Even if you don't believe in God, do you believe that spirits exist?

by sonnyboy 53 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  doogie

  If intelligent afterlife does exist, why do the spooks always seem to be sneaking around? Why can't they just reveal themselves and communicate in an understandable and honest manner?

  whoa...i just had a thought. if they were real, they would outnumber the living by billions and billions (at least if we're talking about ghosts...if we're focusing more on demons, who knows how many there could be). of course, maybe not every corpse leaves a ghost, maybe only the tormented or something? in any case, there would be a lot of them. if they had the ability to affect our physical realm in any way, why wouldn't they start a revolution?...take their old physical world back from the living. how would we combat it? we couldn't. we'd be dead in the water... if there are ghosts and all they can do is turn on a friggin ceiling fan and spell words one letter at a time, i say, f*ck em. bring it on, punks.
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  Mecurious?

  lol@doogie
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  VM44

  Ghosts can do a lot more than move a fan, or spell words one letter at a time, they can power UFOs as this article from the Weekly Universe shows. --VM44
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  seattleniceguy

  if there are ghosts and all they can do is turn on a friggin ceiling fan and spell words one letter at a time, i say, f*ck em. bring it on, punks.

  LOL @ doogie! But I hear that spirits are killer at spelling bees. SNG
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  joelbear

  nope. the natural world is all there is. that's exciting enough.
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  EscapedLifer1

  One thing about the whole ghost/spirit thing, especially the horror movie stuff, is this:

  Why are we so afraid of them? What is the ABSOLUTE WORST that a spirit can do, even if it is some horrific demonic entity?

  The worst it can do is kill us. Then guess what, we get to be a ghost/spirit. Once we're there, why can't we find the spirit/demon that killed us and kick its ass in the spirit world?

  Brandon
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  Satanus

  I do.

  S
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  georgefoster

  Sonnyboy - I'm with you man. I had an extremely bizarre experience with a ouija board in college - I posted about it before.
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  seattleniceguy

  The problem with something like Ouija boards is that they are very subject to the unconscious motives and desires of not one, but two (count 'em) people who already believe in spirits enough to be using the thing in the first place.

  Here's a simple experiment you could do with a Ouija board that should definitively prove whether or not it has any effect.

  1. Have a friend who will not be manipulating or viewing the Ouija board write a short series of numbers between 1 and 100 on a piece of paper and leave it face up on the other side of the room where it would presumably be visible to any spirits in the room, but not to the Ouija board operators. This friend should never be able to view the board, lest she unwittingly give the operators hints when they get close to the right numbers.
  2. The operators ask the Ouija board what the numbers are. The operators should write their answers down without saying anything aloud.
  3. After completing the list, compare the the two lists.

  This should be easy information for spirits to give you if they exist. If they are really directing your hands, it should be trivially easy to get all the numbers right, and in the correct order. A series of five numbers between 1 and 100 would be sufficient to rule out any possibility of merely having guessed right, as those odds would be 1 in 10,000,000,000. Therefore, this would constitute powerful evidence that the spirits are real. On the other hand, if they can't even muster the clarity of thought to tackle this simple task, I think you should seriously look at alternative explanations for what you believe you saw before.

  Interestingly, for the believers, if you get the sinking feeling that the spirits wouldn't fare too well in this kind of test, why is that? Why can spirits never perform under circumstances in which it is not possible for humans to manipulate the outcome? I think this fact is very telling.

  SNG
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  tetrapod.sapien

  i have a completely natural worldview. this excludes spirits, gods, goddesses, angels, demons, UFOs etc.

  Interestingly, for the believers, if you get the sinking feeling that the spirits wouldn't fare too well in this kind of test, why is that? Why can spirits never perform under circumstances in which it is not possible for humans to manipulate the outcome? I think this fact is very telling.

  nice SNG.

  another thing you and your bro should try sonny, is haul the board out again, and try it blindfolded. one of you operates (fitting word) the oujia board blindfolded, while the other one writes down what it spells. to make it harder for your subconscious to know where the letters are on the board, blindfold yourself before entering the room. after being led to the board, try not to touch the edges of the board, but just handle the little thingie-majiggy.

  happy skepticisms!

  TS

  PS: people WANT, badly, subconsciously, to believe. if oujia boards really work, then that means we are not all alone. same with witnoids and demon attacks. it reaffirms their world view. that we are not alone in a cold dark universe, but that there are beings more powerful than us helping us and hurting us. and it's perfect that way. no real obligations to the world you live in, to make it a better place. bad spirits make me do bad, and are the root of bad in the world, so why fight it? and, another powerful good spirit, god, will make an accounting of all the problems and suffering, which are out of our hands anyway, so why bother trying to fix anything?

  magical thinking is dangerous. not just for the magical thinker, but for those who come in contact with him.