Is believing in the paranormal against the law?

Question

Will the government come after you if they find out you believe in it?

Answer 1

Sounds like you need to ease up on your sci-fi channel watching.

I do hope you are kidding about that question.

Answer 2

Its only illegal if it involves crimminal activity or is somehow invovled with terrorism.

PS even the crazy things schizophrenics believe are not against the law. They only send the dudes with white coats after you if you not only think crazy but act crazy - think about the move "a beautify mind".

Answer 3

No of course not.  Unless of course your beliefs require you to break the law or are causing harm to others.

Answer 4

What is not these days?  There is always some maggot law officer who will bust you for anything.

Answer 5

TROLLING bums me out!  Nobody is dim enough to think that mere belief in [whatever] is against the law, at least in the US. You're not believable. So why are you trolling?

Answer 6

No way,like the first answer and religion is believing in the paranormal

Answer 7

I'm speechless!

EDIT: Deenie are you trying to say like people that can see the dead or possessed could be diagnosed as skitzofrentic or something? Then maybe be institutionalized.

Answer 8

I'm assuming you're kidding.  If there were true, you'd have to put about 90% of the American population in jail for claiming there's a god of some sort.  And pretty much the entire government as well.

What was the point of this exactly?

EDIT:  People don't get locked up for having crazy beliefs.  They get locked up for acting on those beliefs.

Answer 9

Believing in the paranormal is not against the laws of counties that have freedom of religion. I know I shouldn't cross sections on YA, but most religions are paranormal by definition.

Fearing persecution is not altogether irrational. Persecution has happened often enough in human history, and continues in some places today. There have been witch hunts and inquisitions and general harassment of people who believe in the less mainstream supernatural. The religions have certainly been at the heart of governments and wars throughout history.

For all we might like to see different, we who live in countries where respecting other beliefs is law, are very lucky indeed.

Answer 10

No! It's not prohibited by the law! And if somebody did, who cares??

Answer 11

No, not against the law of the land, but yes against the law of some religions.   Since there is no actual proof that there is any kind of real paranormal activity, I don't think the government cares what people believe.  Unless they know something we do not, which is possible.  Wait, there is no way to prove that, so that must not be true.  Oh, and I work on murder investigations and no one has told me I  can't.  So again, not against the law.

Answer 12

No it is not. However, some psychics have been prosecuted for fraud in some US states as well as other countries. (links below)

The white coats can only be sent after you (legally) if you are deemed by a court of law agreeing with a qualified mental health professional that you are an immediate threat to yourself or others. When your behavior is stabilized to the point that you are no longer a threat you must be released.

A court could also declare a person insane or incompetent (a legal not a mental health determination) in order to place them in an institution.

Psiexploration

Answer 13

Believing in something is never against the law. According to freedom of speech, you should also be able to talk about what you believe in too.

You've got to be careful though, when doing psychic or mediumistic readings, because in the US you could get prosecuted for fraud, misleading or unfair trading.

Answer 14

They have never bothered me except to ask me questions that I am not able to answer....but nope, it is not illegal.

Answer 15

It is not against the law in the United States, but the practice of phenomena regarded as paranormal (e.g., witchcraft) is restricted in some countries. Other countries, like the United Kingdom, have laws that penalize the use of fraudulent schemes, which can include claims of psychic ability such as fortune telling.

"The government" in any moderate or larger sized country is a massively complex system consisting of millions of people doing hundreds of thousands of different kinds of jobs. The US system doesn't care at all what you believe, provided that those beliefs do not jeopardize national security, or threaten injury to people or property.

Answer 16

Not here and now.  But in the past in other countries people were prosecuted for heresy.  You better not have asked the questions we ask here in 17th century Europe, for example.

Can that sort of thing ever happen here?   The founding fathers of our country were concerned about it and so wrote provisions into our Constitution that guaranteed there would be no state religion and that people would be free to worship and believe as they pleased..

Many changes have occurred in history in the past, and they have not always been for the better.  So, yes, it is possible that we could again have another period of intolerance.

Answer 17

Deenie, I guess you messed up the premise of your joke, or maybe you're asking if this could ever come to be?  Not sure. Of course there is no law in the books as everybody knows, so there's not much of a joke here and so I'll guess the latter. Orwellian fears have been stoked by such laws as Hate Crime legislation, which critics have charged as policing thoughts vs. policing actions.  In the US, freedom has always included freedom to think whatever you want. And besides, how could one prove within reasonable doubt what the true thoughts of a person are? Rather, crimes are those of actions, not thoughts. And hopefully this is how it's going to stay.

Anyhow, I guess like Eri I'm wondering what the point of this was. Was it a joke or were you going somewhere with this?

EDIT: Deenie, you'll always find someone who is going to say that believing is ghosts is mental. And we skeptics will always find someone who says that not believing in ghosts is closed minded. Both are wrong, but the response to both is "big deal". Why care so much about what some Yahoo Answers member has to say about it? Regarding mental illness, that is a medical issue, not a legal one. The government has never arrested anyone for believing in the paranormal. As far as mental illness goes, institutionalizing a person is under the control of a psychologist and it's on a case-by-case basis. It's probably safe to say that no skeptic on Yahoo Answers has had any involvement in institutionalizing anyone, so again I wonder what the point of the question was.

Answer 18

No and it won't be,as long as our government keeps at least the facade of Secularism.In places belief in the paranormal has been and is illegal.It's always one paranormal belief against another.For instance,right now it's against the law in some Islamic countries to believe in anything other them that religion.Pretending to be a psychic in some countries will get you executed.By people who think their shaman/psychic is the real one.Folks who believe in the paranormal have nothing to fear from those who don't.That can't be said of their fellow magical thinkers..

Answer 19

I thought that insane people were forced into a mental institution because they were a danger to themselves or the community or because they were unable to function in normal society not because they had committed a crime.

Being hospitalised is not supposed to be a punishment for breaking the law, it is so the a person can be assessed and treated. Obviously if a person is completely off their rocker they may not be able to recognise that they need medical help - which is why it has to be forced upon them.

Answer 20

let me check my law book........ O BOY...... nope nothing censoring what you believe.