The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

This should be fun!!

I was responding to a thread when I came up with this so bear with me.

Am I the only one who thinks that sometimes it's easier to claim Supernatural influence rather than admit that some humans are just sick?

for example, the last thread I put up was about the Countess Bathory. It is theorized that she was a victim of the Inquisition. A trial was held which Bathory wasn't permitted to attend that consisted of, in true Inquisition fashion, intimidation and torture.

So it is possible that it was just human intolerance that she was imprisoned, rather than some psychosis or drive to appease dark gods or goddesses.

So that got me wondering when this has happened before. Is it possible that some (not all) stories of supernatural occurences could be a depiction of human intolerance, fear, descrimination etc.

If so, what stories?

LOL There is no way of knowing how many have actually been that way. But I would guess alot more than most of the human race would care to admit. LOL Humans have always been fearful, hateful, and just plain sadistic creatures from the begining. LOL

LOL You can't ask a predatory creature a question and not expect him to be honest. LOL >;]

Very true. Humans are VERY predatory in nature. As one of the only creatures on this plane that kills its own kind for no reason, it's completely possible for the human race to develop stories that would depict "Monsters" rather than something that would make people look down on the human race...

Which kinda makes you wonder who's watching that we're trying to impress.

Maybe THAT'S the problem..

I don't see it as being for no reason. The problem behind with the human race is control. Or lack there of. War/ Murder/ Violence in general are all control factors that keep the numbers within tolerable limits. Seeing as how we generaly eliminate anyother means of controling our numbers and how they affect our enviroment around us.

aww.
well not many people are willing to admit it...
there have got to be millions of cases like that...

well yes because you have to imagine the time it happened and the way women were treated

The salem witch trials is one account. They killed people thought to be witches out of fear of what they did not know

Fear and Paranoia have very little to do with it. LOL Greed, Hate, Hunger for Power, Lust, Perversity, Self Rightiousness. These are what drive most of the atrocities that the Human Race commits on itself. LOL

the salem and other witch trials I don't think were so much about killing witches as it was more about fear and control of women to keep them from doing anything that was good or concidered a mans job. A lot of the women burned as witches were actually just midwives but and educated women was a threat to the way that things were done back then and a midwife would take the job away from a man. So that to me shows that something like that one would be out of intolerance rather then what they made it out to be.

Well I don't believe in possession. That sort of thing? Sylvia Browne says you cannot be taken over unless you agree to it. Some probably do though even if they don't realize it. Some just ask for it.

I don't know of any supernatural stories in particular (relating to topic) but I don't doubt that intolerance and ignorance has played a role in "supernatural persecution" if you will.

Related however, is the case of the Galileo Affair in which Galileo was placed under house arrest for his scientific views.

There have been many cases where individuals were persecuted by locals, religious and other groups for views and ideas that didn't match that of the establishment.

OniKumo makes a very good point in that when we see within ourselves the limit of our perversity and shudder, then we might begin to control ourselves. Until then it acts as a way to keep our numbers in check, lest we consume all.

I know this is not about religion, but it seems to me that avenue is one that could be pointed at for this type of condition. Look at what happened in Pakistan when the Muslims blew up the Buddhist shrines. I know no one was killed but lack of regard for one another is one way that we condition ourselves. In this case they believed that they were given divine instruction and acted in a way that many consider to be intolerant. I think it is that human condition you spoke of. People are generally idiots and capable of all manner of mischief.

Sorry, the one I was thinking of was in Afghanistan and not Pakistan. Though in north eastern Pakistan they did try to blow up statues, just not as successfully. Apologies again.

If you think about it, throughout history humans have blamed the supernatural for things that had natural causes that simply weren't understood at the time. why should this be any different? Nobody can know all the psychoses a human brain is susceptible to, so until we do, certain things will remain 'paranormal'.

..interesting. But, when one taks of intolerance and the human condition, the first thing one can talk of, is Religion itself.
..think of all those who died thanks to the Christian Crusades??
..think of the Muslims killings Indian Christians with machete.. and, I could go on.
..
Before I gave them all up as a bad job, I became aware of many different relgions. They're all as bad as one another & only serve to give a platform on occasion, in my eyes, for mans inhumanities to man.

I feel they feed off each others vibes

yeah you do have a point about the whole "control" thing cuz someone took out my "how dare" response but that's ok. :)

Its okay TigerLilith I know you said it. LOL >;] "How Dare I. " LOL

If only man's inhumanity was left to just man. LOL The Human Condition has lead us to take the wonders of this world and cut them down, dig them up and pave them over. The perversity of man's great greed and hunger only uses the supernatural as an excuse to justify it's own ends. Now we use science and discovery.

Oh yes, definitely. You know how people are. Hell, the Bible was written by man! You know how man is about stretching the truth, bending it to how HE perceives things.

LOL Jamie. It is not just Man. Women too have been just as bad at twisting perception to fit thier ends. LOL Such is the Human Condition. LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

I think a lot of those folks back there were just looney tunes personally.And there was no knowledge of mental problems or treatment in those times. Plus if you were anyone in power, you could get away with whatever you wanted.

It's always been the same throughout time. It's how gods and goddesses were created. It's how vampires and werewolves and other mythical creatures came to be "alive" today. People are scared of the unknown or of the things they create. They will always blame what they can't understand on the "supernatural". The supernatural is just like everything else in this world.. Manmade...

I would suggest that most 'supernatural events' are really mundane. We often grab at the supernatural as an explanation because it doesn't require proof. In philosophical discussion this is almost like an end game move. If I question the supernatural theory, then I'm questioning your faith or beliefs.

However, I will admit that many things are unexplained, I just tend to think that if everything claimed supernatural was in fact supernatural, it would be hard to drive for all the ghosts in the road and every house on the block would be spinning from demonic possession. Supernatural as a word is something not normal. Something so rare that we consider it beyond nature. That would imply that it's not happening to everyone everywhere all the time.

I would definitely go so far as to suggest that there is no such thing as the supernatural. As has been pointed out, the vast majority of events once thought to be supernatural have since been shown to be purely natural. To continue to cite the supernatural despite the continual failure to ever show anything to be other than natural would seem to constitute denial of the obvious.

People do disgusting and horrendous things. It's always easier to blame an unverifiable force than to accept the blame for yourself. Right?

Then even going so far as to categorize those that won't "Blame the devil/bad spirits" Closed minded. Or unenlightened. A very clear practice of churches, switching Closed mind and enlightenment with unsaved. So acceptance of an after life is one thing (sacred), yet imposing upon others that you, or someone have physical interaction with the after life, or some mystic source.. when the demonstration of that claim fits all the hall marks of a entertainers performance.. no.. that does not make any body more open minded.. that makes them a good show person.

Both sides have used such things, Ventiliquism was used by the Jesuits in exorcisms .. an agenda placed behind spiritual veils is a most corrupt agenda.. one that aims at a persons "soft spot". Those that want to attach things of faith to physic matters.. are usually ready to follow with some "sales" pitch, usually on how to protect your self.. (from something they imprinted on the would be consumers.

humans are always putting the blame away from themselves so its not wrong to say that supernatural activities was human creativity to save their name. but i mean your own experiences says different. and whether bad spirits were created to convert people to a religion is one thing, but i mean human would go there

No way of knowing.. if it was a mental equation (as some would like to express) or physical tangible thing.. how would that be "proof" of spiritual things? Wouldn't it be a logical conclusion, or physical sensation?

i agree with most of the people before me.i don't think there is a way of knowing.it is all in the past and unless you have a time machine i doubt we will ever find out.

True there is no way of knowing and repeating what someone has already said, there all loonie tunes crazy in the head.

Some times its easy to blame the Supernatural things in life then face the fact humans can be twisted

Some may have motives invested in the paranormal scenario. Influencing others to report such activity, to create a need for their field, (like a volunteer firefighter starting fires.) only the fires in this case are imaginary..

it is human nature to fear the unknown. when that happens we find a reason that something has happened and in turn react.

the salem witch trials is an example of how we looked before we leaped in the sense of unexplained happenings.

We? I am not Catholic. Churches are driven by dogma. When dogma is not clearly supportive of a church matter, they will call a meeting and reinterpite the text ever so slightly to make it appear to support their coarse of action.