Thread: For religious people, but having almost nothing to do with religion

Originally Posted by Stephent91

My cousin had a poltergeist in his house haha. They came home and everything was fucked up all over the place. Furniture and things flipped over, things tossed around out of drawers and cabinets, etc. They thought it was robbers, so they called the police. Nothing was stolen. One of the things was all the towels were thrown into the bath tube, so they folded them back up and put them in the drawer. They walked out and no more than 5 minutes later when they came back they were all back the same way they were before.

One day when they came home there was writing on the walls saying that the ghost followed them home from the park and liked their dog. I think the ghost also called them but I don't remember.

My cousin took his dog over to my uncles house and left it in a fence with a deadbolt lock. There was only one key, and when they got back, the lock was undone and the dog was shaking like crazy on the driveway. This was a lab, and the kind that would run off and explore if you let it go.

My cousin and his friend were sitting in his living room talking about it, when his friend felt something go up his spine, like a massage chair does. He stood up and was like what the fuck! Then a telephone levitated up and flew across the room.

There were other things I think, but I don't remember them at the moment.

I wasn't there for any of it, so I don't know if it was real or not, this is just was I had heard from family.

Just because I wasn't there for it which makes me just only a little less doubtful than the next guy only because it's my family (which has no craziness in it ) doesn't mean I made it up. Everything I said was what I was told, I never claimed it as true.

I like that picture though.

Originally Posted by Stephent91

Just because I wasn't there for it which makes me just only a little less doubtful than the next guy only because it's my family (which has no craziness in it ) doesn't mean I made it up. Everything I said was what I was told, I never claimed it as true.

I like that picture though.

I boldfaced where you said you weren't there and couldn't know. I wasn't accusing you of making it up. The guy in the picture was supposed to be a spoof of your cousin, not you. If any of my cousins told me a story like that, I would accuse them too of making stuff up. I accuse them of it every time I argue with them about politics.

Ahhh, I see. That makes more sense.

I believe in ghosts before I'd believe in some of the politics I've been arguing about lately.

Originally Posted by Stephent91

I believe in ghosts before I'd believe in some of the politics I've been arguing about lately.

I don't think we're that far from when some politicians are going to start arguing the existence of ghosts to support their off the wall agendas.

God already talks directly to Mr. Bush, so you could be spot on!

How would skeptics explain why psychics are used by the police force in some cases?

Originally Posted by Carôusoul

I think as dissapointing as it is, there is always an explanation.

Ouija boards in particular are interesting because they often bring out our subconscious etc.



Something worth watching is British Illusionist Derren Brown's "seance"

Where he got a load of people from the public and held a seance and told them they were really trying to contact the dead. In fact I'll let wikipedia describe exactly what he did:





Basically he showed how suceptible we are subconciously to try and make these things real even if we don't know it or fool ourselves into believing.




As far as ghosts go, I have met various people with no reason to lie who have told me stories.


I know there is an explanation, because I know how strong wishful thinking and memory can distort things like this; I know because I've experienced similar things myself, weird events that my mind links to the supernatural, and being a weaker being i would attribute, but upon inspection and a cleared mind I almost always see the cause etc. Physical manifestations I am certain are possibly hallucinations of some sort. Anyhow I certainly don't believe in a conventional afterlife.

I leave room for the possibility of a scientific explanation we don't know; ie some kind of time warpish business, but this is the furthest I will lean.

Mmm, Derren Brown Tricks of the Mind is a very good book for attempting to explain things like this. According to him, it's very much about suggestibility - you start to want things (names, tales of murder, etc) and your hand moves 'of its own accord' to give you that. Derren Brown talks about how he hinted at a vicious murder in the house during a seance, and how the people involved spelled out a name, details, and so on, though in truth no such murder had occured.

It's a lot to do with suggestibility, and subconcious action, I doubt there's anything 'supernatural' about ouija boards. Or about anything, to be honest. The supernatural is just something we haven't yet got a definite explanation for yet, it doesn't mean there isn't one.

Originally Posted by Riot Maker

How would skeptics explain why psychics are used by the police force in some cases?

Magnetic perception does not justify the existence of a self contradicting magic man.