Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
90sman, you realize, of course, that had you posted this on the Christianity forum, the answers you'd be getting would be pretty much the opposite of what you're seeing here. The bottom line is that nobody knows for sure -- not the atheists, not the theists. As a theist, I believe in a life after this one, but I wouldn't feel comfortable explaining the supernatural events you've described. The rest of the people on this forum are as clueless as I am, even if they won't admit it.
Unfortunately, Mercury, even if I did show you--you would not believe.
For example:
My best friend passed away--in my arms, by the way, as I tried to administer CPR for 45 minutes while awaiting the ambulance.
We scoured his office/study, looking for papers and such to process all the claims I could use for the benefit of his widow. HIs widow took every single coin from his office/study.
His wife kept having a dream: since her husband was a Buddhist, she visualized him in his Buddhist robes. She reached out to touch him. He dropped two pennies on the floor.
One day, she went back to the office/study. There on his desk were two pennies.
One week later, I received confirmation that she would receive survivor benefits from Social Security.
You will argue that my friend's widow "missed" something in her scouring and cleaning of the office. You do not know my friend's widow. She is very thorough.
Secondly, you have not addressed the new theory of time. If we remain "stuck in the mud / rut" regarding theories and "facts" that we have come to accept as immutable truths, then I question the ability to progress, especially in the area of science.
There is so much in the scientific arena that cannot be proved; yet, we take as acceptable "fact" the veracity of the observable phenomena. One good example is the behavior of black holes, which was the subject of ridicule for decades.
There is a big difference, however, between believing and endorsing a particular set of "facts" and the "Here I Stand" proclamation that the truth and absolute truth exists in whatever set of "facts" one believes in.
What upsets me more than anything else is the arrogance of one person to disallow the feelings and beliefs of others. I could easily think you as a fool for believing in such-and-such; and you, equally, could think of me as a fool for believing in the opposite. The fact is, usually there is no harm done in believing in whatever we want to believe in.
Those of us who have had encounters and experiences with so-called spirits and ghosts are not out to make money with this or to foment a spiritual-like revolution. It is not like those currently running around proclaiming the end of the world / beginning of the rapture on 21 May 2011.
In fact, there may be some psychological and medical benefits in believing in the existence of spirits and ghosts. In John G. Fuller's 1976 book (The Ghost of Flight 401) adn Rob and Sarah Elder's 1977 book (Crash), they mentioned that the seances they were party to gave a great deal of comfort to the survivors. Bunk? Possibly. But when no harm is done (no money was exchanged in these seances I just mentioned), then I believe holding one's peace is prudent. It is when even the most outlandish (a controversial opinion, naturally) treatment is denied that harm is generated and a crime against people is committed.
And, if one still requires some kind of proof, then I would suggest asking Eastern Air Lines for all of their in-flight logs from all the aircraft that used parts from the downed L-1011. Eastern Air Lines won't give them to you: not because of some kind of security concern but because of what was recorded in them. And, if Eastern Air Lines did not believe in the presence of spirts / ghosts, then one might legitimately ask the question: why were all of the non-important superstructure salvaged from Flight 401 removed from all other aircraft?
Last edited by Wallisdj; 05-15-2011 at 09:05 PM..
Reason: not done
And for the rest of you, I do believe in ghosts, spirits and in the afterlife. You saying we die, then we're buried in the Earth eaten by bugs isn't going to deter me from believing in it.
And you believing that from millions of species of life on this planet that you are going to come back from the dead certainly isn't about to make me believe the superstitious nonsense that was left for us by ignorant, primitive mankind. When you die you're dead...that's why they call it death.
Every lifeform on the planet is so similar that only someone who has been brainwashed or somebody very naive can believe one species is above all others. Each one is born or hatched. Each one takes in nutrition through a mouth at the top or front. Each one has a rectum at the rear or bottom through which it must extrude waste. Miss a few days of either of these requirements and any species will die. Reproductive organs are located within centimeters of the rectum. Each species has a brain, lungs, digestive system and a heart. Like I said...similarities are so numerous that only primitive tales left by ignorant people and repeated numerous times to each new generation can possibly be the reason the tales are still around.
This is one of those things in life that is very personal and it's not so much a thing that needs to be "proved" to folks outside of the one who has had the experience, as far as I'm concerned. For someone who has never experienced it, of course they will wave it away and say "nonsense!". And that's understandable. Why would they not? For those who have experienced certain phenomenon, they realize it is something beyond what they thought their eyes could see or their ears could hear. I was in the "eh, nonsense" camp for years. Then certain things happened to me over the years that made me a firm believer that there is more... some other plane of existence, some other dimension, something that our natural eyes cannot see.
I hold these experiences very, very close to me. They are sacred to me. I don't go around sharing them very often. Only because I've had the perspective of "eh, nonsense!" myself before this, and I know what folks will think. "all in your head" or "it can be explained away rationally" etc. So I mostly only share when I feel the urge to, privately.
For some reason, I was allowed to experience something. I didn't go looking for this stuff. It was completely unexpected.
Do people see things because they want to see them? Of course, people go looking for signs and find them all the time. Are they real? Maybe, maybe not.
But when you are not looking for things, and they happen anyway, that's kind of a whole other thing.
A mind that has completely and totally made itself up and won't allow itself to budge is a mind that is shut up way too tight. Be totally skeptical, of course, as we all should be! But leave a little crack open for other possibilities to enter. Maybe somewhere along the line, something will happen and you'll realize that the proof you were looking for...maybe you'll experience it and only then will you understand that it is personal. And you'll end up feeling a tad frustrated knowing that you can't "prove it" to anyone else. That's what happened with me, anyway.
I wouldn't believe in ghosts but luckily for me, I live in a "haunted" old house and have personally experienced the Unexplained on several occasions.
Not only that but millions of others have seen similar stuff throughout all history. Religion developed to make explanations for what people experienced, and I suspect people were seeing ghosts long before they decided there was a god and started worshipping him/her/it.
What I don't think is wise is to jump to the conclusion that "ghosts" are the disembodied spirits of the dead. It may appear that way from our perspective but that just isn't the only possibility, or the most logical one.
In the end, I'm sure there is a logical and ultimately scientific reason people see/experience what they do, and I'm sure it's caused by an outside (abeit natural) influence of some sort. We'll just have to wait for Science to take it's blinders off to find out what's really going on.
I wouldn't believe in ghosts but luckily for me, I live in a "haunted" old house and have personally experienced the Unexplained on several occasions.
Not only that but millions of others have seen similar stuff throughout all history. Religion developed to make explanations for what people experienced, and I suspect people were seeing ghosts long before they decided there was a god and started worshipping him/her/it.
What I don't think is wise is to jump to the conclusion that "ghosts" are the disembodied spirits of the dead. It may appear that way from our perspective but that just isn't the only possibility, or the most logical one.
In the end, I'm sure there is a logical and ultimately scientific reason people see/experience what they do, and I'm sure it's caused by an outside (abeit natural) influence of some sort. We'll just have to wait for Science to take it's blinders off to find out what's really going on.
Really? I think you've been watching too much on the ghost channel. When I was in my mid teens, on a bet I slept one night draped across the grave of one of my friend's grandmother's grave. The only thing notable about the night was an owl that kept me awake part of the time.
I'm seventy seven years old and whether you believe it or not I've lived a full life. Not once have I seen or heard anything which couldn't be explained by the physical laws of nature and circumstances. There's a logical explanation for everything and I never expect to see anything to the contrary. People who live and anxiously await something they can count as unusual are the ones who see and hear stuff.
Really? I think you've been watching too much on the ghost channel. When I was in my mid teens, on a bet I slept one night draped across the grave of one of my friend's grandmother's grave. The only thing notable about the night was an owl that kept me awake part of the time.
I'm seventy seven years old and whether you believe it or not I've lived a full life. Not once have I seen or heard anything which couldn't be explained by the physical laws of nature and circumstances. There's a logical explanation for everything and I never expect to see anything to the contrary. People who live and anxiously await something they can count as unusual are the ones who see and hear stuff.
Seeing is beliving, as they say. Something is up with the whole ghost thing and the almost certainly related UFO phenomenon.
BTW it's interesting to note that I am very picky on what is and isn't paranormal, and my most interesting paranormal experiences involved seeing a full body apparation of a little girl plain as day (in the daytime). I later learned a 5 year old girl did die at my house in 1918; I have even found pictures of the real girl which match the girl I saw, down to the white dress with puffy sleeves. It's real "Twilight Zone" stuff, I'm telling you.
As far as looking and waiting to see something...I've done a few ghost hunts with ghost hunter groups since having my experiences and haven't seen a thing. I've seen plenty of them get excited about a whole lot of nothing though.
But you don't have to believe if you don't want to. I really don't care...
...I can't accept such a narrow world view myself. I'm pretty much convinced that our perspective is only a narrow sliver of all that is, even without a god running the show....and I want to see more of it.
Seeing is beliving, as they say. Something is up with the whole ghost thing and the almost certainly related UFO phenomenon.
BTW it's interesting to note that I am very picky on what is and isn't paranormal, and my most interesting paranormal experiences involved seeing a full body apparation of a little girl plain as day (in the daytime). I later learned a 5 year old girl did die at my house in 1918; I have even found pictures of the real girl which match the girl I saw, down to the white dress with puffy sleeves. It's real "Twilight Zone" stuff, I'm telling you.
As far as looking and waiting to see something...I've done a few ghost hunts with ghost hunter groups since having my experiences and haven't seen a thing. I've seen plenty of them get excited about a whole lot of nothing though.
But you don't have to believe if you don't want to. I really don't care...
...I can't accept such a narrow world view myself. I'm pretty much convinced that our perspective is only a narrow sliver of all that is, even without a god running the show....and I want to see more of it.
If you were one of my three kids, eight grandkids, or my great granddaughter I would immediately get some professional help for you. Enjoy!!
We already know for a fact that all we see is NOT all that is... Who's to say bits and pieces of our minds are recorded into the (probably quantum) environment only to be replayed in unsuspecting minds in the right conditions? If hallucinations can be created by drugs, why not with ELF waves or electromagnetism?
Again, I'm not saying they are spirits, but ghostly phemonenon certainly exists and is witnessed by otherwise sane people on a more-or-less regular basis.
Someday we'll learn why.
Wouldn't it be something to find out the whole human idea of the afterlife was spawned by subatomic recordings of past brain/environment activity recorded into the fabric of reality? What if our whole past was recorded in the environment...mental "fossils" than can somehow be accessed?
Remember the idea of switching out a bad heart for a good one was once "crazy". So was going to the moon. So was sailing around the world without falling off the edge.
Old minds are so stuck in their preconceived ideas that it's sad. Why does advanced age come with a complete lack of vision?
Chango: The only connection between ghosts and UFOs is that they are both imagination at work. I don't doubt that there are unidentified flying objects, but as for encounters with extraterrestrial aliens, body probes, etc., no. Why do you think the two are "almost certainly related"? "The Unexplained" is just that: unexplained.
To paraphrase Stephen Hawking, who has lived with the threat of an early death for decades, when the body's computer shuts down, that's the end of it. There is no repair shop for them.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
