Rational Agnostic
Well-Known Member
I'm curious to know about the strange or irrational thoughts/beliefs that you had as a child.
For me, my strangest thought revolved around my family's next-door neighbor. He was a very eccentric man with extreme mood swings, a fiery temper, and unpredictable personality changes. He could be very kind and giving to his neighbors on one day, and the next day would be issuing violent threats against various neighbors. As a young child, I remember watching him mow his lawn one day, and suddenly a powerful thought occurred to me: What if he is the second coming of Jesus Christ, and is actually God himself? I'm not sure exactly why I thought this, but I have some idea. He actually fit the description of Jesus quite well, in that he had both a good and a bad side that people could be on. Since the bible describes Jesus as being capable of both immense love and forgiveness, as well as extreme wrath, this may not have been a strange thought after all. The bible depicts Jesus as having an irrationally extreme temper. When he was hungry and found a tree with no fruit simply because it was not the right season for trees to bear fruit, he yelled at the tree and said he hoped no one ever ate fruit from it again (see Mark 11).
Nevertheless, I think that the thought that my neighbor was actually God was still a very irrational and funny thought to have as a kid, but a more interesting thought than believing in Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, or any other traditional irrational beliefs of childhood.
So, what was your most strange or irrational thought you had as a child?
For me, my strangest thought revolved around my family's next-door neighbor. He was a very eccentric man with extreme mood swings, a fiery temper, and unpredictable personality changes. He could be very kind and giving to his neighbors on one day, and the next day would be issuing violent threats against various neighbors. As a young child, I remember watching him mow his lawn one day, and suddenly a powerful thought occurred to me: What if he is the second coming of Jesus Christ, and is actually God himself? I'm not sure exactly why I thought this, but I have some idea. He actually fit the description of Jesus quite well, in that he had both a good and a bad side that people could be on. Since the bible describes Jesus as being capable of both immense love and forgiveness, as well as extreme wrath, this may not have been a strange thought after all. The bible depicts Jesus as having an irrationally extreme temper. When he was hungry and found a tree with no fruit simply because it was not the right season for trees to bear fruit, he yelled at the tree and said he hoped no one ever ate fruit from it again (see Mark 11).
Nevertheless, I think that the thought that my neighbor was actually God was still a very irrational and funny thought to have as a kid, but a more interesting thought than believing in Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, or any other traditional irrational beliefs of childhood.
So, what was your most strange or irrational thought you had as a child?