NC,
I think I understand your concern and frustration due to what you have experienced. But maybe you can lighten up a little and try not to be overly concerned.
Did Abraham Have Schizophrenia? Hearing A Voice Telling Him To Sacrifice Isaac?
by frankiespeakin 46 Replies latest jw experiences
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still thinking
That was an iteresting article sizemik...especially this:
Now, if you attribute this voice to a god or Jesus, I wonder if it would start to 'behave' or impart messages and understandings that you want it to?
Whether they threaten or soothe, auditory hallucinations usually begin after trauma : Seventy percent of people who hear voices first detect them following physical or sexual abuse, an accident, or the loss of a loved one. "The emotion they feel about their trauma complicates how they interpret the voices," says Sara Tai, a psychologist at the University of Manchester in England who studies why some hallucinators thrive while others end up in psychiatric care. Typically, the greater the trauma, the more likely voices will sound threatening.
Researchers haven't pinpointed the specific neural mechanisms at work, but brain scans show that areas of the brain that process sound and store memories appear more active during auditory hallucinations, as if previous experiences were being replayed.
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sizemik
I think it's of concern that it may be a factor contributing to religious delusion . . . but that too is seen as relatively benign. And that's something else I find a little troubling nowadays. Perspective change I guess.
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avishai
Like the whole "God told me to cut part of my tallywhacker off" thing wasn't enough to point out that he was crazy....
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NewChapter
Okay then. If someone tells me they hear a voice, I'll tell them not to be too concerned? I am baffled by this conversation. Sorry---but just baffled.
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designs
Rosh Hashanah the Jewish celebration of Abraham, considered the first Jew, and the attempted sacrifice of Isaac has a meaning that has evoled over the centuries like most things in jewish philosophy and religious life while retaining its primitive forms. The day that is celebrated had other names- Yom ha-Zikaron, Day of Remembrance, and Yom ha-Din, Day of Judgement. So here god judges indiviuals and nations. The philosophical twist in Jewish thought is- who will seek peace and who will seek the sword to solve mankind's issues. The blowing of the Shofar also has two meanings- a call to war and a call to repentance. Rosh Hashana also changed from as a Day of Remembrance where God thinks about us to a day when we think about God. Also instead of a fasting it is a feast to celebrate optimism- the Talmud says "And god will say to israel, even to all mankind: My children, today on Rosh Hashanah, I look upon all of you as if you had been created for the first time."
The story of Abraham and Isaac, the Akadah, is to the Jewish mind a story of inner revelation. The most basic lesson was God would not allow or want human sacrifice. Faith was enough. God would be moved to help humans by humans having belief. In the 3rd Century BC head Rabbi Abba Arika made the story to mean humans should reflect God whose love is to be stronger and judgement or revenge.
Rosh Hashanah and the Akadah became a source of comfort during the Roman occupation and the later Crusades that somehow the Jewish people would survive by God's love. Rosh Hashanah becomes a lesson that all life is sacred and should not be 'wantonly destroyed' per the order of King Josiah in 621BCE..
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still thinking
If I heard a voice...I'd be getting myself to a doctor....I suspect quite a bit of the bible is written by people who should have seen doctors. But of course back then, they didn't understand the brain at all. They thought we used our heart and kidneys to think.
At least now, we know we use our brain for this function, even if we don't completely understand it yet.
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sizemik
If I heard a voice in my head it would scare the living shit out of me . . . I'd be on my cell to Psych Emergency pronto (I have their number in my phone). I'd also want it gone.
I suspect quite a bit of the bible is written by people who should have seen doctors.
. . . or stopped eating the mushrooms or something . . . who knows? Maybe they chewed on opium poppies for toothache? Either way there's an amazing amount of fanciful stuff taken at face value 2000 yrs later.
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NewChapter
Many don't take the creation account literally, because of what science has uncovered.
Many don't take all of the miracles literally, because of what science has uncovered.
But some do take the voices (voice) accounts literally, in spite of what science has uncovered.
Now why would that be? Oh---yeah I accept evolution---but the voice is real!
And so I fall back on my old argument. I totally agree with you that Santa is not real, there is no evidence, but don't f**k with the tooth fairy!
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mP
The story of Abraham has a lot of problems. FOr example he sells Sarah twice to two different kings and then Jehovah saves him. What are the chances ? The truth is the stories are tehre areo impress power and authority, never goodness or some other morality.