Do you remember the time you banged into a table as a child? Your mind was on something else, you continued walking, until BANG your shin hit the table and it hurt! What was your first reaction? Most likely you got angry and kicked the table instinctively.
Some of us still do it.
This is called misplaced anger.
The anger was actually towards yourself for being clumsy, but instead of internalizing your anger, you projected it onto the table.
This is understandable if it happens to a child but it is not proper for an adult to keep on doing this throughout their life.
It is a sign of immaturity.
Not only do most adults have an issue of misplaced anger, a majority of the human population have an actual mental condition that has not yet been given the status of a mental disorder simply because so many people have it: misplaced responsibility.
Another name for this is belief in God.
If we are to be completely sincere about it, people who have this mental disorder are walking around believing in an imaginary friend.
If you have an imaginary friend from the ages of 4-10 (although 10 is considered pretty late), it might still be acceptable.
However, if you are over 20 and have an imaginary friend, something is up with you and you better get yourself checked.
If I had told you I have a toy unicorn that takes care of me and hears my prayers and brings me what I need, you will tell me to get my "act" together.
Today in the first decade of the 21st century, billions of people are claiming the same thing about an invisible presence that can't actually be felt (other than "within" themselves, or in other words mentally-created).
They are giving their thanks to an imaginary construct.
They are directing their anger to this imaginary construct for some perceived wrong-doing by it.
They are praying and begging to this imaginary construct for the fulfillment of their desires, urgent or otherwise.
It is simply an imaginary construct.
There is nothing real about it! If your "prayer" gets "answered" that has nothing to do with your prayer.
If prayer truly worked why are there still hungry people in this world? Why are countless people still homeless and sleeping on the streets? Are you trying to tell me that all these people who suffer in the world are nonbelievers? It logically doesn't make sense.
If the act of praying works to actually change things, things should change.
I'm not asking for more than that.
If you claim something works, it needs to work, all of the time! If it works only some of the time then it is just a statistic, not a sign of prayer working.
Those who are attached to this idea of there being a God and them having a personal relationship to it are basically like a baby wanting to have a personal relationship with the parent and not wanting to make the parent angry.
The parent is seen as the sole source of sustenance and well-being.
However, as we grow older and develop mentally, we are able to see that our parents, no matter how well-meaning they are, are simply normal human beings just like us (not perfect).
When we discover this, it is as though there is a shock to our system and that internalized feeling of "being perfectly taken care of" is displaced from the physical parent (whom we now see as not perfect) and moved to some other perfect "parent in the sky".
Why would we do this? It seems like the answer is so that we can continue to be a baby.
Did you ever stop to notice that if you ask anyone about their idea of God one of the ideas that always pops up is that God is "perfect"? God can make no mistake.
Most of us have to look at our concept of God and the definitions that we place onto God in order to understand that we are taking internalized concepts of "being taken care of" and placing them onto another source.
Whether we say God is internal or external, we are still creating a form of duality between us and God.
We do this so that we have some place to project our imagined savior from the threats to our security.
Having a good relationship with God is like having a good relationship with your parents.
If they are happy, you get taken care of.
If you piss them off, then you face their wrath.
This idea of God sounds like a parent-figure to me.
A parent-figure who is perfect, and every-where, and invisible.
If you look into the so-called spiritual writings you will see a lot of it is centered on the injunction of being like little children (calling God a father or mother), the concept of surrendering our will to the will of God.
We are taught that God is our savior! Saving us from what? From the damnation of hell.
How? Through belief! Think about this logically: What would you say to me if I told you that I have come to save you from hell? You might ask me "How"? I say that if you believe me, then you won't go to hell and if you don't believe me then you will go to hell.
So basically, in a very roundabout way I am saying, "Listen to me, believe me, and you will be saved.
If you don't listen to me you will be cursed.
I have come to save you from my curse.
" The basic essence of this message is: BELIEVE ME OR ELSE.
Doesn't this sound a bit like a bully? It's a package deal, your savior is your tormentor.
Your God is a bully.
All of this is the basic underlying theme of most religions.
Isn't there something to it? What are the role of priests? To keep us in line and ensure that we follow what God wants for us (which is basically what the priests want us to do so that the controllers of the institution of religion can have power over human beings who don't want to be responsible for their lives).
It is a transaction: "I (the devotee) will give you respect and will follow you (religious injunctions) blindly as long as you can provide me with a sense of security.
" All of the games of religion, mentioned above, are based on the assumption that there IS A GOD to begin with! If there isn't a God, and it doesn't look like there is one, then all of these accessories of religion and their rituals are completely unnecessary and not only that, they are actually foolish.
It is a way to take advantage of our immaturity and unwillingness to take responsibility for our lives The concept of God is only a concept.
It is needed by people for consoling themselves over the uncertain nature of life.
If we want to understand that God is just a concept, we just have to look back to our history to see what ridiculous things were being done in the name of God and what kinds of activities were being ascribed to "following God's will".
So it appears that God apparently changes His Will from time to time since human sacrifice is not required in our time.
If God has been there since the beginning of time like all of these people have told us, then shouldn't it be the case that the guy should at least be consistent? Why does he keep on changing with the times? It makes no sense that in the Old Testament there is an insecure God who is upset and loves to test his devotees and that in the New Testament there is a God of love.
If there is only One God as monotheists claim, then that simply means that God is not perfect and can make mistakes.
Now does anyone care to guess why that might be the case? Why isn't God perfect? God isn't perfect because human beings aren't perfect.
It just makes more sense that human beings have made God in their own image.
So as the images of the human beings change, as they progress, the concept of God changes accordingly.
The mental construct is still being dragged along and looks like His Will can be molded just like clay according to man's whims and desires.
God is only a concept; a mental construct that is unnecessary to the running of our daily lives.
It is necessary only for those who don't want to grow up and face the fact that we live in a world of uncertainty.
For those who are willing to look at life just like it is, God should be seen for the fictitious and immature idea that it is! The idea of God is nothing but a personification and deification of our misplaced sense of responsibility.
The only God we have to look to is ourselves.
And maybe, this is what the teachers really mean when they say that the highest truth is that God and you are one.
In other words, "Grow up.
".