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One of the reasons that I am skeptical that dead people somehow continue to survive as immaterial intelligences (ghosts) is that if they did, wouldn't they be behaving a lot differently?
Why would they behave differently? I don't think a generalization can be made regarding any entity. Some may, and some may not have an agenda.
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Originally Posted by pamelaBeurman
There's an older but really good movie about the subject that you might find interesting. "The Serpent and The Rainbow".
Loved that movie. It was an anthropologist who went to study the phenom of zombies, right? Wow. Powerful movie. As a college student majoring in anthro, I loved this movie. But it scared the crap out of me.
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Originally Posted by Mircea
It's a ghost, not a train: they don't run on a schedule.
Mircea
Excellent post. Someone could just as easily say, if god really exists, why doesn't he just show himself ... or jesus, or whatever. The reason is...
to confound you! Okay, that last part was a joke, but you get what I am saying. The world does not act on our terms.
I mean say you know of a haunted house. If there's a real ghost in there, surely you could invite 100 skeptics in there and they'd find something right? Unless the ghost is shy? But why? Would a ghost not want us to believe in it?
And this could have happened 100 years ago before holographics etc. Nowadays, it seems, it might be impossible to convince some skeptics of ghosts because they will just explain it away with technology.
If ghosts/hauntings/supernatural experiences are so common, why do so many believe, have no experience? Is it because they are closed to spiritual things or is that just a way to explain why only 'special' psychically gifted people can see, hear, converse or relate with the dead?
No. Because people vary greatly in their sensitivity and reception.
Seeing a ghost and speaking to the dead are two very different things. Not very many people can do the later.
I don't mean to make light of those who follow the bible and believe in demons but I do have a hard time understanding why demons would present themselves as loving,peaceful spirits of God. To what purpose does that serve the "demons" if one gives the glory of the communication to God? Makes no sense to me.
A good question.
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Originally Posted by Lamplight
I've wondered why demons would make themselves known at all to humans. Wouldn't a demon's primary goal be to make sure as few people as possible become or remain believers? But actually seeing a demon would be pretty convincing evidence that at least some of the religious stuff is true. So you'd think a demon would avoid that at all costs.
IDK, but there have been enough exorcisims, people who performed and witnessed them, that they are making themselves known and have been for long time.
IDK, but there have been enough exorcisims, people who performed and witnessed them, that they are making themselves known and have been for long time.
Why would they behave differently? I don't think a generalization can be made regarding any entity. Some may, and some may not have an agenda.
I just don't buy the theory that we humans survive our deaths in some spirit form, and then, no matter what happens to us, just hang out in our former residence, or wherever we were killed, until some motley group of ghost hunters on a TV show tells us to "go towards the light!" It doesn't make sense for so many reasons. If ghosts were disembodied humans, they'd likely be doing lots of other things. They'd be roaming the streets trying to find loved ones, familiar places, their favorite restaurant, etc. The ones who were killed would be headed to the police station to point law enforcement in the direction of their murderer. Heck, they'd be haunting their murderer. And if they were somehow stuck in the place that they died, then every nursing home and every hospital in America would be Spook Central, because that's where most people die.
Lots of people claim that ghosts have to be dead humans because they often appear as humans, wearing the same clothes that they wore in real life. But notice that when they do appear as humans, it's always humans from our time period or from a time period that we remember. Again, there should be many more ghosts from ancient time periods. We never seem to see those though.
What I have noticed about "ghosts" is that they act a lot like animals. They're very territorial. They don't like being threatened. They seem to stake out a house or whatever and mark their territory, like an animal in the wild would. That makes me think that we're dealing with non-human entities.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DMG721
I just don't buy the theory that we humans survive our deaths in some spirit form, and then, no matter what happens to us, just hang out in our former residence, or wherever we were killed, until some motley group of ghost hunters on a TV show tells us to "go towards the light!" It doesn't make sense for so many reasons. If ghosts were disembodied humans, they'd likely be doing lots of other things. They'd be roaming the streets trying to find loved ones, familiar places, their favorite restaurant, etc. The ones who were killed would be headed to the police station to point law enforcement in the direction of their murderer. Heck, they'd be haunting their murderer. And if they were somehow stuck in the place that they died, then every nursing home and every hospital in America would be Spook Central, because that's where most people die.
Lots of people claim that ghosts have to be dead humans because they often appear as humans, wearing the same clothes that they wore in real life. But notice that when they do appear as humans, it's always humans from our time period or from a time period that we remember. Again, there should be many more ghosts from ancient time periods. We never seem to see those though.
What I have noticed about "ghosts" is that they act a lot like animals. They're very territorial. They don't like being threatened. They seem to stake out a house or whatever and mark their territory, like an animal in the wild would. That makes me think that we're dealing with non-human entities.
Yes, I mean where are all the native american, caveman ghosts? lol
I doubt it has much to do with how smart they are.
My point is, why would a demon want to provide evidence for anything that might be in the Bible? The smartest thing a demon could do would to make people believe it doesn't exist. The dumbest thing it could do would be to possess people and generally may itself known. It just doesn't make sense to me.
Again, there should be many more ghosts from ancient time periods. We never seem to see those though.
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Originally Posted by Trimac20
Yes, I mean where are all the native american, caveman ghosts? lol
What do you think ancestor worship/reverence is and it came to be?
Not everyone who dies is a ghost. In the ancient world, they didn't understand that. Most likely, they saw several and then made the illogical assumption that all come back as a "spirit." To that end, they developed numerous methods of contacting those spirits, and that, over centuries evolved into ancestor worship in some areas, and in other areas, extreme reverence for dead ancestors.
If electromagnetic energy is responsible in whole or in part, then development would destroy it. I mean, if you go in and bull-doze a place to put a Wal-Mart you destroy or alter the electromagnetic energy in that area, right? Right.
I would remind you of cave paintings of strange beings. Originally, anthropologists and enthusiasts referred to them as ghosts or spirits but some now believe those are depictions of alien astronauts. Perhaps they are depictions of both (or neither).
Maybe we dont see ghosts from ancient times because they knew something about this unknown aspect of life and spirit that we have lost through generations and...religion?
Thus, their burials of their dead was done in a 'proper' manner that sent the spirit to where it is supposed to go.
However- when in Big Sur, a friend and I were walking through the redwoods and happened upon a native in 'old dress'. My friend being native himself greeted the stranger in his language. The old native put his hand out, walked away, and disappeared.
We thought he was a live human and perhaps there was a gathering happening that we did not know about. But when the old native vanished into thin air....well, we were speechless, the whole way back to the truck.
I'm not sure what you all would consider ancient, 5,000 years?
The native we say would likely have been pre-contact, thus he lived any time from before the mid 1,700's
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I don't think a generalization can be made regarding any entity. Some may, and some may not have an agenda.
Okay, that last part was a joke, but you get what I am saying. The world does not act on our terms.
