Personal relationships with deities

[drfuzzy]

I'm sorry to hear that It's only natural to believe what everyone is telling you. Learning to question things fundamentally takes courage and not everyone is up to the task. Anyone who has broken free should be proud, regardless of how long it took.

I want to know what real difference there is between talking to Jesus and talking to yourself. Getting a bunch of fuzzy feelings can easily be explained by the idea that you simply believe you're talking to Jesus. Retrofitting later events to earlier "conversations" is just kidding yourself, but the human brain is extremely vulnerable to confirmation bias.

Yeah rob, exactly . . . I now see prayer as talking to myself.  After all, there isn't anyone listening!!  Yakking away at the ceiling, hoping for an answer, read a few more Bible verses, yakk for a little while longer . . . yadda yadda yadda.  I couldn't convince myself that anyone was there.  But I know a lot of folks who will swear until their dying day that they were heard and answered.  (Usually that's prefaced by "oh not in words" "oh, no, I didn't hear a voice" BUT I KNOW!!!!)  I suppose a lot of folks, if they want to hear a voice desperately enough . . . oh wait, the FSM just dropped by to say hello!!!!