Experiencing a god's presence?

Many religious people claim that they have felt a god's presence. I do not disagree with them, they probably have felt a presence. The only problem is that they are ignorant to how the mind works. I will use four examples to show what I mean, all making the same point. 

Imagine eating an orange

Use your mind's-eye. Imagine what the smell of an orange would be, and the texture of it. Peel the imaginary orange and put a slice of it in your mouth. Notice the saliva that has built up. Your body will react to imaginary stimuli; there is no real orange, but your body reacted in the same way as if there was one. When you feel a presence, it is just that, a feeling. When there is an actual person near you, you feel the presence. If you imagine there is a person near you, the same feeling of a presence can be created.

Faces in clouds and bark

Ever look at the clouds and see faces in them? Or looked at an old tree and seen a face in the bark? There is no question that you do see a face. The question is: is the face really there? (the answer is no) Just because we perceive a face does not mean that it is real. The same goes for claiming to feel a god's presence. The feeling of any presence is an internal thing, regardless of if it was stimulated from an outside source or not. Your mind automatically looks for faces in things. If a person's mind is set up to think that there is an invisible being constantly around them, then it will automatically look for it.
 
Imaginary friends

Children often have imaginary friends. This sort of a thing sometimes scares parents (like religious people scare atheists). Their child can come across as being insane. They will even sometimes defend the existence of their invisible friend. As my previous examples have shown, your own imagination can create the illusion of outside stimuli, when there is none. Many children feel the presence of their imaginary friends. They think that just because they feel a presence, it must have been stimulated from an outside source.


Boogie-Man in the closet.

This scenario happens all the time. An older brother tells his younger sister that there is a boogie-man in the closet. She believes the brother and becomes afraid of this imaginary monster. She even claims to hear noises or even it talking to her during the night. She felt the presence of this "boogie-man". But was the boogie-man really there? Is god really there?

In this example you can see the similarities between the big brother telling the younger sister about the boogie-man, and a parent telling their child about a god.

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