Monday, May 7, 2007

My Friend Azmodeus

My last post concerned a time in my life that was difficult and how I made it through, without God. Miracle posted a personal story on how he made it through a difficult time, with God. His story can be found at http://www.altnoise.net. Without trivializing the details, Miracle believed that in high school he felt alone as friends and family chose to smoke pot over his friendship. Apparently, the two are mutually exclusive. Through faith, Miracle was not alone as God was with him through his trials.

I have to admit, I can’t completely relate to Miracle’s story because I had a lot of advantages growing up. My dad never offered me a joint nor did I ever live in a trailer. I am the product of middle-class educated parents and a planned pregnancy. My parents provided a great home and were supportive growing up and emphasized education.

That being said, I have a friend. Let’s call him Azmodeus. Like me, he is a confirmed atheist. I met Azmodeus when we were fourteen. By the time he enrolled in my high school, he had been moved to over fifteen different schools. He had grown wary of befriending anybody because the moment he had become comfortable, he would move again.

I have been able to piece together the following facts of Azmodeus’s life. His mother was a teenager when she became pregnant. She may or may not have dropped acid during pregnancy. His biological father was not in the picture and apparently he tried to kidnap little Azmodeus at some point. His father’s current whereabouts are unknown. Azmodeus’s mom took up with a real loser that we’ll call Log. Log was physically and mentally abusive as well as an alcoholic. Log never had a real job and always sort of existed. Life altering family decisions (like moving across the country) were decided at random.

To escape his home life, Azmodeus was into skateboarding, guitar playing, and art (specifically drawing). With absolutely no structure or guidance, he was VERY good at all three. Azmodeus and I spent hours after school skating. I had been over to his house many times and can verify the story.

Without putting words in his mouth, I am sure that Azmodeus felt very much alone. At fifteen, he was more mature and much smarter than his mother and step-father. He had very little control over his life and needed some way to get through high school. His way of getting through it was to find stuff he was good at and channel his energy into it. It comes down to believing in yourself and doing things that build up confidence and self esteem rather than creating an imaginary friend.

It is possible that the imaginary friend can get you through a difficult time, but it’s not a long term solution. Focusing in on the things you can control, developing skills that will be useful later in life, and dealing with adversary seems like a better way to handle the situation.

5 comments:

Teratohmy said...

I'm personally against drugs, but I still find it completely acceptable to be with people who do drugs. The way he puts faith in god though, he completely outlines it as a coping mechanism and puts no point towards the argument for god - only that an imagination can help people cope. But we can also ascertain that from superheroes as well.

Cate said...

I read it too - have to say I found yours more inspirational and uplifting. I appreciated his point about the experience not meaning anything in terms of the "truth" of christianity, however - in my experience, not every christian appreciates that.

Glenn Kachmar said...

Perhaps Miracle was rejecting his friends because they chose drugs instead of the other way around. It seems to me that his crisis was self-created. Like david, I feel that you can opt out of drugs and still spend time with people that take them. Does Miracle drink Coca-Cola? Caffeine is a drug. Why is coke OK? You may want to start thinking about these questions. In the future, Miracle, I suggest you value people for who they are, even if you don't agree with all of their life choices. Then perhaps you won't have to turn to an imaginary friend for support. You will still have real friends. Azmodeus and AW seem much more courageous and deserving of respect to me as they pulled through tough situations with their own effort and strength of will.

anon said...

Looks like Azmodeus knew what he was going to be in life. I think that he decided that it wasn't going to be that bad forever and that he was going to push through it. Good for him, I wish I had friends like that that I could look up to. Just out of curiosity AtheistWager, do you know how he's doing today?

Miracle said...

I now have my response to Atheist Wager's reflection up at altnoise.net

Check it out and tell me what you think.