Follow up question: Religion has its spirits, but paranormal can't!?

Question

I asked the question about the closed minded and the paranormal and one of the answers brought me to another question. Why can people believe blindly in religion but not the paranormal?

Religion has its spirits, since the bible talks of spirits what makes you think they can't exist today?

One of Merriam Websters definitions of spirit is: "a supernatural being or essence: as a capitalized : HOLY SPIRIT b : SOUL 2a c : an often malevolent being that is bodiless but can become visible; specifically : GHOST 2 d : a malevolent being that enters and possesses a human being."

A lot of skeptics use religion as a reason not to believe in "ghosts" or "spirits" but they hear about them every Sunday.

I will qualify this question with a few comments of my own. I am not asking anyone to blindly believe anything nor do I tend to believe anything I hear and only half of what I see but I do find it interesting that those who won't believe in paranormal spirits believe in religious spirits

Answer 1

Religion is highly competitive. Their spirits are true. It's yours that are false. The difference is whether you call them "invisible bird people" or "angels".

Answer 2

I think its also,a social thing.There are just too many that choose to believe that stuff.There aren't as many paranormal experiences.People don't gather in groups and go have church and stuff if you know what I mean.

Answer 3

You are absolutely right in your assertion that it sounds just a bit hypocritical to believe in the one but not the other.  Anyone who picks and chooses what they believe and uses religion to qualify something that defies logical reasoning tends to be kind of hard--or impossible --to be reasoned with.  Life is such and such because I believe in the whatever faith is often the response--which allows them the ability to ignore anything they do not want to accept--it's called being brainwashed!

Answer 4

First you need to understand the difference between "paranormal" and "metaphysical".

Answer 5

A lot of people who don't believe in the paranormal don't believe in gods or spirits either.  I know I don't.  Religion is just a fancy dressed-up version of the paranormal.  There's no evidence for any of it.

Answer 6

I will any time discuss the paranormal with a child.Ghosts don't exist,silly folk think they do.Religion is a whole different thing.That's a parental Perogotive I would not intrude on that,

Answer 7

Ghosts are real and part of the paranormal. However the popularity of the paranormal over the years with books, websites and all the instant professional parapsychologists who became professional with a weekend seminar hurts the field. When people go outside and claim dust is pictures of ghosts, how can that help our cause?

Answer 8

This is a very good question.  I will attempt to answer both this and your other question as well.  Personally, I think the paranormal and the metaphysical are on an equal plain.  They are both possible, but they require evidence in order to be valid suppositions.  If there is no evidence in support of either idea then we can assume they don't exist until some compelling evidence surfaces.

Assuming something doesn't exist because there is no reason to think that is does exist is not being closed minded.  It's simply living in an evidence-based world--reality, if you will.

Answer 9

A rose by any other name, is still a rose.  I try  not to make a separation  between religion and ghost hunting,  they go hand and hand.  I personally believe  in many Gods, and they have many names. There as many names for a spirit as there are languages.  I have never met a "malevolent ghost", so I don't like that description. I have known mischievous ghost, lived with one for close to 2 years.  We have to sides in our ghost hunting group,  the move to the light people and the don't move to the light ones.  I think the spirit should make that choice. As far as supernatural, I haven't seen that either.  And some how the Holly Ghost isn't a ghost?  It was once said that religion is the last refuge of a sick mind,  well I have known many malevolent Christians.  Family annihilators are the best example. See this page

http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/...

The one thing they all have in common is the belief that their family is better off with God, I bet they didn't take a vote.

Answer 10

Most people who don't believe in religion also don't believe in spirits and the paranormal. A skeptical outlook generally makes you question everything for which there is no strong evidence.

I don't know many people who are strongly religious and also skeptical about spirits and ghosts.

Answer 11

selective reasoning is what allows people to believe what they want and shoot you down for your beliefs.

paranormal and metaphysical both are supernatural and that covers all that is beyond being explained. You cannot just pick and choose.

Answer 12

>Why can people believe blindly in religion but not the

>paranormal?

I don't think either is a good idea.

Answer 13

I think you're getting worked up about a small percentage of people who tend to be outspoken about their beliefs.

Answer 14

The Spirits we are dealing with here are those that once dwelt in human form. The Holy Spirit did not