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The reverand picked up his envelope (left sealed) and called out his full name (had no way of knowing it as my friend just came in and sat down-first time visit) answered his question
Curious - what was the question?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr5150
How about you?
I have seen the miraculous. I am really skeptical of "spiritualists" though, most have been proven fake but the account is definitely intriguing.
Sadly - most Christian "prophetic" ministries are fake also (I know first hand) but I have experienced God to a point that no one/nothing could make me doubt God's existence.
I really find it amusing how the skeptics found it necessary to jump in to try to convince me and themselves that what started me on my spiritual journey was a sham. Laughable and very telling.
This thread was never meant to be anything but a time of sharing, yet the little goblins of atheism just had to jump in and dump their rotten apples into the barrel to make sure all went bad. Sad.
I really feel sorry for you folk. Can't you just be happy (or at least content in your belief system) and let people be who they are? Can you not do that? Maybe not.
I see much anger and bitterness in the atheist camp. Not from all, of course. There are a few (on this board) open minded and peace loving ones. Dewdrop and June come to mind for starters. I also see closed mindedness, but that's not as bad. Everyone is that way to some degree. The anger and bitterness-that is not good. Not healthy.
Peace to all. Whether you like it or not.
I have to second your praise for Dewdrop and June. I've had my differences with both, but I have to say, they are both fine individuals who try hard to look at issues objectively and respectfully and are a feather in the cap of the non-theist camp.
Who was it that was pretending to know things he couldn't possibly know, and was outed for having a microphone in his ear with his wife telling him what to say, because she'd read the "prayer cards" people filled out on the way in? Wasn't it Benny Hinn?
Couple of points: I am not trying to convince you or anyone of anything. If you re-read the OP you will see that.
But the reactions of the atheists posting in this thread are telling. Why should they care how I started my spiritual path? If I wanted to get a rise from atheists I would have put the OP in the R&P section.
I agree. If you're just telling your own experience and what it meant to you I don't really see the point in trying to tell you that your experience didn't happen or was unreal. I don't know you or what happened to you.
If someone said Krishna appeared to them and gave them a magic feather I may think that's weird, but I don't know if I need to lecture them on Catechism or how that couldn't have really happened.
my conclusion here is that it seems very scary to some people to think that we humans have a spiritual side so attacking those that believe we do is their only defense mechanism----love and peace to those of you on your spiritual journey
You guys should watch some Derren Brown videos on youtube. He admits that he is nothing more than a stage mentalist using misdirection, distraction, suggestion, and trickery. And he is able to fool people into thinking seances are real, causes "instant conversions" to people believing in God, and even does "cold reading" to speak to "dead" loved ones.
I understand how the basics of how cold reading works - it is essentially letting the "victim" fill in the details for you and passing it off as a message from beyond.
But all of these techniques can be quite deceptive if they are presented in a manner to make you think they are really supernatural, and not simply a trick.
You guys should watch some Derren Brown videos on youtube. He admits that he is nothing more than a stage mentalist using misdirection, distraction, suggestion, and trickery. And he is able to fool people into thinking seances are real, causes "instant conversions" to people believing in God, and even does "cold reading" to speak to "dead" loved ones.
I understand how the basics of how cold reading works - it is essentially letting the "victim" fill in the details for you and passing it off as a message from beyond.
But all of these techniques can be quite deceptive if they are presented in a manner to make you think they are really supernatural, and not simply a trick.
I'll share my story. My parents were Jewish agnostics, who drifted to flat out atheism by the time I was 12. I really didn't label myself as anything, but truthfully, I didn't even wonder if there was, or even thought about God.
At age 20 my grandmother invited me to attend her "church". It was a spiritualist church. To make a long story short after four visits, I saw and experienced things that convinced me that the spiritual realm was real. One example was the readings. The reverand was blindfolded. She was given a pile of sealed envelopes with a question inside and one's initials on the envelope. I had brought a friend to visit with me. The reverand picked up his envelope (left sealed) and called out his full name (had no way of knowing it as my friend just came in and sat down-first time visit) answered his question and talked about his recently deceased uncle. My freind and I were shocked and a bit freaked out.
We never returned, but the whole experience shattered my agnostic mindset and so my spiritual journey began. Many stops along the way and four years later I became a Christian. I also should say that I explored many other paths. The occultic ones were a bit scary. Buddhism did nothing for me. Just being a theistic Jew was OK, but something was missing-temple was nice tho.
**************
How about you?
I would not deny that there are things which we as humans do not uinderstand. Humans have often pointed to the spiritual realm as an explanation. I will not deny that. But hoaxes abound.
Interesting, but my deist/buddhist mindset exists because of things I witnessed growing up in Christianity, which never did anything for me.
I have never been impressed by a religion that claims to have all the answers when it obviously doesn't have all the answers (OR all the questions)
Throw agnostic into that, or aetheist because I openly deny the existance of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic superhuman egotistical manifestation of diety.
As for spiritualism, perhaps there are things of that realm, but superstition, human psyche and a plethora of hoaxes have left me as a skeptic looking for "real" answers, not those grounded in myth and superstition.
my conclusion here is that it seems very scary to some people to think that we humans have a spiritual side so attacking those that believe we do is their only defense mechanism----love and peace to those of you on your spiritual journey
It seems to June that one should not necessarily have to invalidate the other; that there is nothing to be gained in that.
~For the believer to respect the experience and perspective of the nonbeliever says much. For the nonbeliever to respect the experience and the perspective of the believer, likewise, says much. --We don't necessarily have to understand the other or agree with him/her.
But we don't need to undermind another's genuine, heartfelt experience.
It's not necessarily anyone's domain to judge or decide what is another person's perception of their experience; nor is there anything to really be gained in doing so...
Take gentle tolerant care.
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