings were a priority, we would live and behave so differently.
We lack action. What replaces action? I think well-wishes and “good vibes”, prayers especially, is meant well. Yes, it is meant well, but a repercussion of laziness, privilege, and immunity. Similarly how white people can say things such as, “racism is over”. We do not experience the hardship first hand, therefore, I cannot relate, I cannot understand it, it does not exist. In cases where we do accept that these things are real and happening, we still somehow find ways to avoid action. Why is that? Instead of action, purely to benefit another, and to correct a problem, we find ways to instead make ourselves feel better, we find ways instead to benefit ourselves. Why is that?
It is phenomenons such as the “like, comment, share for prayers” on social media (Facebook in particularly), with almost mockery-like banter…which are photographs of disabled, sick, or DEAD persons. Instead of information about this person or child, instead of real attempts at philanthropy, we make a mockery of these individuals. I think it’s sick, to be honest. I think it’s a perfect example of how self-absorbed we are. It’s an example of how much we can deviate from a solution to make ourselves feel better. These posts in particular, which I hate, are only there to generate likes, comments and shares -- more than likely, in order to generate revenue. 
