Something I've been wondering about
So around the age where kids start losing their belief in Santa and the tooth fairy, they also tend to lose any imaginary friends they may have had. They get better at determining what is real and what is not. But some people persist in the belief of the GREATEST imaginary friend of all: a deity.
I don't really remember ever having an imaginary friend, if I had one it wasn't for long... and I pretty much grew out of religion as I learned about how the world works - my parents are at least deistic believers but never pushed their beliefs on me. I went to Catholic school for a few years but that was more of an attempt to get me a supposedly better private education (spoiler alert it wasn't better but it was more expensive).
Other people I talk to who've had imaginary friends for a significant portion of their childhood tend to be believers as far as I've seen... but of course, my sample size is crappy so that could very well be wrong.
Has anyone ever done a study on how long lasting relationships with imaginary friends may be linked to religiosity?
It seems like there would be a correlation there... thoughts?
Posted Dec 13, 2018, 3:47 PM UTC
My Niece went through the imaginary friend stage last year. Here's a few things I found hilarious.
*She got very upset and angry when my sister or anyone else tried to reason with her and told her that "Princess Sarah" wasn't real.
*It was never that she wanted to stay up late, eat more junk food or watch a certain TV show, it was Princess Sarah who wanted these things.
*Princess Sarah was "always right" and my Niece would scream, shout and cry whenever someone pointed out that she was wrong.
I feel like I've seen this behaviour before, but I still can't put my finger on where.....