I believe each of us is born with that personal relationship. But I have few problems with your "points".
1) Both parties in the relationship exist, and are easily distinguishable from being imaginary.
Being imaginary, is up to how much knowledge you have. A person from the stone age would laugh at you for ages if you told him that there are "little men called viruses" that infect his body.
So imaginary or not is up to how big your mind can actually extend. Denying the existence of black holes, never proved that black holes don't exist.
Anyhow, No other problems here; moving on.
I have a big problem here. What if the opposing side is communication through a language you can't actually get ?
Keeping it short; God communicates with us daily, through natural phenomena. That sweet sunshine, the pretty moonlight, a windy day carrying warm breeze, didn't you hear the voice near the sea ?
Away from all of that, pray and that's your part of the conversation now; good acts too are a good way to communicate. If you demands a direct reply, then your mind didn't understand yet that it doesn't communicate with a deity different than humans..
Even with animals you can't get a direct response all the time.
So, yep..
Check the cherry blossom
Or maybe the stars ?
1) Both parties in the relationship exist, and are easily distinguishable from being imaginary.
Being imaginary, is up to how much knowledge you have. A person from the stone age would laugh at you for ages if you told him that there are "little men called viruses" that infect his body.
So imaginary or not is up to how big your mind can actually extend. Denying the existence of black holes, never proved that black holes don't exist.
Anyhow, No other problems here; moving on.
Quote:3) Both parties directly communicate with the other party in a meaningful, observable way.
In this way, I can have personal relationship with any human, any animal that has some way to at least acknowledge my interaction with it, and arguably with an artificial intelligence. It seems to me that if these 3 criteria are not met, it is not a meaningful personal relationship. The only exception I can think of is where one party becomes unable to communicate at some point, such as a friend going into a coma. You could maybe argue that you can continue to have a personal relationship with them, based on your history together, even though they can't directly answer back.
I have a big problem here. What if the opposing side is communication through a language you can't actually get ?
Keeping it short; God communicates with us daily, through natural phenomena. That sweet sunshine, the pretty moonlight, a windy day carrying warm breeze, didn't you hear the voice near the sea ?
Away from all of that, pray and that's your part of the conversation now; good acts too are a good way to communicate. If you demands a direct reply, then your mind didn't understand yet that it doesn't communicate with a deity different than humans..
Even with animals you can't get a direct response all the time.
So, yep..
Check the cherry blossom
Or maybe the stars ?
