Praying (preying?) season

I wish to ask you something and particularly to the believer who accidentally ends up here:

Can you explain to me the concept of praying? PLEASE!

I am 30, come from France and lived in the UK Including Belfast), Germany and I am now in Switzerland. I am a doctor in chemistry and received a catholic education. I was baptised only a few weeks old and did 3 the communion sacraments. I was always there more to be like most people rather than by strong conviction but the death of my grand mother when I was 15 triggered the freeing from the religious ideas. I am now strongly against the philosophy of most known religions (those I know about anyway and in particular the religions attached to a revealed book). I have recently read a good chunk of the bible (could not bring myself to read the whole thing, I was too disgusted) and did pretty much the same with the coran. Now that you have a rough idea of where my reflection is coming from, I'll start.

The roman catholic community has just been through a very important stage, the pope died and a new one was designated. This event was (too?) widely covered by European media bringing a chill done my spine regarding the influence of the Vatican and its worldwide organisation. The population, whatever their convictions could be, was repeatedly called to pray for the dying pope during the last days of his life, after his death and then praying to the new pope. I found this most indecent. I now wish to give and receive other people's ideas on the concept of praying.

The pope, head of the church, is allegedly the person the most closely connected to the catholic god. This god is, according to the bible, almighty, all-knowing and timeless. Who would have a better seat to take care of everything on Earth? But no, people are called to pray, ask for favours to the entity that sees, can and knows all to a much better extend than the poor mortal organic-based living species we are. How much pretentious do you have to be? What makes you believe that the superior being cares about you plea. Even if he does, who are prayers to think that they know better, or that they may have been overlooked by the perfect creator?

This disgusts me.

Does the pope need extra praying for their god to be influenced? Does not their god know exactly what must happen, and has he not known this for ever? The same goes for the new pope, why pray for him, for him to go in the good direction? Is he not a bit special so that their god guides him properly? I had always been revolted by sportsmen signing themselves at the beginning, during or at the end of a performance (who are they to thing they deserve special attention from their "just and loving" god (I may have to come back to that in a future testimony...) when so many people, including some far more religious and dedicated than them, suffer and die for no reason? But trying to enslave the masses by asking them to pray and submit, this goes too far.

Where is the voice of realism? I do not know and have been called intolerant, even racist when exposing this view.

Such hypocrisy...

Alex
Collombey
Switzerland
grandbarbu at yahoo dot com