GOD: An Imaginary friend?

by mankkeli 13 Replies latest jw friends

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  mankkeli

  Have you ever had that you couldnt sleep at night and that your mind starts racing thoughts? I had one of those nights and this is basically the fruit of it.

  Is God an imaginary friend? When children feel very lonely or misunderstood it can happen that a psychological survival system kicks in: the imaginary friend. It helps the child to cope with hard times and situations. It can provide friendship and comfort. Now I was thinking: can it be that God is the grown-up version of the imaginary friend? Life can be pretty hard, maybe the grown-up finds it hard to cope with life itself: is this all there is? Is there something or somebody behind all this? The reality that you are born, live your life and die is not very comforting. Also being in the middle of misery like war or pestilence can be pretty hopeless. At times like that maybe this same psychological survival mechanism kicks in, only this time it is a grown-up imaginary friend. One that is capable of providing comfort and love like a father figure. And is also capable of revenge. Imagine little toddlers having a fight, one runs to his daddy: "daddy, they are teasing me." (do something about that!) Now picture an ancient Hebrew watching his country burnt by invaders. He runs to his God, "daddy they are killing us, do something about that!" Now, the problem is that there is just as much proof for the existence of God as there is for the imaginary friend. No response from this being provokes elaborate rituals to reach it, and to please it, resulting in religion.

  I think that religion can be a source of comfort and can be beneficial at times. However I strongly feel that at one point one must grow-up so to speak and realise the imaginary friend to be what it is: a figment of the imagination. Then we have to face up to the problems like grown-ups. We can no longer hide under that blanket of protection. We do not run to daddy anymore to help us, hoping he will solve everything in the end. We realise that humans mostly cause the problems and that they will only be solved by human effort. We have to face up to reality.

  If you worship [enter deity of choice], ask yourself this: do I worship because I think this life cannot be all there is? Is it that the cold reality of life forces me into believing?

  What are your thoughts on this?
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  PSacramento

  My imagination isn't that good.
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  charlie brown jr.

  I think he is.....

  Glad I grew up!

  I miss our ......LOL (My) Talks!
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  OnTheWayOut

  As far as the belief in the God of the Bible goes, it pretty much must be something like what you say.

  As mankind evolved, he needed to be able to answer the questions, "How, why, who?" His gods were his answer. When the Hebrews were not blessed, they had to figure that either their god was weak or they let him down. They chose to believe that their god was more powerful than all other gods (which eventually led to there being "no other gods") so it must have been their own shortcomings that let their god down and they were conquered.

  "Daddy will avenge you eventually. Keep the faith."

  I am sure it was just as you say with "religion" forcing the issue. Conmen could make a buck off of this.
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  N.drew

  Maybe we are god's imaginary friends.

  Maybe the Jews are our imaginary friends. They seem to be teasing us.

  Time goes which way?
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  mankkeli

  I am fully aware that faith is no longer a warm blanket. It is like looking at a picture and suddely discovering the hidden image. Once this has happened you cannot see the image without seeing the hidden one. As soon as I saw through faith i knew I could never use it again to lull my mind, to ease it. It felt like suddenly realizing there is no Santa Clause or toothfairy. Once you know it you can't go back. Is that a shame? No, I feel more mature, more aware because of it. But yes, I sometimes envy people that still believe in God. It is nice thinking someone is looking after you. But no, I would not want to go back.
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  kazar

  When I first became "godless" I felt immense relief having freed myself from Watchtower theology. There were times I missed the comfort I felt that there was a God watching over me. But there is not way I would go back. The times I received "comfort" were very few. I found life is warm and comforting most of the time. Way more than the JW way of life.
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  charlie brown jr.

  In real life........

  if you had a friend that YOU always made the first move to talk....

  Or YOU always said Thank you to.

  Or YOU always talked to others about him

  YOU always felt unworthy of it's friendship

  YOU owed.....Everything to

  YOU could never understand or question things they did or didn't do....

  And many many more things..........

  Some Friend!
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  i_drank_the_wine

  It's just that God's track record is so poor and confusing! Will the real Slim Shady please stand up! Zeus? Jehovah? Buddha? Alah? Shiva/Brahma/Vishnu? Molech? Ba'al of Peor? Satan? Waheguru? Natalie Portman's ass? Yawhweh? Jesus? Which one of you is god at the moment?
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  tec

  If you worship [God, the Father of Christ], ask yourself this: do I worship because I think this life cannot be all there is? Is it that the cold reality of life forces me into believing?

  I'm going to change your 'worship' to 'believe, if you don't mind. I think the kind of worship God wants is that we show love and mercy to one another, and to do good to one another.

  Now as to your questions:

  No, and no.

  I believe because He is a part of me. I love Him, and see Him through His Son, whom I also love. Nothing forces me into believing.

  I have a fantastic imagination, btw (though never an imaginary friend as a child). The thing is... with that imagination, I know the difference between my fantasies and my realities. Because I'm the one making the fantasies up. God has never fallen into that category.

  Peace,

  Tammy