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i'm just curious to get ppl's opinions on this one.

do you think that if you have a belief in God it would affect how a paranormal presence would react to you. i'm just curious because i've got a friend that believe strongly and aren't afraid of anything practically freaking out because of a demonic presence toying with him by constantly growling behind my friend.

so would a belief in God play a role in how the paranormal react to you?

i've been thinking about it lately because i have a small faith in God and i'm not wanting to get in over my head when i go on hunts, i'd love to go to some of these places but not if i'm going to get the crap beaten outta me with flying objects.

Well, usually "flying object" are the result of poltergheists or someone nearby who either knowingly or unknowingly possesses the abilities of telekenesis.

someone who believes in god has an explanation for the paranormal as well as any member of any other religion or belief too. however, christians will try to explain it based on the bible as a work of god.
well, thats my opinion

good point. i've just heard alot about people that have some sort of faith in hunting parties usually being affected the most by some of the stuff, i guess it could just be up to chance but i was just really curious because i've been dying to go on hunts lately.

i have heard that some spirits can sense whether or not you have faith, i've heard of alot of spiritual tauntings (i guess you would call them) such as "where is your God?" and stuff like "do you really think your faith will protect you?" just rumors i heard going around getting info before halloween so i really don't have solid proof.

I have a strong religious conviction, and I have never seen any paranormal activity in my life.

i haven't seen it through but i have a slight gift for descernment and can sometimes sense spirits, my friend that i was talking about has it to... funny enough we both react the same way, flashing numbness through our arms and legs. i've talked to some people about it and some say it's like being hit with a sledgehammer in the center of their head. i'm not sure what all to believe on the subject though, it's hard to really talk about it when you've barely gotten your feet wet

I have witnessed paranomality. I personally think you are more likely to have these experiences if your 'third eye' is open. And I don't believe your beilief in God would play a role in it, because many religious people experience paranormal activity.

People that don't believe in things usually never see what they don't believe- they are closed to it. I can use the analogy of the movie 'The Polar Express': the non-believers did not hear the bell, did they?

All opinions of course, and I am faithful to the integrity of my opinion.

I agree with lordvampirio, they can't find any other rational explination for it so they use the bible to cover it up.

that's one of the things i'm most interested in... i'm really questioning my faith right now just because it seems like the ppl want to have a place they can go for comfort and feel loved and alot of it although seemingly true doesn't make sense too much. i just can't continue blindly following something that can't even be proven to exist that makes me have to become something i'm not.

i was raised to fallow the path of christianity, but when i did, i was afraid, yet thought i disbeleived, in the paranormal, the further i strayed, the less it haunted me, now that i am a proclaimed athiest, i hold no fear.

also, all religions fallow the same basic rules excluding satinists. so my theory is, if there is such a thing as hauntings, then it is derived from a beleif in things not down to earth.

I myself don't have a religion I have taken from all types and believe in what makes sense to me I also have experienced paranormal first hand I do not beileve god has anything to do with it!

No,I think it's the opposite.

The affect will be on how you react to the paranormal not the paranormal to you.

I always believed, I always will. Its kinda hard to say one way or another if deamons, demons, mule, ghosts, whatever, take special attention to believers or not.

You could say yes, and its all a test by God, or you can just say they hate the followers of his order because they are no long in his favor.

I never really gave it much thought untill I saw something that convinced me, before then I didn't care about God, the Devil, or anything, but it was one night I had a vision, a haunting, lucid dream, whatever you really want to believe it is. It was the first time I was truely scared. I mean really truely scared. I couldn't sleep for about two days afterwards and finally passed out from exhastion. Ever since then I knew.

What I'm saying isnt a lecture, or how everyone should follow god or believe in him, what I'm trying to say is, there IS, SOMETHING out there, and if you keep an open mind about it all, you might just catch a glimpse of it.

Its not that chrisitans or muslams or any other religion are right or wrong but they believe, and while it could be the whole taking a mile thing, there minds are more open than one who doesnt believe that there is a god at all.

Anyway, thats my two cents about it, cant say it's worth much though.

And how about those who have no religion and still expirience paranormal?

I expirienced paranormal for a whole year and it had nothing to do with religion.

its not that you have to believe in god, but in something. Your mind is alot more open than alot of people, I'm willing to bet most people on a site called vampire rave are the same way. If you believe somthing happens beyond what people normally see, and you keep and eye out for it, your going to see something.

Read "hell on earth" by Bob Larson...or google him....interesting stuff from the Focus on the Family perspective of Christianity...the guy is an UBER demonologist and has some interesting theories on paranormal activity...he has recordings of possessions, exorcisms etc etc and it is definitely a different viewpoint....

I personally am NOT achristian by any stretch of the imagination, though raised that way, and I am a FIRM belliever in paranormal activity, but it ACTIVELY avoids me...Grrrrrrrrrr......So it is NOT in my opinion a matter of faith in god, religion or anything else...I think the "spirits" or whatever can sense whatever you put out to them as your foundation and that is why get what you get...for me?? I don't know...

I agree with the open-minded thing.

However not to be confused with the imagining things thing.

Cause certain people believe in these things so much or are scared so much that there brain can start makingi mages and making them believe the're seeing something that's not there,or even hear or feel.

I was skeptical about these things and made fun of people who got scared but I was paid back.

In a way am glad I had thse expiriences cause they're not things that happen everyday and to everyone but at the same time hate it cause the ones that happened in my house were bad.From then on I expirienced other things out from my house,hat are paranormal.

Like I said in another thread maybe certain people are chosen,but not to be confused with those that play with fire,those are inviting danger not chosen.

Btw I'll paste this from another thread cause it can be done here as wel:

Some of my friends say that it is us who attract themcause we mention or think about them.

That can be true cause it happened to me.

Also has anyone heard of clairvoyance and claudiovoyance(not sure about both spellings) and there is also a name for those who feel spirits I call them feelers.

It could also happen cause certain people have thse or one of these gifts.

yeah i've heard of them... in christian terms its sometimes refered to as discernment and is supposed to be a spiritual gift, and also predicting something.
i've had it on occasion, i've sometimes had major deja vu events and realize that about 6 months before the event occurs i dreamt it, sometimes i can also sense when spirits area around and are up to "no good" i guess you could call it.

I had taht as well.

Spiritual gift in christian terms?

Damn it,when I used to talk about theset hings in religion class they used to tell me to shut cause these things don't exist since they said that spirits are either in heaven,hell or porgatory.

They told me that I am betraying the relaigion if I talked or believed in these things!

that's one of the reasons why i'm turning my back on God. i'm tired of being lied to by "men of integrity". sometimes i have the upperhand in a situation and they still lie to me.
they don't always believe me either, they say it's just my imagination, after all i'm very imaginitive... nvm the fact that i can't do anything REALLY creative

I don't think that believing in God or not will help or hurt you with the paranormal. I don't believe in God and have had no problems with the paranormal at all. Just depends on what the paranormal is, Poltergeist, regular ghost, etc. Either way I don't think that it has anything to do with religious belief, although exorcisms and such are done with religious items and such. So I really don't know. It's just my belief.

I believe encountering paranormal activity is more a being in the right place at the right time thing. Personal belief has nothing to do with what happens just how you interpret it.

I dont believe in god and i dont think that it matters weather you do or not, i think it matters if you believe in the paranormal..

seems that we can say that God has nothing to do with it.... just your feelings on paranormal beings

i have to agree, this is how i think of it, when you believe in god and demons, you notice there work, lol if you want to think so, but when you do not beiive in any paranormal stuff, you don't get haunted cause you don't believe in them, don't accept them for what they are

fuck no....god has nothing to do with paranormal fenomenons. he made us but he doesn't care about us....if i belive in him that doesn't stop a ghost killin me...

I assume you are question is in reference to the Judeo-Christian God. Well, look at it this way~

There are 22 'major' religions:

Christianity: 2.1 billion

Islam: 1.3 billion

Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion

Hinduism: 900 million

Chinese traditional religion: 394 million

Buddhism: 376 million

primal-indigenous: 300 million

African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million

Sikhism: 23 million

Juche: 19 million

Spiritism: 15 million

Judaism: 14 million

Baha'i: 7 million

Jainism: 4.2 million

Shinto: 4 million

Cao Dai: 4 million

Zoroastrianism: 2.6 million

Tenrikyo: 2 million

Neo-Paganism: 1 million

Unitarian-Universalism: 800 thousand

Rastafarianism: 600 thousand

Scientology: 500 thousand


And there are subgroups within these major 22. Now, not all of these believe in the same God. And, some people are Agnositc.

That has not stopped all of these spiritual sects from experiencing the paranormal. So it would have nothing to do with 'God'- whomever that may be to you personally.

wow.. thx for the #'s. i was kinda curious of that actually

ok here's my input on this...

if you believe in it...you give it more power...more power to harm you and more power to seem very real

but if your belief is strong enough...you may be able to protect yourself...

ok i'm wiccan but i also believe in God...and well wicca + God is a very strong combination...and yeah...my mind's all scattered and yeah...you can message me later...hopefully by then i'll be more together...so

my answer is this: yes they;ll react to you but you can also protect yourself...

Well I think that the god thing is because there are people who believe that god is making them challenges to prove that they truly believe in him,so that's why bad things happen.As for paranormal some believe that they are attacted by demons to be put in hell.

However I want to respond on those who said that if you believe in them you're giving more power:

Before my first expirience I was skeptical.

So how can this be explained?

And just because you don't believe in something that doesn't mean it does not exist.

This is like:If you did't join this site from the beginning that doesn't mean it did not existed.And those who don't know about it,it doesn't mean it does not exist.

exactly deathnite :) Just because people don't buy it- doesn't make it invalid. Just because someone has never seen it, doesn't make it any less real.

ok i see what u mean i agree also

I personally believe that the paranormal cannot hurt you, and I dont really think that most of them would care if you believed in God or not. Some might. Paranormal spirits are not all the same, obviouslly.

if you are a strong force yourself, and well-versed in shielding techniques- if you were ever in a situation involving paranormal activity, I believe you are safe~ no matter your religious conviction- or lack thereof.

From what i've been to know is that faith or belief in god yes demons are always threatening you because you are a threat to satan. the more powerfull or build your belief in god you become, the more powerfull the demons will be. soldier you are to the son of the king.

Yes i believe that those who do beleive in religion play a big role on paranormal phenomenon. But how they react to it differs from religion to religion.

It really depends on how strong your belief is. Personally I don't think that your religious faith has anything to do with the way a spirit will react to your presence. It's not like you're going to walk and annouce you're catholic and piss them off to the point they'll attack you. If you are attacked they just either hate the living or really don't want you there.

i believe in i suppose everything super natural and i sorta have some sort of power my self..but i dunno if thats just so weird councidence

after doing some research i'm thinking it's just more of how big of a threat you are. if you can't be manipulated by them than they try to weaken your fortitude. (i know this is going to start sounding d&d-ish). it's easier to harm someone when they don't have proper defenses but by using those around you they will start to manipulate you into dropping your guard and get a good opprotunity to get you. if you go walking in with something that can harm them (aka holy water, etc), if they actually do work, then they are going to be more likely to attack you because you are relying on worldy items. personally i dont' believe that stuff like that works just because it is a worldly item and it would have to be God allowing the item to do anything and with not everyone believing in God it is less likely to work that way. it comes down to faith and stedfastness in it, whatever you believe. the human being is a powerful thing but we don't all know how to properly defend ourselves, when we find out how to though we are very frightening to the paranormal and therefor we are more susceptible to attempted attacks.
personally my faith in myself is stronger than that of mine in God, but i know some defensive techniques, my faith in myself is what protects me i believe. and since i started this thread i've come to realize that it is purely based on what you believe protects you and how strongly you believe.
"Believe in your own power. Fear is a weakness, you cannot fear the spiritual or it will have an advantage over you".

i believe that anything comes from our mental power...if we believe in something that would happen...if we don't it wouldn't ...everything dpends on our mind...

It's an interesting question that there may be no clear-cut answer to.

I believe in a higher power, but doubt that this has anything to do with the paranormal things I've experienced from a young age. The majority of the most truly evil things I've encountered are actually flesh and bone, though I must admit I've been scared a time or two by the paranormal!

I believe that a belief in god does have an affect on hauntings. It could be that if you believe in god hauntings will want to haunt you because they see it as a challenge. Or it could go the other way, they don't want to haunt you because you might convert them.

in my home country...its very traditionally roman catholic..IE the church authroised excorsists treat every one from mentally ill poeple..too actually possed poeple..

from what i have seen..bs excluded...deeply spirtual poeple..no matter what religion they are (ie pagan chrstian muslim..and even hedonists) are honestly not affected bye evil spirits

when your convcition is that..strong nothing..can break it

souls may fallow us..but has any one in the rave or in this forum ever had any contact with a dark entity?

no because paranomal things bug evry one

Indeed deathnitgrl. Great topic.
I think that hauntings happen either you believe in God or not. And doesen't matter what god it is, because every culuture has stories of hauntings, spirits, evil spirits, not-so-evil spirits and so on.
I think it all depends on what you believe in, and the interpretation that you make of any paranormal phenomena.
A draft, for a skeptic, is just a draft. For a spiritist, can be a manifestation, for a catholic can be a demon or a sign, for a cientist can be a question that will lead to a theory.
Personally I don't think it has much to do with god. For what I read, haunting and spooks, can be ectoplasmic residues of something that happened, so the spirit isen't really there, it's a sort of a memory of a strong event that left behind an energetic trace, that can be sensed or seen, according to the sensitivity of the person that is present.
In other cases, the hauntings don't even know they're dead...So where does god come into this? Like an amulet.
It works for defence as stronglly as you believe in it.

I'm not convinced a paranormal presence would know or care about your spiritual beliefs.

In my opinion, these things happen because the presence has something to do or say and whoever it feels would best carry across it's needs are the ones that get the pleasure.

Well I can see that most of what I was going to say has allready been said, but .... I agree with the postings in regards that I don't think a belief in "God" is what attracts spirits or entities to a person, instead, I feel that it is your belief in something or base in some set of beliefs. Take the Hmong Shamans for instance, they don't believe in god (ancestor worship) yet they are constantly combating spirits and other entities plauging their culture.

I do not think so, I have the same problem with paranormal presences and when I get prayed for( which I do not ask for) God never helps me..Hopefully your friend does okay..

It is my opinion that a belief in God doesn't effect how a "presence" acts towards you, but rather how you react toward that presence.

I have friends of many faiths and their experiences range from calling forth spirits to commune with, to praying they get sent away.

I would have to agree Siobhan on this a strong belif in god or any higher power can give a false sense of saftey or even give on courage towards the presecnce.

i think any belief if strong enough puts you at risk.

i dont think so, but if it were demons than i would think that would affect it.

i dont believe that any beliefe in god or anything like that has an effect on any pressense that is around.. i dont think its something that anyone can ever stop

We have all seen the movies where the vamp tells the priest that he has to have faith to use the cross right?

This faith empowers the priest to then dispell the evil figure or whatever the xtians at that time and place are saying is evil...

While the cross is a heavy duty archetype the work itself is being done by the individual in the form or projecting a force that is displeasing, painful, or even lethal to the entity that is in the castor's presense.

A skilled user of magick or even some forms of psychic ability will be able to do this without the need of the tool such as the cross. I know you were talking about religious belief but the effect works the same in other systems not just those of good old Yaweh and Jeebus tag teaming and doing mighty battle against Lucifer.

I have yet to have very much paranormal activity in my life as of yet.

but I think the gods might have some role in this.

Absolutely Evangius, that is the concept I was touching on in my comments.

An individual's belief system be it Christian, Pagan or other can empower them in their dealings with the paranormal. Some believe they can even sense is a presence is malevolent, benevolent, or benign.

There are however many warnings in history and folklore - even our own "modern" folklore of movies - that warn against the false belief spirits can be controlled. Many faiths have documented occurences of spirit possession and exorcism; a situation which occurs when a person opens themselves to a presence while clutching an archetypal image or feeling themselves well-trained.

In my opinion demons, lost souls, spirits - whatever epithet you give them - are not to be taken lightly.

Come on people, iet's at least make some type of attempt to actually read the post and respond properly. I just cleared a ridiculous amount of off-topic posts, "I agree" posts, and the like.

I believe religious faith would have a significant influence with many paranormal experiences. Belief is a powerful thing. We are capable of influencing things far beyond what most, if not any, of us are truly aware of with our thoughts.

So my answer is yes, but not as a result of the object of one's faith, but due to what our own minds are capable of with enough concentration.

No. the paranormal have no god/goddess. they are just things that are stuck on this plane and they can basically do whatever they want

Just because people die that doesnt mean they all turn evil and try to piss everyone off with their antics!

i dont really believe in what would be considered the paranormal.. I believe that it all depends on how one interprets a happening. I think that if you believe something strong enough that it will become true to you.

I personally do not believe that one's faith makes one a more likely target for paranormal/supernatural attacks then someone who has no religious faith to speak of.

However, I do think that those who follow any religious or spiritual path must have some faith and belief in the existance of unseen forces...deities, spirits and so on, and thus such a belief would make them more open to experiencing the actual manifestation or presence of such things.

It is not that this makes them seek you out to do you harm, (honestly I really have not seen anyone personally who has been physically harmed by such forces) but that your belief in such things allows you to be more receptive to encountering them then those whose minds are closed to the possibility of the existance of any force or form outside of that which can be readily proven to exist.

*wonders if that actually came out in a way that made sense*

Believing in God is a show of faith in the spiritual. I would think that a devout follower of such things would be more susceptible to experiencing like kind. Wouldn't you?

A belief in the Christian God usually relegates the supernatural to demon encounters.

In the case of my Pagan friends, some actively seek to commune with the spirit world for guidance, a glimpse into the future, or to sic a spirit on some enemy.

So I don't think it's solely a belief in God that opens one up to the possibility of the spirit realm.

I don't think that a belief in God would effect the way the spirit acts towards you, but in the way you percieve it's actions. Unless you're facing down a Nazi ghost or something.

I don't believe its your faith. Just how intune you are to the Spirit Realms, knowingly or unknowingly. Oh and for those flying objects, duck.
Kiara

i think if u have a strong belief in your gods it may help cancel them out but not totally but you could do a spell to maybe repel some of their influence on you

recently when i've been to parties and had photos taken people have freaked out and said i have alot of spirits around me, i know they're there, if i go to someone's house objects tend to make them selves disappear and only reappear when they feel like it i believe in god although i do not follow him. my ex bf's house if full of spirits that i brought there and he freaks out cos they love playing tricks on him by moving things around all the time. it's your reaction to them, not really the belief. i think they find religion amusing because he can scream black and blue verses from the bible and the tricks still happen and you can just tell they are playing with him. they don't bother me on the other hand cos i simply talk to them like normal people. they don't get such a kick out of me :-p

spirits.. hm.. ok.

yeah theres alot of pictures that are taken with that sort of thing but theres an awful lot of dust particles that when they catch just the right lighing look like "spirits"

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I think it has something to do with your spirituality. Other cultures embrace the spirits of their dead and make them a part in their every day lives. I guess you could see spirit without believing in some sort of higher power, but I think that on some level you have to believe in some sort of life after death or another realm or astral plane, something of that sort. You have to at least bielieve that we have a soul/ spirit or it just doesn't make any sense if you think you see a spirit.

Faith in "God"and Hautings.

I think the ability or even chance of experience paranormal activity is across the board possible.

I have a friend that believes just by having a Bible open in the room, spirits will not cross the threshold. When her children have nightmares, she opens the bible.

I know of people who knowingly curse God while "contacting" pararnomalities to provoke them into presenting themselves. These people are very ends of a spectrum ov beliefs.

I would say that anything is possible, and agree with Images.

If you aren't willing or able to recognize we dont have all the answers and there are all sorts of possibilities, blindness will sheild you from it.

Blindness isn't always bad, just a way of viewing the world.

I would not really know.

If anyone claimed to be a believer in God. Id say go read your bible. It actualy states when your dead your dead. Most ''christians'' dont go looking for the answers themselves. They rely on others helping them find the answer or a priest/rev giving them the answers. Just my take on it though..:winks:

i dont think there is but ive been wrong before. also im not all that awake so i cant think to my full extent so ill come back tomorrow and tell you what i think

From what i've been to know is that faith or belief in god yes demons are always threatening you because you are a threat to satan. the more powerfull or build your belief in god you become, the more powerfull the demons will be that you face.

i do think it does and i also believe if u think so will not harm u like theres a ghost and i think ur toy dog can keep that ghost away then it can

No it does not affect anything I would know I belive in god and the paranormal but u should belive in god as much as u belive in the paranormal so it balences out like black and white magic it balences it self out if u study one as much as the other k!

well, heres what i know. Im extremely spiritual... i meditate and read people's lives. I know when something threatening is there. I know when that threat has followed me and it scares me sometimes. who knows, if youre in touch enough with anything, you can sense things that dont belong in a moment's notice. You can even hear the sound a person's last breath in a room that seems to scream. anything is possible.

Just because someone believes in god it does not make them vunerable to paranormal happenings. If you were dead wouldn't you want to mess with the minds of the living? I would.

I believe it would, I myself am a very strong catholic so..

I doubt it very seriously

i believe that it depends on the presence that is with you.....and what they believe/dont believe/used to believe/ will never believe

This is a good subject! I like! but please expand in your theories why you support or don't support the concept of faith affecting spirits around us. It is not sufficient just to say that you do, or you don't!

I feel ghost sightings are like snap shots of the past that have been trapped in time by unseen forces. That the phenomenon of haunting are trapped spirits in this picture.

After this thread I talked about this subject with some friends.

One of them said that when she started to believe in the christian god she used to feel more ghosts.She says she feels like she has a gift now.She was a Pagan before.

She also said that they're demons that try to tempt her to the evil side or even kill her.

Another friend of mine said he never followed a religion but believes his undead cousin is with him.

Another one said that it's when she started to practice her Pagan religion she felt like a connection with the spiritual world.

So if paranormal has to happen it happens.However what my friend said about after she turned Chritian made me wonder.

There is a void in all of us and at times religion fills it.

I do not believe in the paranormal. Instead, I believe in what is revealed and what is not yet revealed. It is a mixture of my Eastern Orthodox faith and and Heideggerian epistemology. Revelation is constant - mysteries are those things in process of becoming known. In the Orthodox faith we speak of the "Mysteries". But mystery in Old Greek means that which is made known. Heidegger argued - rightly I believe - that the World (capitalised on purpose) is not passive object but rather Being - Being that is constantly becoming despite our attempts to bend or categorise it any other way.

I cannot say for anyone else what is God. As an Eastern Orthodox, I do NOT go to the Bible for answers. That is a heresy that is best left for discussion outside of this milieu. I cannot convince others and nor would I try to convince them that the paranormal, or God/Goddess is but that which remains yet unknown but active processes. Ultimately, God in Essence is not knowable, but in Energies is expressed profoundly. It is admittedly a theology that flies in the face of tyrannical rationalism. For in reality, what is "paranormal" but something that defies reason.

The so-called Enlightenment and its caretakers such as Voltaire erred when they made Reason the measure of all things. Before this, gods, dragons, and spirits were accepted and there was no need to discourse on them. In fact, Reason gave birth to the paranormal. But despite the best laid plans Reason can never supplant the Real... and that includes the "paranormal".

I think it's the opposite...a belief in God determines how YOU react to the paranormal. Personally, I believe that, as quantum physics and Buddhism say, that everything is energy and that what we sense (vie sight, sound, hearing, etc.) is a result of how our sense organs (eyes, ears, etc) are physically constructed and how our brains are able to process those sensations into a sight or sound or whatever that we can make sense out of. We all perceive things based on our memories and past experiences, and since no two people have the same memories or experiences, no two people have the same perceptions, so no two people "see" reality in the same exact way. Our brains take in a few billion bits of sensory stimuli every second, but are only able to process a fraction of that amount. That alone demonstrates that there is more "out there" than what we physically perceive, and when you realize that, you have to reach the conclusion that ANYTHING is possible.

I don't where having a spiritual presence like christians have would, would deter other spirits. Unless these other spirits are evil such as demonic, or intent upon causing harm to the person.

That is is tough one to ask... I mean if you start to beleive in God then you must beleive that the apocalypse is coming and that the anti christ is coming to unite all the countrys and all of this other stuff... but then again it there is hauntings it can be related to other spiritualities.

my moms rekons if u beleive in "God" then parnormal activity will leave you alone because "God" is protecting you O.o
Me personally I think that hmm "God" does nothing (not saying i beleive in him/her) and it prolly doesnt efect it

i don't believe in "god" but i guess some ppl say that moses could turn the staff into a snake by parnormal activity (since then has been proven wrong) but some ppl who have had an merical (can't spell) say it was because of higher powers

I dont think its your belif in God that makes the presence react the way it does, but rather the confidence you recieve from that belif. Two things could happen because of this, the presence could regard you as one with extrodinary power and leave you alone or two it could see through your confidence and want to break you all the more because of it

I will reiterate my own theories that I have stated before. I was raised christian, but in the last few years I have started to follow my wife Hmong Shaman religion. I feel that it doesn't matter what religion you follow, but that the paranormal is attracted to a belief in somthing. This could be a belief in no god or higher power, and eastern religion, or even a judao - Christian religion.

I can only give my opinion as an input. I was raised in a very christianly home (baptist) but for as long as I can remember I have always seen, talked, to and even been used as a medium by spirits. I mean there are many ways to look at this. While I was growing up I believed very strongly in god and the church and as a baptist the idea of being "saved", but they still always were around me and stuff like that. Now I am druid and they still mess with me. I am not afraid of them so they don't bother me but they talk to me and things of that sort. (my friends love to take me on hunts. lol) I think that maybe it doesnt have anything to do with your religious stand point or your faith but maybe with the fear you show them. I would imagine that if a person had a sense of humor during their life they would have one in death as well, and if scaring a person is funny to them then they would do it. I can tell you that there are bible verses that say that you can not be harmed by a demon if you are of Christ, I cant tell you which one it is but I remember it being there. I guess it all really depends on where you stand in your beliefs on ghost, spirits, demons, etc. There is a large difference between a demon and a ghost. Most people dont understand why ghosts are here and think that it is an "unfinished business" thing. My perspective on them (and it is just my perspective, doesnt mean I am right or even think that I am) is that when we die we are ghosts. (wow this is hard to explain in typing) I can use a biblical verse to explain this.... The bible says that when the trumpets sound all the dead in christ shall rise. Well then that to me insinuates that when you die you are here until the rapture. Now seeing as how I am not really sure what my exact beliefs in the whole God ( I do believe in him)thing are this is still kind of a fuzzy area for me. I think what I believe right now is that when you die you are a ghost until you decide to move on to your next life. It is kind of a resting period and at times we get bored well why wouldnt a spirit? I dont know if any of this has made any sense to anyone but the main point of this whole long drawn out post is that..... No I do not believe that your faith or religious out look has anything to do with if a spirit would mess with you. If you look at it from a christian standpoint then the question should be is it a spirit or demon trying to mess with you and if so why, demons would indeed try to scare you into not believeing in God seeing as how that is what there job is... to help satan and serve him into bringing souls to hell. Granted that is looking at it from a christian point of view. Mine is "Ask the thing what in the world it wants."

Believe in god wont change your normal paranormal events. the only time it will have an out come on it is if the prarnormal event is demonic.

interesting post very good read

Cursed, you may have a point, but I would only add, that maybe having faith in something, changes the fear that you portray to the Spirits. That would explain the cross effect. It is not the cross that effects the spirit, but the faith behind it.

That may be a good point as well. Thanks for adding that input to what I said because I didnt think about it like that until you did.

Thanks again Cursed. This thread has really started me thinking a lot about it, and I came to the conclusion that it really is not the religion, but the faith or belief in something. Just like that individual who doesn't believe in spirits has no encounters in a haunted room, where as someone who is sensitive or has an interest or belief does have encounters.

When my happened I was skeptical...

ahh good point, but skeptical is different than non-belief.

Yeah but I didn't have belifs either.

Well, that in and of itself is a belief, in this case, "a belief in nothing".

It really isn't believe or no believe, it is if you are sensitive or not. Long before I know what it was I believed I was sensitive to all kinds of energy disturbances. I feel where bad things have happened, but feel where good things have happened, but feel where the earths energy has been warped by large deposits of iron, I feel where there are spirits about. I can even seen the energy vortex of such things at times. Though not all the time.

demonic possession is rarel and so are any all hauntings by a disembodied entity...but they do exisit. This being said, religion plants the notion of demons on any and all paranormal activities....whether it is demonic or not.

I don't beleive god has anything to do with the paranormal myself. When I was a follower of God is when I first encountered my first paranormal experience. I had taken a pic of my bird and there was this little girl from in the picture taking up the whole picture. She was holding a cat. Since then I have went pagan and I still encounter the same amount of paranormal in my house and wherever I go. I have read that the spirits can be attached to a personal object or loved ones and they linger on that person or object. I also think if you have a open mind to them you can sense them more than the normal person. Just my thoughts and opinions.

nice forum

Some say it would. But I feel that it would matter only if the spirit remembers it's own religious beliefs and identifys with yours.

SO,
I beleive that there are things that defy rational explanation at this point in our science and knowledge. People as a whole, define these as supernatural. This works BOTH sides of the fence. Things we control, and don't know how or why and things out of our control, also w/o knowing how or why. This includes beings, spirit or corporeal and other 'phenomena'........... and so belief is irrelevant.........

When I was younger, I played around with satanism because with the group I was with, it was the "cool" thing to do. I saw to many bad things happen. Today I can say that my faiths and beliefs in God make me feel protected. I have seen paranormal things in the last year and havent been afraid, nor have i been hurt. I think if you have strong enough faith you can conquer.. I know, I am not afraid of the paranormal for this reason....

I do believe your belief in Supreme Beings would affect paranomal expirences. I mean... Why would Satan want to possess a random person who has no belief in God when he can possses a Christain or Catholic or something of the sort and get more effect out of it? Turn them into demonic auras of himself.
Besides. If you don't believe in God, why would you believe in other paranormal expirences?
~POser

ghosts dont know weather you belive in god or not in my opinion. my daughter has been haunted by a ghost since she was born. it has caused a lot of mischife (sp) and causes things to happen. but she is also able to tell what is going to happen in the future to some degree. so if a ghost could tell if you believed in god or not wouldn't a baby be protected from that kind of thing?

I am renting right now and when I moved into this house, I found some interesting things, for one, pics of body parts and such, then strange things started happening and I had a ghost in my house. I used to sit and talk with him.. I finally told him it was time to go, it was alright for him to leave and to be at peace... No one ever saw him again after that...

I have a strong bet that God throws things too. The paranormal relm has a much stronger pressence. God and the paranormal are 2 completly different things. You choose your path and find out that God has an anger managment problem. You choose paranormal and you will find that throwing shit at you is most likley a warning sign.

It is a warning sign, a sign not to play with things that you know nothing about.. (not you in general).. There are some things that are better left untouched.. I learned that the hard way, its not a way to learn..

I remember being a small child and always having a spirit (his name is Charlie) haunt me. He now still lives at my mothers house. That is just my input on it. I remember him from when I was like two, and if you go biblical with that then I in theory should have been protected from all things bad by god. Dunno, just another input to add to my many already made.

There are many things that affect how you and a spirit react to each other . Do remember all spirits are not the same and a growling one behind your friend as you described is not your normal "ghost" . Some would refer to such as a demon . Your friend may just be in the wrong place at the right time for the situation . I personally think some ghosts find amusement in messing with people .
I / we have participated in some hunts . I am not super knowledgable , but if you got some questions I may have a few thoughts , opinions or answers .
V S

As i said before, I used to go on hunts for "bad demons".. Never again.. I can say now for certain and without a doubt that my faith has me afraid of no demons. I can face them without being afraid..

*gasp* A subject on God??? hehe kidding.
Well...Hmm for some reason this just makes me think of the people who are "saved" or don't believe in the paranormal at all and that is why they are so confused when bad things or strange things happen to them. Or even good things. Meh...
Sometimes I wonder why I even try replying in these forums, well I try hehe.

I totally believe in the paranormal.. Seen some very strange and dangerous things in my life.. I just am not afraid now... Once you know what you are dealing with, there really is nothing to be afraid and the paranormal (bad) feeds off of your fear.

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