Praising Gods = Spiritual Masturbation

[Erebus]

God is humanity's collective ego crying out to be stroked.

Or perhaps simply an emotional outlet for the hopes and desires of the individual?

 

[Gjallarhorn]

Or perhaps simply an emotional outlet for the hopes and desires of the individual?

There's a difference?

Isn't masturbation an "outlet" for sexual desires?

 

[doppelganger]

If we look at prayer from a chaos magick point of view it can be seen that praying is simply a means by which ones inflicts their will on the universe.

Agreed. Prayers of petition are a form of spellcasting and can do harm to the emotional well-being of those who don't understand what magic is or how to use it. Prayers of praise are just a form of ego gratification. The object of praise is a projected manifestation of an anxious schism within the believer.

 

[drakonyx]

I agree, but only to a point. Making yourself "feel good" has an effect on others around you, too. It tends to make them feel good. Also, an optimistic viewpoint tends to set aside fear and make success more likely. I think that's how the mechanism of faith works.