Imaginary friends

heres something for yah. I heard this in a movie" God is an imaginary friend for adults" which makes sense to me. I am an athiest as well, kinda-I believe in morals and ethics, and that is what I revolve my decisions around, rather than religion- alot of religions are very identicle in alot of aspects, I am more the type who would analyze the different religions and "pick & choose" which "paths" to take- so to speak.

"People fighting over religion is like people fighting over who has the best imaginary friend,"

I can't remember who said that, but i found it funny...

anyway, no, I did not have an imaginary friend and I'm an athiest as well, tho with agnostic upbringing.

In the right hands, this subject could escalate into something incendiary.

I had a pair of imaginary friends. And yes, I do believe in God and was raised in a Christian household.
Go figure.

Re: Imaginary friends
binnyboy

Imaginary friend?
No, I didn't.

Believe in a god?
No, I don't.

But I don't see any connection between the two situations.

All of you lot are my imaginary friends. Why, if it wasn't for y'all I'd have no friends at all.

PS -- what's God or religion got to do with it?

I had an imaginary friend when I was younger. His name was Ralph. We were inseparable. Then one day my imaginary friend Bob killed him with an imaginary knife.

Now I just walk around and drool a lot.

Andrew-

Give Lola a check mate.If you want imaginary friends on this madness she is pretty good.

spendius.

Interesting connection! Goes back to the God gene stuff, that people have a predisposition to faith (or not.) Makes sense that it would be consistent throughout one's life.

I didn't have an imaginary friend (that I remember -- my stuffed animals had distinct personalities, though), agnostic now.

funny you should ask about imaginary friends, I never had one (or many) but I did drink milk as a child and have always been an atheist. Do you think it was the milk? (I mean did milk prevent me from having imaginary friends)

Maybe the milk was your imaginary friend.

Are you sure you actually had that glass?

well I did have real toads in my imaginary garden.

i drank milk
and did not have an imaginary friend
and i am an athiest with a Xian background

i see where your goin and i like it

If I knew where I was going, I'd be there already.

dyslexia

I don't drink milk, but I like whisky. Do you think - I see you are an authority in this matters - whisky made me atheist and without an imaginary friend?

Thanks, Andrew. I didn't know I was a product of your imagination.
Anyway have a good new year and, PLEASE STAY ALIVE. If you die I will disappear, like all the imaginary guys of this site.

If it's good whisky, I'm your friend. If it's not good whisky your bound to suffer as a sinner if the hands of an angry god. So be it.

That you don't see a connection I will accept

But the connection I see from my perspective as a former christian is this:

Every time I ever prayed I never heard a thing. I tried and I listened, and some years I prayed every day and sometimes more than once. I always did what I should've as far as trying to contact god. But I never ever heard a single thing. I even payed close attention to the circumstances of my life. But I could never conclude that god was behind the things that were happening.
BUT
I always did notice that there was a voice coming from ME, guessing at what god might be trying to tell me. I would come up with a thousand things that I thought god might intend for me. But I didn't contribute them to god, because I knew they were from ME. I would suggest something in prayer, trying to ascertain, IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT, GOD? But nothing. Ever. My imagination trying to come up with god's will was all that was there.

My brother relates to me all the time about how god is speaking to him. He says he used to feel much like me. But he had an experience with drugs where he says he saw god. And this affirmed his belief. And now he says god talks to him all the time. He has described to me the way god talks to him. He says he gets a really deep feeling, for instance, that he should turn his truck around and go back to the house. And when he does, he finds something very important to his routine that he would've forgotten. Since he went back even though he doesn't want to only to find something he's glad to go back for, he attributes this to being god at work. He has used other instances. And they all sound like the feelings we get when our imagination tells us something that COULD be.

This is my personal experience. I think there is a definite connection between an overactive imagination and belief in god. In fact, at one time when I was a young teenager, I got the notion that churchgoers are at a constant battle to see who can pretend the best. And I don't even think they realize it. It's subconscious.

But these are just my experiences. And I've laid them out honestly (and in response to the "no connection" theory) for anyone's perusal. Please feel free to respond with your own peronal experiences, and do not feel that I am telling you you're wrong. I just want to see a myriad of opinions on this (and I especially want to see lots of responses to the original questions).

Most of the people I imagined were my friends turned out to mere acquaintances.

Most of the gods I imagined were my creators turned out to be even more remote.

But my true imaginary friends and imaginary gods have remained steadfast and loyal.