Like Kevin, I was puzzled by Shankar Vedantam’s remarks about religion last week.
As Kevin outlined, Vedantam’s NPR segment highlighted a handful of ostensibly normal people who claimed to hear voices in their heads. The interviewees said that the voices consoled them in times of trial, and softened their anger and bitterness. One interviewee spoke of an imaginary friend named “Cher,” who helped her overcome feelings of shame as a child. Another described supernatural experiences after meeting with an occultist. A third claimed to have heard the voice of Christ and to have engaged in regular dialogue with the Nazarene.
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