My point is that once you meet someone, you can never deny their reality.
This kind of thing happens all the time in the movies. You think you're chatting with one person on the phone, but really it's a recording there. Or happens on the computer all the time. You think you're talking to a person, but you're actually chatting with an automated computer program (hi ELIZA).
Or, more related to your case, take a schizophrenic who hears voices in their head. They are not talking with anybody but themself. There is no "external" source for those voices.
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On another point, it is too bad I haven't experienced what you have.
And yes, I DO talk with Him every day. Were you to observe me, you could rightly conclude that I was talking to myself.
I've been told that the only way to "hear" is to make a leap of faith--to choose to believe. But that sounds just like marriage; how could you "commit" to believing, and then back out? Doesn't that mean you didn't actually commit in the first place? If you back out then, by definition, you didn't make the proper commitment. You were too naive, or your plan for longevity was poor. So, I find "ex-believer" to be strange too.
Too bad I don't have the opportunity to choose to believe or not--I was born deaf to God's words, and haven't heard anything. Maybe that's why I'm good at deductive reasoning--less time spent chatting with myself, and more time spent studying the books
Ben