so then when you're done talking about schizos, you could move on to psychos, but you still will not approach truth this way wadr, at least not imo

I think everyone falls on a spectrum of delusion, and for those who speak to gods they're simply a lot farther up the scale. And yes some are schizo. But don't think you're (we) not susceptible with some of your other political and emotional beliefs, for example.

Yup definitely

I'm thinking in many many cases it is not delusional or a manifestation of schizophrenia. Instead I think it is just a power grab and a way to control and steal from other people.

In most cases it's just a delusion. Believers will interpret positive, negative and coincidental incidents as non-verbal communication from god. I've rarely encountered theists who've claimed to actually hear god. And even if they do, in most cases it's an obvious effort to deceive (looking at those megachurches). There are times I've heard voices while coming out of REM sleep. Sometimes theists will mistake normal neurological processes like that for ghosts, demons or angels. It's common for them to twist every little thing into something self-confirming. Schizophrenia has a whole slew of other, quite serious psychiatric markers attached.

I don't know about schizophrenia but it's like they never grew up and out of having an imaginary friend.

I disagree. I think key thing is, what is He saying. And are other ppl somehow using their personal God convictions to control others in a harmful way.

I think my opinions highly differ from the majority here. This appears to be a stronglu atheistic camp, but to each their own. My opinion will never ultimately change.

Well, I think it is soem sort of mental illness.

That the mentally ill in ancient times were said to have been "touched by the god(s)", seems to indicate to me that those called "prophets" were just the most functional of the mentally ill, and were listened to out of superstition and fear.

Mentally ill persons can be highly functional. An example of that would be John Nash, who won a Nobel PrIze for mathematics, for work he did while suffering from Schizophrenia. The Movie "A Beautiful Mind" tells his story, although I suggest you watch the directors comments, to get a better idea of hsi true life, as they had to fictionalize parts of hte story to make a better movie. John Nash was also the inventor of the game "Hex", which he did because the game "Go" gave an unfair advantage to the person who went first. He was never got or sought credit for inventing the game.

But yeah, people who hear voice which nobody else can hear, or sees visions which nobody else can see, are, are mentally ill.

in the case of John Nash, he eventually was able to (mostly) distinguish between his delusions and reality just from using his own logic. This is extremely rare for a schizophrenic to be able to distinguish between delusions and reality.

I've always contended that religious faith is a mental illness.
It's rooted in delusion.

I've known people with "voices" in their heads. Not a pleasant experience. Most that I knew or worked with were trying to deal with meds, etc. One guy I knew got involved with a whacked religious group that told him, fucking told him, to stop taking his meds because it was the devil and he had to face him. After dropping his meds, the guy went way off and destroyed his apartment (as in massive destruction). He ended up in the hospital for a few months.

What I find mostly is that claims of god speaking to you are evidence of lying.

If you claim it... No. Most likely you are a fraud milking someone with such talk. I'm actually amazed that Trump didn't start telling people God was literally DM-ing with him.

If you actually believe it... Quite probably.

No shit, Sherlock!

That does not surprise me.

They are also delusional, they may also be using drugs like acid, PCP and mesc.

Exactly the conversation that annoyed my parents when they were watching a show about a nun that could hear the voice of god and shut herself off from society. But no, they were quite cross with me and certain that psychosis couldn’t have been the issue I still think it was a very real possibility.