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Only delluded doinks believe in ghosts. I could sleep in a cemetary in comfort...even if there were such things - From what I understand..biblically speaking is that necro-mancy is forbidden and any communication with the dead is a no no... ODD that you mention atheists that might believe in ghosts - and UFOs for that matter<..I could never understand that a person does not believe in God but does believe in little green men and spectors.
just call me a deluded doink cause i have been in the presence of God during a nde and in my actual life have seen 2 apparitions(or what some call ghosts)--none in a cemetary or in complete dark--that is for effect on tv only
ODD that you mention atheists that might believe in ghosts - and UFOs for that matter<..I could never understand that a person does not believe in God but does believe in little green men and spectors.
What I find equally odd is that perfectly logical people can look into the vastness of space, know that we are but one planet orbiting one small star in one little solar system of a nearly infinite number of solar systems and think that we are the only living, breathing, sentient beings in all of that vastness.
Why would there not be any other sentient beings in all of that? And why is it not possible that they could contact us? When someone tells me it's not possible, I can't comprehend that.
Sure, it's possible for an atheist to believe in the existence of ghosts.
However, I do not. Given our status as products of evolution and biology, I do not believe in the existence of souls or that humans have any special kind of "spirit" that sets them apart from other animals. The only thing that separates us from them is the arrangement and expression of our genetic coding. If you're willing to believe in human ghosts, then I don't see how you could not also believe in ape ghosts, dog ghosts, bird ghosts, dinosaur ghosts, and so on, even plant ghosts: The presence of DNA either confers a spirit beyond a physical body or it doesn't.
If you're willing to believe in human ghosts, then I don't see how you could not also believe in ape ghosts, dog ghosts, bird ghosts, dinosaur ghosts, and so on, even plant ghosts: The presence of DNA either confers a spirit beyond a physical body or it doesn't.
Funny you should say that... my middle daughter and I were convinced that our last apartment together was inhabited by a "ghost cat." We said that because both of us kept seeing a grey cat in the apartment. We'd been there about a month before she asked me if I'd let a cat in, and I said, "you've seen it too?" She said, "Yeah, a big, fluffy, grey thing. Kind a freaky." I thought my mind was playing tricks on me until then.
We'd only catch glimpses of the thing, though once I stared it straight in the face before I blinked and *poof* the stupid thing disappeared. Of course there was no way (that we could find) in and out of the place except the front door -- it wasn't a very big apartment. We never heard it in the walls or cabinetry, and given the thinness of the walls, I'm sure we would have. We lived there for two years and never found a trace of cat, no scat, no food scraps, nothing... We saw the silly thing on and off the entire time we lived there though. It scared the crap out of my neighbor once on New Year's Eve... (no, he hadn't been drinking). He was all, "I didn't know you had a cat." I said, "We don't, that's our ghost cat." He never visited during the night again.
We made a joke of it, of course, whenever anything went missing, we blamed it on the ghost cat. Haven't seen hide nor hair of it before that place or since. Don't know what to make of it. But that's my ghost cat story.
An atheist who came to atheism through logic will not believe in "spirits"... they are skeptics, and will not believe in any supernatural phenomena... the same logic that got you the one will certainly get you the other. Atheism is a process, I believe, and a newly-formed atheistic belief needs to mature, where the gods are questioned and rejected first (along with religion in general) and gradually all the other supernatural crap is questioned and rejected.
Mircea, Chango, the [URL="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ghost"]definition of "ghost"[/URL] has nothing to do with dimensions, electromagnetic phenomenon, etc. The definition of "ghost" has to do with souls, namely "the soul of a dead person, a disembodied spirit imagined, usually as a vague, shadowy or evanescent form, as wandering among or haunting living persons."
You are not talking about ghosts. You are talking about...whatever you are talking about...but "ghost" means "spirit" and "soul."
No spirit and no soul mean no ghost. Please do not try to redefine the term as it stands in the English language.
yeah, semantics. Or she is trying to remind you that the thread is about whether or not an atheist believes in every human being possessing an immortal soul and whether or not after death, sometimes WHOOPSIE, that immortal soul misses the bus to heaven/hell and has to hang out in some old house rattling chains until the next bus comes along to take them where they are going.
The weird philisophical tangents that eveyrone is going off on is not the point of the thread. The thread is "can atheists be atheists and still believe in ghosts". if you want to talk about left over electric energy, extra dimensional entities, aliens, Cthulu or whatever, then start a new thread about that.
There is a difference between saying "I don't believe in immortal souls, but I think Humans can leave a mark behind" (a stretch, but I guess compatible with atheism) and saying "it's silly not to believe in ghosts! we know dark matter exists now!! rant rant rant" (which is just a way to inject theism into the scientific realm).
If that's what the thread was about then maybe it should be called: "Can an atheist be atheistic and believe human mind survive death and hangs around afterwards as per religious theology?"
Meanwhile, any normal person who heard the word "ghosts" would think of the upteen paranoral books/tv shows/movies/ect on the suject which actually encompasses a broad range of related phenomonon.
So I'm not off topic at all when I'm arguing there is something to the phenomenon but that it isn't what most people think it is.
And since we are all about arguing and not learning; if you can't win that one, is the next best strategy to narrow the subject after the fact?
yeah, semantics. Or she is trying to remind you that the thread is about whether or not an atheist believes in every human being possessing an immortal soul and whether or not after death, sometimes WHOOPSIE, that immortal soul misses the bus to heaven/hell and has to hang out in some old house rattling chains until the next bus comes along to take them where they are going.
The weird philisophical tangents that eveyrone is going off on is not the point of the thread. The thread is "can atheists be atheists and still believe in ghosts". if you want to talk about left over electric energy, extra dimensional entities, aliens, Cthulu or whatever, then start a new thread about that.
There is a difference between saying "I don't believe in immortal souls, but I think Humans can leave a mark behind" (a stretch, but I guess compatible with atheism) and saying "it's silly not to believe in ghosts! we know dark matter exists now!! rant rant rant" (which is just a way to inject theism into the scientific realm).
Thank you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chango
If that's what the thread was about then maybe it should be called: "Can an atheist be atheistic and believe human mind survive death and hangs around afterwards as per religious theology?"
Meanwhile, any normal person who heard the word "ghosts" would think of the upteen paranoral books/tv shows/movies/ect on the suject which actually encompasses a broad range of related phenomonon.
A refresher for you:
Quote:
Originally Posted by weatherologist
Hello, please forgive me if my question seems ignorant, but my husband and I were just having a discussion and I told him I would post it here.
Do atheists believe in ghost/spirits?
My husband seems to think that there is some connection between God and spirits. His reasoning was, "if atheists don't believe in God, why would there be a spirit world", or something like that. My argument was, "why does there have to be a God to control the spirit world?".
Anyway, we were batting this back and forth (me totally unable to see where he was going with his thought process) when I decided, "why not go straight to the source?".
Any insight would be appreciated.
Thanks.
weather...
Ghosts and spirits. Sorry, Chango, but the [URL="https://www.google.com/search?btnG=1&pws=0&q=define+ghost"]definition of ghost[/URL] is what it is. Applying another, made-up definition to the word in order to suit your purposes for this thread does not alter the dictionary or the way those who speak English use the term.
Just a quick reminder here to keep posts on topic relevant to the OP.
Thanks.
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Haven't seen hide nor hair of it before that place or since. Don't know what to make of it. But that's my ghost cat story.
