If you do not believe there is a God why would you drop to your knees and pray when someone you know is dying?

Answer 1

If you do not believe in a god you will not "drop to your knees and pray regardless." This is similar to the old saw that "There are no atheists in foxholes"

Atheists do not pray. Ever. If they prayed, they would not be Atheist. One who does not believe would have no one to pray to. It is a logical fallacy.

Answer 2

I do not know of any examples, but I do believe this is possible. Humans are wonderfully irrational beings and it is very possible for someone to act quite irrationally when faced with great sorrow. In this case, it would be irrational to pray to a God you know does not exist, but nevertheless it could provide some comfort to do so.

Answer 3

This is not a frequently observed behaviour in most people, let alone atheists. Such behaviour would imply that the "god" is willing to change the flow of the universe just for the person praying or because the person praying is so important that he can boss this "god" around. Neither assumption is likely.There is no known reason why a person who does not believe in a deity or afterlife would do this any more than a Christian would celebrate the birth of a child by bringing a goat to his wife's hospital room and sacrifice it to the Greek gods or ask Santa Claus to improve his mortgage because he has been good all year. Behaviour is generally culture driven. You do what your culture tells you is right or appropriate. For those who have to a set of thinking patterns that are called "atheist" there is no practice of suddenly abandoning your position to become a theist in the face of difficulties or unpleasantness.

At a deathbed an atheist as a realist may be sad, unhappy to be losing a friend, comforting or looking ahead to the tasks he will take up in the coming days for the funeral, supporting the family or contacting mutual friends. None of these are helped by dropping to his knees and praying.