posted on December 15, 2007 06:35:06 PM new
I'm not sure about ghosts, but I am pretty sure that some strange things happen that we cannot account for. I fervently hope there's life after death; wish I had proof.
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posted on December 15, 2007 07:24:26 PM new
"Cash....what makes you think spirits DON'T exist?"
To quote a famous line in a slightly different context: "I have no need of that hypothesis."
If you're having trouble placing the line, it was Pierre Simon de Laplace to Napoleon, when he was asked about the role of God in the mathematician's universe. I first read it in a very good book called "Leaps of Faith: Science, Miracles, and the Search for Supernatural Consolation" by Nicholas Humphrey.
posted on December 15, 2007 07:57:14 PM new
I KNOW there is an afterlife. Accepting it without proof is called faith. I'm not sure if there are ghosts or wandering spirits. My own experience of smelling my Dad at family gatherings and the related experiences of best-trusted friends put them in the category of unexplained phenomena.
posted on December 15, 2007 08:48:01 PM new
We can also said life begins after death.
Think of the physical body,how clumsy and grotesque,and the filth it ingests.
We would all be better without the physical body.
posted on December 15, 2007 10:33:16 PM newam I the only one around here surprised at how many people discuss ghosts as though it's a foregone conclusion that they exist?
Let me understand this.
You've undertaken, at this time of the year, to convince people that some of their deeply-held and cherished beliefs are wrong because there is no proof. Good grief, Claude, this sounds exactly like the kind of pointless mission I'd undertake, except that this has been such a horrible year that I actally get it.
I have no choice in what jewelry I get from my suppliers but every now and again they send "Forever in My Heart" lockets. There is a motto on the inside that reads:
When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure
I put one of these on eBay yesterday. It sold in minutes. That's typical of these.
A few years ago, I met my mother-in-law's cousin, who was about 84 years old then. In the course of conversation she mentioned that her son had died. I said, "I'm so sorry" thinking it was a recent event. Turns out her son had passed away more than 30 years earlier.
Grief runs deep. It cries out for release. Let folks believe what they want if it brings solace.
posted on December 16, 2007 06:29:39 AM new
Well in for a penny in for a pound:
As I prepare to go teach my Sunday School class that is comprised of women ages 72-89 I believe that God has prepared a place for you and offers His grace for you to accept. Through free will you get to decide what you will believe and how you will behave.
I have never seen a ghost nor do I wish or believe anyone I loved and who has passed to be trapped on earth. However, I do believe in angels.
I also believe in neurotransmitters and as you know events, smells and feelings can be stimulated through electrical stimulation of the cortex. Drugs affect neurotransmitters to elicit feelings, memories and smells.
posted on December 16, 2007 07:13:28 AM new
mingotree, you're welcome.
Fluffy, re "You've undertaken, at this time of the year, to convince people that some of their deeply-held and cherished beliefs are wrong because there is no proof. Good grief, Claude, this sounds exactly like the kind of pointless mission I'd undertake, except that this has been such a horrible year that I actally get it."
I'm not looking to convince anyone of anything. I wasn't sure that I should have posted it, as I generally avoid sex, politics, and religion online, but I thought that I was safe with ghosts. In any case, a question was posted and I answered it as honestly as I could. I didn't disparage anyone who thought differently, and only indicated why I thought the way I do.
I have been reading many books about faith. I don't deny its power, and thus am interested in its origin and workings. That I choose to place my emphasis elsewhere should not be considered a denigration of faith, but I have to say that people get really touchy about the discussion. And that's why I usually avoid it.
As regards grief and memories, I can assure you that a belief in ghosts is not required for feeling grief and cherishing memories of those who are no longer here. Both of my two best friends of my 30's and 40's are no longer alive, and my world is sadder for it.
posted on December 16, 2007 08:15:10 AM new
""Ralphie, a Pastafarian ""
cash, ""I'm not looking to convince anyone of anything. I wasn't sure that I should have posted it, as I generally avoid sex, politics, and religion online, but I thought that I was safe with ghosts. In any case, a question was posted and I answered it as honestly as I could. I didn't disparage anyone who thought differently, and only indicated why I thought the way I do...........
....... That I choose to place my emphasis elsewhere should not be considered a denigration of faith, but I have to say that people get really touchy about the discussion....
( Why IS that????What ARE they afraid of???)...
And that's why I usually avoid it.
As regards grief and memories, I can assure you that a belief in ghosts is not required for feeling grief and cherishing memories of those who are no longer here...."""
posted on December 16, 2007 08:24:02 AM new
OK. I know I'm opening myself up for ridicule. I don't know anything about "ghosts" or hauntings...and would NOT want to live in a "haunted" house. But, I DO believe..through my OWN experience.....that God in some way allows the spirits of our loved ones to help us through our sadness...in whatever way they can...a scent of tobacco smoke..aftershave..whatever. What has occurred at my home since the death of my first son has NO physical explanation, believe me. Then when his twin died, it was much more of the same..double trouble! Both had and have a great sense of humor.
I believe that the body is a shell that confines the spirit. The body dies, the spirit is released.
I do not believe these spirits are stuck here on the physical earth. There are no boundaries...heaven is where god is..and god is everywhere...
posted on December 16, 2007 08:41:06 AM newmingotree:
Oh! Thee, lowly unbeliever! Ralphie pities thee! May the FSM's "noodley appendage" touch ye so ye feel da sauce!
posted on December 16, 2007 09:01:03 AM new
Mingotree,
"Why IS that????What ARE they afraid of???)..."
I think I'm safer keeping some friends here if I get into a discussion of their sexual practices rather than going into those questions
BTW, if you're interested in the Leap of Faith book, I just started a book called "Religion Explained" which is blurbed as "an excellent book in the spirit of the French Enlightenment" and "the first classic of 21st century anthropology." I'm not far enough into it to praise it, but it's worth taking a peek.
posted on December 16, 2007 09:24:27 AM new
Well, all I can say is the last time I "practiced" playing "Doctor" I was 6, and wooeee! Did I get in trouble!
posted on December 16, 2007 01:18:12 PM new
At last check, people are free to believe in what they choose to and should be able to without being ridiculed. To ridicule or to attempt to make people feel stupid because of what they believe is just wrong. I respect those who don't believe and I expect the same respect for what I do believe in. It's as simple as that.
Fluffy - Good point.
Tom - I believe in reincarnation. But, we won't get into that.
Cheryl
[ edited by CBlev65252 on Dec 16, 2007 01:19 PM ]
posted on December 16, 2007 01:24:23 PM new
believe that the body is a shell that confines the spirit. The body dies, the spirit is released////////////////
The spirit(s) can get out of the body while we are still alive.
Occultists do it,Voodoo practitioners do it,you can too if you practice long enough.
*
Lets all stop whining !
*
posted on December 16, 2007 02:56:24 PM new
"""At last check, people are free to believe in what they choose to and should be able to without being ridiculed.""
Unless, of course, you're an atheist, or anyone else who doesn't have mainstream beliefs...then you're fair game for ridicule, and even threats of violence and death.
OK, IF there is life after death, reincarnation, ghosts, spirits, angels, gods, ....
...what is the point ?
Take reincarnation. If we have had a life before this one ...so what? IF we did we don't remember it(we're all not Shirley McClaine)....so what does it accomplish?
posted on December 16, 2007 03:16:31 PM new
Cheryl,
"At last check, people are free to believe in what they choose to and should be able to without being ridiculed. To ridicule or to attempt to make people feel stupid because of what they believe is just wrong. I respect those who don't believe and I expect the same respect for what I do believe in. It's as simple as that."
I sure hope that wasn't directed at me, but if it was, either tell me here, or email me separately, to let me know what I said that ridiculed anyone. If I did, I can guarantee that it wasn't intentional. I do sometimes stick my foot in it, and if I did, I'm sorry.
posted on December 16, 2007 03:35:17 PM new
Thanks Pixiamom, I hope not. One time one of my children got a less than perfect report card in the area of "shows respect for others" and I called for a meeting with the principal and the teacher. I told them that it was a core family value as important as ANY to me, and that we had to address it if there was a problem. Turned out that it was a clerical error; she had intended to mark down my daughter's organizational skills, something that I know sweet Rachel needs to work on, and all was well (except for the org skills, anyway, but nobody's perfect ).
posted on December 16, 2007 08:03:10 PM new
I won't say I don't believe in reincarnation exactly, it's just that the numbers don't add up. Given that there are now way more people on earth than there ever have been before, a bunch of us, most of us in fact, must be first timers. Wonder how much money those reincarnation consultants who get paid to divine your past lives would earn if they went around telling people "sorry, you don't have any past lives"....That, and did you ever notice how almost everybody you talk to who thinks they had past lives was always Cleopatra or a Cherokee princess or some tragic war hero who died in battle? I guess horse thieves, rapists, bank managers and lawyers don't get another go round. Yeah that must be it.
Far as spooks go, anybody who's ever seen one doesn't need any proof, those who don't accept the possibility will probably never see one. It's pretty much a done deal.
posted on December 16, 2007 08:20:23 PM new
profe, I think you blew the reincarnation thing right out of the water.
Again, what would be the point of reincarnation?
I've had realistic dreams about being in the Civil War....ohhhh I must have really been there! Or I just could've been an impressionable teen who was studying the war at the time ???????
"""I guess horse thieves, rapists, bank managers and lawyers don't get another go round. Yeah that must be it."""
Ya, and they're the ones who should be punished with having to go through it again !
"childrens do learn"
helenjw
