Posts by Beardo

149

Issuing a Challenge to Atheists and Unbelievers

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

questions for the atheists and unbelievers understandably, individuals who have left the organization did so for.

personal and more than likely good reasons.

and after reading the .

Beardo

Just to clarify what the occult researcher 'Colin Wilson' thought about a spirit world, after two decades research involving case studies, he did not dismiss the whole idea as some kind of collective delusion:

At this point in the development of civilization the aim is to re-establish that ancient contact with the 'unconscious', the realm of myth. This realm of myth is also the realm of man's 'hidden powers'. What the last two chapters should have made quite clear is that whether we like it or not it is also the realm of'spirits'. Ancient man believed in spirits not because he was a superstitious ignoramus, but because he often saw them. In that sense Voltaire and the French rationalists were completely wrong. Voltaire writes condescendingly in his article on superstition in the Philosophical Dictionary, 'All the Fathers of the Church without exception believed in magic. The Church always condemned magic, but it always believed in it; it didn't excommunicate sorcerers as madmen who were deceived, but as men who really had intercourse with devils.' And this, to Voltaire, was so preposterous that it was not even worth discussing. We can hardly blame Voltaire for taking what after all strikes us as a sensible attitude. The fact remains that we now possess factual evidence that enables us to go beyond Voltaire, and the evidence indicates that the world is a more strange and complex place than we assumed. Jung and Kardec seem to be in agreement on one fundamental point: that the road that will take us forward is also the road that will take us inward.

(Beyond The Occult - Page 286)

149

Issuing a Challenge to Atheists and Unbelievers

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

questions for the atheists and unbelievers understandably, individuals who have left the organization did so for.

personal and more than likely good reasons.

and after reading the .

Beardo

Beardo, I am interested to know what you think it is you saw, and how you arrived at that conclusion, so I can see where my approach would differ.

@ Skeptic2

The incidents I partially detailed are not my own, but those of a group of friends who I trust implicitly. I have had my own encounters, but nothing I wish to share, as they would be perceived as lightweight and will always remain 'personal'.

I'll have a look at the info' you posted a little later - gotta go out

149

Issuing a Challenge to Atheists and Unbelievers

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

questions for the atheists and unbelievers understandably, individuals who have left the organization did so for.

personal and more than likely good reasons.

and after reading the .

Beardo

I disagree. It has taken us a huge distance, and will yet take us far.

@ Mr Toe

Possibly, and I agree in part, as being bound to superstition and seeing ancient myths as factual rather than allegorical for instance, can be a huge mistake.

I recommend a series to you called 'Magical Egypt' ...

149

Issuing a Challenge to Atheists and Unbelievers

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

questions for the atheists and unbelievers understandably, individuals who have left the organization did so for.

personal and more than likely good reasons.

and after reading the .

Beardo

God has to be experienced as the totality of all existence not arrived at through an objective study. You won't find God in a book. Go pick some flowers or enjoy a sunset.

I think I agree with you trevor ... good comment.

149

Issuing a Challenge to Atheists and Unbelievers

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

questions for the atheists and unbelievers understandably, individuals who have left the organization did so for.

personal and more than likely good reasons.

and after reading the .

Beardo

@ itsallCRAPnow

We are animals who can speak and type and make things with opposable thumbs. That's about it.

Blimey - welcome to the future ... here I come

149

Issuing a Challenge to Atheists and Unbelievers

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

questions for the atheists and unbelievers understandably, individuals who have left the organization did so for.

personal and more than likely good reasons.

and after reading the .

Beardo

Basically it's not worth getting upset over. Your friends saw what they saw and you're all convinced of your interpretation of it. Let the scientists either catch up, ignore, or disprove it.

Tee hee Littletoe - please believe me, I'm not upset, just having a little fun here and doing a bit of straight talking. No need to pussyfoot around these topics.

This age of rational thought has lead us nowhere; accept up the garden path, and the pomposity of this institutionalized thinking projected at us through the towers of academia will one day crumble into dust.

To repeat myself - rational thought has its limits, although it wears fine tailored clothing through its choice of language and the beguiling conceptual forms projected there within.

149

Issuing a Challenge to Atheists and Unbelievers

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

questions for the atheists and unbelievers understandably, individuals who have left the organization did so for.

personal and more than likely good reasons.

and after reading the .

Beardo

My, my, beardo. You certainly come up with some compelling arguments.

Yes Alan - quite the argument wasn't it. But Satan himself could appear in your room and you'd probably stick a 'Gauss meter' up his arse

149

Issuing a Challenge to Atheists and Unbelievers

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

questions for the atheists and unbelievers understandably, individuals who have left the organization did so for.

personal and more than likely good reasons.

and after reading the .

Beardo

But were you to have some kind of corroborating data, photos, video, etc. then the matter could be investigated. On the basis of your description it could be anything from ball lightning to misperceiving airplane foglights to UFOs, so more evidence is needed to begin to narrow down the possibilities.

@ skeptic2

The evidence is there - you aren't looking hard enough. We have the library of Alexandria at our fingertips - there are no longer any excuses.

There is NO WAY what my friends saw were either ball lightening or foglights

"corroborating data"

As I said - there are 'many' people who have witnessed similar forms - or are we to discount every testimony as the babbling of madmen?

I will be back later when I have dug out my Colin Wilson book and scanned in a few paragraphs to squash the ideas projected about his research.

149

Issuing a Challenge to Atheists and Unbelievers

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

questions for the atheists and unbelievers understandably, individuals who have left the organization did so for.

personal and more than likely good reasons.

and after reading the .

Beardo

I'm completely with Dawkins on this. I'm in category 6 with respect to God, the supernatural in general, the paranormal, UFOs as conveyors of alien beings, and a lot more besides.

@AlanF

Yep - good approach ... a nice comfy ride to the grave - just wait for the rational mind to kick in and all will be ok.

149

Issuing a Challenge to Atheists and Unbelievers

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

questions for the atheists and unbelievers understandably, individuals who have left the organization did so for.

personal and more than likely good reasons.

and after reading the .

Beardo

Do you mean to imply that seeing or experiencing something means that it must be real? I'm seen many things that are not real, that do not exist, seeing them does not make them exist, experiencing them does not make them real.

@ Skeptic2

What about feeling something tangible as well as seeing something - witnessed and experienced by more than one person on odd occasions?

That is the kind of event I'm talking about. Heat changes, movement of air, electric devices switching on and off, things moving involuntarily and actual apparitions?

Not some whacked out mushroom trip.

3 of my mates (the one autistic - just to ease the mind of the guys here who believe that people who witness odd events are clearly unbalanced one way or the other) saw a UFO three weeks ago. Also witnessed by other folk in the area. Three unsual lights suspended in midair, floating above a house, without a perceivable sound. Too low to be a plane or copter and no apparent mass beyond the orbs of light. This object has also been seen down south in the UK and after speaking to some guys on another forum, stateside as well. I'm not saying what it is or isn't, but I have enough faith in my mates to believe the tale I was told. No clear explanation. When reported on a local radio station, the DJ " took the piss " .... a typical close-minded response by one of the secular atheist "sheeple" ...

This cold rational response to reality has its limits.