I am playing around with a subject for an upcoming video. I would like to know how you would answer the question. What is a personal relationship with God/Jesus really and what would you compare it to? I may use your thoughts in my next video! Thank you fo your help!
3
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
41 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.i've never had a relationship with an imaginary thing. when i was a kid i remember other kids (maybe one or two) that had an imaginary friend. i never got it. BUT i have been thinking about how a religious person may not want to be with an atheist because it may jeopardize their personal relationship with god. i've just been thinking how ridiculous it is to have a more important relationship with 'god' as opposed to having one with an actual person. i think maybe they get that tingly feeling when thinking about god. like thinking of jumping off a cliff gives me that tingly feeling. i can think of shit and get a tingly feeling. i'm betting that feeling is what a lot of ppl confuse with feeling god's presence... which is only a mind thing. i digress
SeeCanU
Level 7
June 9, 2019
2
That is disturbing, My X-wife treated her God like a God and me like Satan. Her pretend relationship was more important.
@DavidLaDeau yea that IS disturbing that somebody will put an imaginary thingy above a living person. and you seem like a supercool dude (from your videos).
i am told that when i was a very small child i had an invisible friend, possibly a rabbit, and i got upset when someone sat down on the swing next to mine because that person had sat on my invisible rabbit. until i was 15 i had a different invisible friend i called "god," but i wasn't a fanatic about it. this was just someone who witnessed the hardships i was going through. i never expected him to do anything about it. i just wanted a witness (i was an abused child). god wasn't a terribly important part of my life, though, and when i realized what i had suspected all along -- that there was no such personage -- it wasn't especially traumatic.
g
@SeeCanU Thank you! I just try to be real and empathetic. Though i do love a bit of satire!
@genessa I actually thought that God was real. Then I grew out of it.
@DavidLaDeau well, i guess i did too, until age 15, but it just wasn't a big, important part of my life. i don't even know how much i believed that he was watching. it was really more like a game, or a wish.
g
.. wtf am i doing?????@DavidLaDeau
Mental illness is more rampant than any one believes!
It is disguise as religious faith!
No such relationship, pure imagination, & wishful thinking.
Lilac-JadeCanada
Level 9
June 9, 2019
3
Hosh never expected to hear that from the likesnof you! Ha! Ha!
@DavidLaDeau Hmmm, what would you expect of me?
@Lilac-Jade Hey! Look I have hecklers that say I'm a troll, Don't know what site I'm on or just trying to get famous on my YouTube channel! Heck I was scared to talk when I first met you on the other site years ago. How far I have come!
@DavidLaDeau I feel I said something wrong.
@Lilac-Jade Noooooo! Just look at some of the comments! They are actually funny! Your always the best!
@DavidLaDeau Ok, if you say so.
A false safety net? The illusion of safety and protection, which isn't real, and could cause real danger if one thinks that belief in God/Jesus is the only hope, since it prevents one from trying to solve problems on their own?
When I was a child I was told that God was "omniscient" and I was so impressed! Surely God would know what was going on in my house and save me and my siblings. But no. Either God didn't care, didn't think abuse was worth intervening for or wasn't really there. Got me questioning the whole biblical story, since it really didn't make sense to me anyway.
After asking the nuns several questions during catechism, which they couldn't answer for me satisfactorily, I began disbelieving what they were saying altogether. That put me in a category of an infidel and I wasn't made to go to catechism or church any more. 
If God was real, he was so far away from me, out of my reach, and what language did God speak anyway? Oh yeah, "omniscient" so he knows all, or does he... Things didn't add up from what I was told.
If God was real, couldn't he have intervened in my life and helped my brothers and me or somehow proven himself to me? If God doesn't intervene or care, then why pray to him and lavish him with praise and worship?
So, now my relationship with God/Jesus is as a nemesis. He/They get all the credit for things that either just happen naturally, or that have been figured out and solved by human ingenuity, compassion, perseverance, courage and so many wonderful human attributes.
As a Humanist, believing in human values and reasoning, this God of the past which so many people continue to believe in, is like "fake news" that keeps jumping in to take away from the real message and true reality.
Julie808
Level 8
June 10, 2019
3
God ALWAYS got the credit for the good stuff that I saw people doing, I was always chastised when things did not go well for not believing enough, having sin in my life, or any other excuse that they could come up with. I call it child abuse.
I have always wondered why when a family member or community dies it is god’s will!
When the rest of the family and/or community survived it is god’s will!
Just how can one justify god’s will, when god’s will created the situation they are in!
One wonders how anyone can comprehend such a convoluted relationship as faith!
That's the moment I became an atheist, too. In catechism asking questions from my priest he could not answer.
I asked him how could humans exist if Cain was the only one reproducing. He said after Cain was kicked out of Eden, he wandered around until he found a tribe of Numbians. I was chastised for rolling my eyes at him.
@Katsarecool Yes, I was very confused about where this "Land of Nod" was, if Adam and Eve started the first and only family on Earth, and I was assured there was no incest between siblings, which was kinda my question. (How could I ask such a disgusting question, Sister Mary Michelle barked!)
Still confused at the unsatisfying answer to my questions, later that week, I knocked on the door of the convent to talk to Sister Mary Michelle, my catechism teacher, in private. But when she came to the door, she was just dressed in regular clothes, not her habit, so that really freaked me out and I ran away. (I was in 2nd grade.) I had an aha moment, that she was just a regular person. Poof! All the mystique of the clergy and church kinda melted for me that day.
Here is the video that I ended up making, I hope you folks like it!
DavidLaDeau
Level 8
June 10, 2019
1
Hyper-religiosity! Yes, more emphasis should be placed in the mental health community for that possibility in those with mental health issues caused by what you describe.
God is a literary character, a metaphor for whatever we can conceive is our creative source. When that literary character is seen as a literal entity, by parents, society, governments, etc., it surely is the basis for what you're describing.
When I was a child, I found the "Emperor Has No Clothes" story to be fascinating, and I think it helped me to have better critical thinking skills, prompting me to be skeptical about religion. (The Emperor's New Clothes - Hans Christian Anderson)
Thanks for sharing your story and hopefully it reaches those still perpetuating harmful beliefs.
@altschmerz Thank You! I hope to use the experience to help others form having to go through it!
@altschmerz, @Julie808 Actually and i'm not kidding, I never heard the story until a few years ago. It was not in the Bible!
Religion is a like a virus.
Religion hijacks the mind like a virus hijacks the body. Both a virus and religion's goal is to reproduce itself.
Richard Dawkins, author of "The God Delusion."
LiterateHiker
Level 9
June 9, 2019
5
A much more conprehensive book is called "The God Virus."
To reproduce itself by proselytism, but mostly by breeding.
@QuidamOutrepont Very true, This is why the Bible tells us to kill unborn children and babies, yet Christianity is anti-abortion. They simply want more baby Christians.
Please explain how someone has a personal relationship with a nonmaterial object or being they cannot see or touch, and that they only "hear" within their mind. I believe I may have a more personal relationship with the chair I sit in since I can see it, can touch it, and can hear it when I sit down on it. It is a comfortable chair that attractive given the decor of the room it sits in.
My veiw of the personal relationship with God is influenced by reports of Nicholas Epley's research reported in Discover magazine.
[blogs.discovermagazine.com]
RussRAB
Level 8
June 9, 2019
3
Thank you, i will check it out. The personal relationship with nothing IS in fact ridiculous, the key is making it obvious to those who believe it as i did as a child indoctrinated into fundamentalism.
@DavidLaDeau - I will be interested to see what you come up with on your Youtube channel.
A personnal relationship with something nonmaterial. I suppose those people call that spirituality. To me, it only looks like imagination.
Very interesting question! I was raised in the church. This was a popular topic - having a personal relationship with God or Jesus, and feeling the holy spirit. I tried, boy how I tried. It was fully expected of me as a PK. However, NEVER did I ever once feel like there was a god or his son or his spirit around me, helping me, or protecting me from a goddamn thing. My father was a minister who said "goddamn", which was very confusing for a child. He beat his wife and kids. Where was god then? When I divorced, 2000 people at Aloma United Methodist Church turned their backs on me, even though the choir director also got divorced. But they loved me singing in the contatas, building the courtyard, volunteering on the building committee (coz I'm an engineer), etc. My girlfriend killed herself in 2011 and while at that time I was already seriously questioning the existence of a god, I used to do what I called my "grief walk" up and down my street ( it's secluded so nobody saw me). I would look up in the sky and beg for relief from the pain of losing the woman I was in love with. Nothing. I claim to be agnostic because I can't prove there's not a god. Although, I have seen two UFOs! When Jesus stops by and puts my fingers in the hole in his palm, I'll believe again. Not holding my breath.
Stilltrying1964
Level 7
June 9, 2019
1
First I'm very sorry for your loss. That must still hurt very bad.
Second, That is a very stylish t-shirt there!
Third, I was involved in a young earth creationist, fundamentalist, cult. Called The First United Methodist Church. Normally they are considered moderate but these guys indoctrinated me to be an extremest, Inerrant, wacko!
Luckily, I grew out of It. Much of the idea of my video centers around how everyone in church talked about their personal relationship with god and how Jesus told them this and that. It was expected from everyone. I did not know what they were talking about.When I asked they basically told me I was flawed, in sin, or not believing enough. I as a child, would stay up all night just trying to believe enough for Jesus to love me. IT WAS CHILD ABUSE!
@DavidLaDeau Thank you. It does still hurt and probably always will.
Even worse is my family's completely inadequate response to my grief. I guess because we weren't together very long they think it doesn't matter very much. That and other horrible things they've done have left me an orphan of sorts. I don't speak to any of them anymore. My bible-thumping southern baptist brother says these bad things have happened to me because I've turned away from god. What a joke! If there is a god, he's a total prick! ✌
@Stilltrying1964 Iv'e noticed that just as many bad things happen to Bible thumpers, only its god "testing" them. Really God does not know? If its for the sake of learning could an all powerful god not teach in a positive way? They demean their won God.
Why ?. It seems that more than a few people on this site although calling themselves atheists are obsessed by religion
Moravian
Level 8
June 10, 2019
4
I was indoctrinated as a young earth creationist, fundamentalist as a child and that had devastating affects on my life. I now try to help others escape from religion. It is these types of questions that Christians often ask. I seek to give them better answers than they get from their churches. And yes I am obsessed with religion as people often fail to see how poisonous it is. If I don't know their religion better than they do I can not communicate with them or help them.
@DavidLaDeau Sorry, I did not mean to be critical. although I attended Sunday school and church as a youngster it all went right over my head and had no effect on me, so I find it difficult to get in to the mind of someone who believes or has believed . Good luck with your video
@Moravian That is cool! I have annoyed BionicDance more than once asking her what it is like to have never to believed in a god. And even more so when I ask why she cares? She just says don't push your religious garbage on me! That is her motivation to be a YouTube Legend! My words....
It's pretending really hard that your moral compass is someone else.
And that 'someone else' can grant personal favors if you do certain things "Just right".
But you never do things 'just right' because the game is rigged. Apparently. lol
So happy to be Atheist!
RavenCT
Level 9
June 9, 2019
4
You can't win when your imaginary friend won't let you!
@DavidLaDeau Exactly.. Though frankly they were never that friendly? Roman Catholic upbringing... Not a fun playmate. lol
ROFLMAO...this is sarcasm, right?
AnneWimsey
Level 9
June 10, 2019
1
No it is not. I will soon be postimg my video. It will discuss how this very subject led to a suicide attempt at 14 years old. Not funny at all.
@DavidLaDeau I think you may be on the wrong site.
- A religious site definitely needed
- Help Line or maybe Pity Party, or both
A personal relationship with God/Jesus is the same as having a personal relationship with Humpty-Dumpty -- it takes place entirely in one's imagination. It's like a child playing with an imaginary friend. that they insist is real.
Sgt_Spanky
Level 8
June 10, 2019
4
It can also be very dangerous.
@DavidLaDeau Anything can be. In the wrong hands a teddy bear can be used to smother someone to death.
A personal relationship with God is simply a fantasy -- like Jimmy Stewart's relationship with the fantasy bunny "Harvey." It enables true believers to feel personal support and security that is simply false.
wordywalt
Level 9
June 10, 2019
3
Then they end up here!
@DavidLaDeau hopefully!
Umm, you know this is a site literally named agnostic.com, right?
zeuser
Level 9
June 9, 2019
4
Thats why my fellow apostates can anwer this question and help me to answer questions that Christians have. You know I have a profile you could have looked at complete with bio and link to my YouTube channel right?
I don’t know.
indirect76
Level 7
June 9, 2019
2
That is a great answer. I often run into Christians that ALWAYS have to have an answer. They simply can not accept that they do not know and thus will not accept honesty from others.
Delusional thinking bordering on psychosis. Basically it's when someone has bullshitted themselves into being able to release dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin through very specific stimuli in such quantities that produce a distinct chemical high that is percieved as a "spiritual experience", much in the same way that LSD or Psilocybin would, but to a much lesser (usually) extent.
Kafirah
Level 8
June 9, 2019
1
Yep, thats basically it in a nut shell.
The less time you spend with this subject, the better your life and life of others will be. God is not useful for anything.
St-Sinner
Level 9
June 9, 2019
2
I have the internal need to help others escape it. So it is very important that I am aboe to approach subjects like this in a way that helps the to think rather than "just believe."
I've never had a relationship with any God or religion because I wasn't raised to. By the time I was forced by my grade school to go to church, I already had serious doubts about all religion.
onthefire
Level 7
June 9, 2019
3
I am happy it went that way for you.
I don't think it is possible to have any kind of relationship with something that is invisible and imaginary, personal or otherwise.
jlynn37
Level 8
June 9, 2019
2
I agree, the problem here is that people actively, consciously delude themselves into BELIEVING that they can have a relationship with something that does not exist.
Like many have said, I find it hard to believe that an imaginary thing is "personal". That said, I could see some residual good coming out of a belief like that. I could see someone gain in confidence or belief in self because some imaginary friend spurs you on. Unfortunately, from my perspective, this sometimes turns into a kind of megalomania or something like that.
Chris0615
Level 5
June 9, 2019
3
I don't know why this cracks me up but a "personal" imaginary friend?
you're asking atheists this?
a personal relationship with god is like... wait, it's hard to type with this strait-jacket on.
g
genessa
Level 8
June 9, 2019
2
Well said!
You can't have a "personal relationship" with imaginary entities, unless you have schizophrenia, or have dropped some pretty good acid! But if you could, I imagine it would be like getting repeatedly sodomized/lobotimized by the Demons of your own creation!
davknight
Level 8
June 10, 2019
3
Christians do in fact LITERALLY create their own demons.
Most individuals who are sane cannot have a relationship with any thing they have never seen, touched, or have personal first hand provable knowledge of!
I find it amazing you can have a relationship with something you have never seen, touched, or actual factual proof of!
Faith is an oxymoron!
The Germans who followed the National socialist Workers Party had faith beyond self and religious beliefs! Hence faith has many faces from Fascism to god(s), their offspring and the faith in mankind!
So having a relationship with a any thing you have never had or experience first hand is faith!
A relationship that in reality has no real basis in fact or truth!
Hence faith like Fascism, religion, and death does not have a true reason to exist, it just does!
If only we could have faith without religion and political influence could we as a species be human?
of-the-mountain
Level 9
June 10, 2019
1
Very few people see the connection between Fascism and Religion. I made a satire video about it. Watch it to the end. I KNOW you will enjoy it!
I feel bad for those people. They're solving there own problems. The ones they ask for help through prayer. They find solutions. But instead of giving themselves credit, they thank god. They cheat themselves.
Count_Viceroy
Level 7
June 10, 2019
1
Good things happen God
Bad things happen you suck!
To me a personal relationship with God is a reason not to have to define the relationship and the only working definition anyone can have If it was anything else, there would be a way for others to share it and there's no indication that is possible.
redbai
Level 8
June 10, 2019
1
Very true!
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
Share this post
Categories
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.