God Is An Imaginary Friend For Grown-Ups (moral, tradition, beliefs)

[Neo-Logic]

Ooo doggies is this topic going to be fun. Hear me out before you folks start throwing holy water at me now ...

The question I want to pose is: Isn't it time to move past GOD?

Imaginary friends: For most parts, imaginary figures occur in non-schizophrenics to help cope with either a void or a stress, among other things. One might talk with the imaginary friend, listen to the imaginary friend, or heed advice. It soothes us when others fail to and its existence only based on our belief, seen or heard only by us.

For most parts, socially and developmentally, children either grow out of this naturally or are given psychological treatment to help them grow out of this. You can probably see where I'm going with this.

Moving on: Obviously, there are a lot of correlations between fundamental role that God serves in the lives of the believers and an imaginary friend serves in the life of a child (or adult?).

Although I don't want this debate to be science vs. religion, I must mention this much: science today kicks a lot of ***. With technology growing at an exponential rate, science will only advance further and at a faster rate.

Historically, the fundamentally logical duty of God and religion has been a sort of mythical system established to guide morality when laws were not firm, tying this to a system of incentives via heaven hell for example, and the idea of God, an over encompassing entity that is end all be all, easily explains any and all mysteries of the universe and justifies or punishes any actions by the social elites (i.e divine right).

Besides comfort and the need for faith, the role of God is slowly diminishing in the above duties of historical comparison. Science is slowly explaining the things only decades ago, seemed impossible.

So if you agree with my description of the duty of God - faith, comfort, and practical reasons, and that it is becoming less practical in the above described sense, then modern role of God will be left towards faith and comfort, primarily.

Isn't it time that we as adults shed our imaginary friend and seek faith and comfort outside of an antiquated myth? Or is appeal to tradition so strong that the grip is unbreakable?

[Manipulated]

In God's eyes we are all little children.

[3.14]

what, my imaginary friend is just as real as santa the easterbunny and god

[UnityNow101]

NeoLogic,

You are correct in many respects. When our idea of God steps beyond our personal experiences and enters the realm of mere opinions and beliefs, than yes, God has become nothing more than an imaginary friend. And frankly, most people hold on to ideas and beliefs that have absolutely no proof to back them up, unable or unwilling to examine the structure of thought and ideas within themselves. So they are lost within the prison of someone else's mind and the thoughts and ideas that have arisen from them without taking the time to look within themselves and see if there are any answers to be found there. It is quite sad really.

[stephenw]

If you substitute science for God is science not then your God?
You seem like a believer to me Neo-Logic.

[Fluffy]

Originally Posted by Neo-Logic

For most parts, socially and developmentally, children either grow out of this naturally or are given psychological treatment to help them grow out of this. You can probably see where I'm going with this.

If God is an "imaginary friend" then clearly this isn't the case.

You can't change the model for a phenomena in such a massive way and then claim that the phenomena should be viewed and treated in the same way as before. If it is normal to have an imaginary friend then the question should be, why are you abnormal?

Originally Posted by Neo-Logic

Although I don't want this debate to be science vs. religion, I must mention this much: science today kicks a lot of ***. With technology growing at an exponential rate, science will only advance further and at a faster rate.

This is not supported by the data. The data indicates that if the current trend in technological growth continues then we will continue to see an exponential growth in technology. There is no reason to suppose that this trend will continue because it has not be clearly demonstrated that this trend is a) recursive and b) unaffected by outside factors.

[crystalonyx]

Originally Posted by Neo-Logic

Isn't it time that we as adults shed our imaginary friend and seek faith and comfort outside of an antiquated myth? Or is appeal to tradition so strong that the grip is unbreakable?

The problem here is the disconnect between what people perceive as "science" and "religion". It doesn't matter to many whether science proved absolutely that a god could not exist, their belief system is not based upon facts or scientific theory, but faith in their beloved myths. This has always been true, and will continue to be true. There will be a slow migration away from mainstream religions over time, I believe, but the process will be slow and painful, as these religions have a lot of power and money, and want to maintain the status quo. A sad fact but true.

[stephenw]

Originally Posted by crystalonyx

". It doesn't matter to many whether science proved absolutely that a god could not exist, their belief system is not based upon facts or scientific theory, but faith in their beloved myths.

Science proving that God does not exist is no more likely than science proving that God does exist.
Do you think that faith in myth is inferior to faith in science?
Why would you perceive belief in them (myth and science) as being mutually exclusive?

[cardero]

Originally Posted by Neo-Logic

Isn't it time that we as adults shed our imaginary friend and seek faith and comfort outside of an antiquated myth?

Drop Dead Fred