Ghosts and stuff

Evil-p

So, when I was a youngster i was terrifed as ghosts, banshees etc. My O/H, when we first met had a story about seeing a ghost himself. My mother thought i could see ghosts because as i child i seemed to be entertained by an invisable person and would laugh and follow invisable man with my eyes.

However in the last 10 years, since i've stopped believing in a god and religion, i have zero fear of things that go bump in the night etc. I live in a very old house, which was owned by now deceased family members. I am on my own a fair bit but other that the normal "junkie breaking in and robbing me" fear i am very content alone. If i hear a bang from upstairs i go up to investigate because i know something has fallen off the shelf etc.

So the point I am getting to it, does not beliveing in god automatically stop someone believing the supernatural. Are there any atheists who believe in ghosts, fairys etc? I would be intereted in any opinions!

5uspect

Skepticism leads most people to become Atheists, just as it leads them to question the paranormal.

That said you get Atheists who believe silly stuff such as Bill Maher.

Funsterdelux

I used to believe in the buggy man, then I saw it was a man with a sheet over his head on Halloween. I grew up in the middle of nowhere, and as a youngster was terrified, especially when I saw a 2 part triller on Jack the Ripper when I was about 7, and then had to go up the fields as we were baling hay in the middle of the night.

Zillah

Most of the people who post on this forum are atheists due to a rational scepticism. We are by no means the only breed of non-believer. Go for a wander into the Paranormal, Spirituality and Paganism forums and you shall see people who dismiss Judeo-Christian theology as vociferously as I, and yet belief in such things as ghosts, demons, possession, fairies and all manner of extra-dimensional absurdities. Their rejection of popular religion and a traditional God is founded in their emotional dissatisfaction with such things, rather than them not meeting their intellectual standards.

And yes, it was very satisfying the first time I forced myself to look under the bed. I knew there would be nothing in there, but an irrational fear had in the past kept me paralysed. Summoning the willpower, I looked, and found nothing, and never feared the dark again.

Though my transition was in the opposite order to yours. I overcame my fear of the dark and belief in monsters using the power of a newly found scepticism, and only later did I have the temerity to bring that scepticism to bear on the claims of such mighty individuals as my parents, teachers or the parish priest.

ChocolateSauce

Zillah wrote: »

And yes, it was very satisfying the first time I forced myself to look under the bed. I knew there would be nothing in there, but an irrational fear had in the past kept me paralysed. Summoning the willpower, I looked, and found nothing, and never feared the dark again..

That's the kind of "I was raised in Ireland where we have no dangerous insects" thinking that could get you killed down under!:p

Darlughda

I find it hard to define myself by what I do or don't believe it. It seems I always end up in an atheist category, as I have rejected not just one but two religions in my lifetime and I don't believe in an external god.

Yet, I do believe in an afterlife and the continuity of our existence, just not of the heaven and hell variety, and I believe in the existence of elemental spirits like faeries.

I don't think that everything in life and certainly not in our limited comprehension of the complexity and vastness of the universe can be understood logically and rationally.

GLaDOS

I see the paranormal as the equivilant of religion, making up stuff to explain things they don't understand. That may offend theists but they are on the same level for me.

fatmammycat

What ScienceNerd said. I don't believe in gods- oh so many to chose from- fairies, ghosts, spirits, ghouls, vampires and people who 'do' reiki-spit frauds spit- or indeed any other paranormal bunk.

eoin5

All that jazz I threw out with religion. Although psychological 'magic' works and I want to know why, not the method but the reason.

Dave!

I don't think I ever really believe in ghosts and goblins tbh... Lots of my mates when I was a kid believed all that stuff, would tell stories, would claim to have seen things, would experiment with 'witchcraft' and stuff. Sometimes I went along with it, but in general I just nodded without really being into it at all. As I got older I started to realise it was all nonsense, and it was probably the same mindset that lead me to question religion.

Zillah

Darlughda wrote: »

I don't think that everything in life and certainly not in our limited comprehension of the complexity and vastness of the universe can be understood logically and rationally.

Yeah, probably best we just believe whatever ridiculous shit that pops into our heads then.

In this day and age someone can still state that they believe in fairies with a straight face. Incredible.

aidan24326

Darlughda wrote: »

..... and I believe in the existence of elemental spirits like faeries.

Ask yourself why you would believe in such things.

Consider these dictionary definitions of 'belief'.

1.a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing

2.conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence

Now what evidence can you think of for faeries? What confidence or conviction could you have in something that completely lacks any kind of evidence? Isn't the word fairy just a makey-up word from mythology, with no relation to any real thing, being or phenomenon that we know of? Same can be said of ghosts too.

Belief in that type of nonsense is actually worse than belief in god. Since the universe exists at all I can see why some would believe that it had a creator. That in itself is not entirely unreasonable (it's the nonsense that goes with it I take issue with). But fairies? Ghosts? That's just plain silly.

eoin5

Zillah wrote: »

Yeah, probably best we just believe whatever ridiculous shit that pops into our heads then.

In this day and age someone can still state that they believe in fairies with a straight face. Incredible.

Ooop, there goes another one. Juila Roberts would not be pleased.

Darlughda

Well, it would be hard to find many people nowadays who believed whatever came into their heads. Unless we are seduced by some delusion and really are any of us are exempt from that all of the time?

Yeah, I know beliefs are a bit mad and I do love mythology so certainly my imagination is full of stuff. But still, ghosts faeries and spirits of all kinds do exist, in my opinion. So what the hell, can I definetely not call myself an atheiest now with these notions?:D

Zillah

Darlughda wrote: »

Yeah, I know beliefs are a bit mad and I do love mythology so certainly my imagination is full of stuff. But still, ghosts faeries and spirits of all kinds do exist, in my opinion. So what the hell, can I definetely not call myself an atheiest now with these notions?:D

"Opinion" is one of the most abused words on this forum. Stating something ridiculous and attaching "opinion" to the sentence doesn't make it any less ridiculous. Where you are stating an opinion it will be clear from the context, where you are stating beliefs adding "opinion" to it is nonsensical.

2+2=5, in my opinion.

Darlughda

Okay. No, I am not completely au fait with the history of the word 'opinion', within this particular forum.

Thing is, I don't care if what I say is ridiculous or nonsensical to anyone, either on this forum or elsewhere. As you can imagine, I have heard it all before.

My question is, in the context of the original post, do I have to pass certain criteria to 'be an atheist', or can I still be a 'real' atheist, whatever that is, if I believe in ghosts, faeries, spirits?....oh the list does go on.

Agricola

Atheist : One who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods.

That is all as far as Im concerned. The above definition does not include fairies, hobbits or whatever else because it explicitly relates to religious belief (or lack thereof)

eoin5

Darlughda wrote: »

Okay. No, I am not completely au fait with the history of the word 'opinion', within this particular forum.

Thing is, I don't care if what I say is ridiculous or nonsensical to anyone, either on this forum or elsewhere. As you can imagine, I have heard it all before.

My question is, in the context of the original post, do I have to pass certain criteria to 'be an atheist', or can I still be a 'real' atheist, whatever that is, if I believe in ghosts, faeries, spirits?....oh the list does go on.

Some people like a fuzzy definition of theism but for me all it comes down to is if you believe in a personal god or gods. So do you believe that there is a creator or creators of the universe? Can worship or prayer to them make any difference? A no to either of those questions will make you an atheist.

Zillah

Darlughda wrote: »

Okay. No, I am not completely au fait with the history of the word 'opinion', within this particular forum.

Thing is, I don't care if what I say is ridiculous or nonsensical to anyone, either on this forum or elsewhere. As you can imagine, I have heard it all before.

My question is, in the context of the original post, do I have to pass certain criteria to 'be an atheist', or can I still be a 'real' atheist, whatever that is, if I believe in ghosts, faeries, spirits?....oh the list does go on.

I'd probably say no. If you literally believe that magical entities exist then I think calling yourself an atheist is very misleading. Sure, your crazy magic people are smaller and weaker than a Christian's, but they're still supernatural.

It comes down to your definition of the word "God". In regard to the all-powerful Judeo-Christian God, yeah I suppose you're an atheist, but what exactly is the difference between a powerful spirit and a minor God?

Goduznt Xzst

Zillah wrote: »

what exactly is the difference between a powerful spirit and a minor God?

what ever you want it to be... see isn't this fun, we can make up all forms of strange creatures in our minds and imbue them with all forms of characteristics and then, with a straight face, tell people they are real.

In my world everyones a pony and we all eat rainbows and poop butterflies.

Zillah

Goduznt Xzst wrote: »

In my world everyones a pony and we all eat rainbows and poop butterflies.

*nyom* *nyom* *pooop* *flutter* *flutter*

I could do this all day.