Paranormal Stuff: Do You In Believe in Any of It?

[Retro4Life]

Curious as to where everyone stand on some of these things. Obviously, you can pick one, all, none...whatever you like.

Personally, I think all are quite possible.

[ponytail]

I believe in all of them.

[Furienna]

Out of those five alternatives, I say Nessie is the least likely to actually exist, with Bigfoot as a close second. But there almost must be life at other planets too somewhere, and as for mediums and ghosts, why not?

[MacLeaper]

I definitely believe in mediums, because it's just too expensive to get the large size combo every time...

[MacLeaper]

Seriously though, I'm pretty much open to the idea of all of these things. I don't honestly think Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Yeti/The Abominable Snowman, etc. actually exists or Nessie, The Loch Ness Monster either for that matter. But both are great subjects for TV shows and books to explore, etc. (For example: Doctor Who, Quantum Leap and MacGyver have all had encounters with Yeti- and a Quantum Leap novel deals with Sam having an encounter with Nessie.)
Nonetheless, I don't totally rule out the possibility that they could exist. As the saying goes, truth is stranger than fiction. "There are stranger things in Heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philiosophy." (as Hamlet told Horatio in William Shakespeare's classic work.)
I find many of these paranormal elements interesting and intriguing- and like I said, particularly when classic TV shows deal with them, like "Kolchak, The Night Stalker" or "In Search Of" with Leonard Nimoy- and a number of others ("The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" have also dealt with this, along with a number of other shows. When it's coupled with mystery, then I'm really interested- like the classic "Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators" book series.)
With aliens, that would fit my above classifications. I don't really think they necessarily exist, but I don't totally rule out the possibility either.
I have seen a few verses in The Bible that might even indicate the existence of aliens, though I do rather doubt that that's what the verse is referring to. (I'm thinking mainly of John 10:16 here- "And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd." However, it makes much more sense in the context of the entire passage of John 10, that Jesus was talking about people who believe in Him for salvation from the time after His death, Resurrection and Ascension and on to the end of time.)
"And if there's life on other planets, then I'm sure that He must know- And He's been there once already and has died to save their souls.... He's an Unidentified Flying Object- you will see Him in the skies- He's an Unidentified Flying Object- coming back to take me Home. He's an Unidentified Flying Object- He will roll away your stone......" - "U.F.O." by Larry Norman

Now, as to mediums and ghosts, I do actually believe in these. There are people that dabble in the spirit world and try to contact the dead- we read about one such person that Saul visited in 1 Samuel 28. (God allowed Saul to do this and have a vision from the prophet Samuel, who had already died at that point. But Saul should have known from the law of Moses that it was wrong for him to be doing so, as Leviticus 20:27 and Deuteronomy 18:11 make clear. 1 Chronicles 10:13 also notes this event in Saul's life and lists it as one of the ways he was unfaithful to The Lord.)
So I don't think people should mess around with such things in the spiritual world because God clearly warns against it in The Bible.
Also, there is a misconception about ghosts. People generally have an idea about people's souls turning into ghosts after they die and somehow they are allowed to roam the world, as presented in the popular 1990 movie "Ghost".
However, the only Ghost I believe in is The Holy Ghost. (The Holy Trinity of course- God The Father, God The Son Jesus Christ, and God The Holy Spirit or The Holy Ghost, as He's called in different translations.)
There are only two forces of spiritual power in the world. There is good and there is evil. The only spiritual beings that exist are either on the side of good or evil. God and His angels are on the side of good- along with all who put their faith in Christ and follow Him. Then, on the side of evil, we have Satan and his demons and all who follow him and reject Christ.
And of course, the ultimate end for Christ and His people is Heaven and for Satan and his people is Hell.
I'm so glad that God loved all of us in the world enough to give Jesus to die on the cross for all of our wrongs- all the wrongs and failures that separate us from God otherwise- and through His crucifixion He paid for them all- and then Christ rose again, proving He's God. And because He lives, we can live also. He provided the Way of salvation for all who will trust Him and put faith in Jesus and follow Him. Praise God for His love!

[robyrob]

i believe some of that stuff is possible - its hard to actually disprove such things - but I'd rather not talk about it here; they could be watching.

[MickeyMac]

Dont believe in none of it.

[gilligan fanatic]

I believe in ghosts a little, there have been some spooky things

[Retro4Life]

You know what I always find interesting? I have a couple of friends who claim to be atheists, yet still believe in ghosts. And they don't see any conflict with that belief. It's like, they can't bring themselves to believe in Heaven (an essential tenet of most religions) but they CAN believe in earthbound ghosts?

I just find that weird.

[Furienna]

I don't find it that weird. Surely you can believe in one thing, but not in another?

[Retro4Life]

Originally Posted by Furienna

I don't find it that weird. Surely you can believe in one thing, but not in another?

That's not my point, though. Most atheists I've come across seem to stick on the "afterlife" portion of spirituality. My point is that how can you accept the possibility of afterlife in one type of phenomena (ghosts), and yet totally reject it in the same breath in another phenomena (Heaven)?

It's an inconsistent beilef, IMO. And to be clear, I'm fine with anyone believing whatever they want to. I just think you should be consistent.

[MacLeaper]

That is incongruent.

[Fleet]

Originally Posted by ponytail

I believe in all of them.

Me, too.

[Retro4Life]

Ach, I just realized I didn't include a "none" button! Sorry!

[robyrob]

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

That's not my point, though. Most atheists I've come across seem to stick on the "afterlife" portion of spirituality. My point is that how can you accept the possibility of afterlife in one type of phenomena (ghosts), and yet totally reject it in the same breath in another phenomena (Heaven)?

It's an inconsistent beilef, IMO. And to be clear, I'm fine with anyone believing whatever they want to. I just think you should be consistent.

not necessarily; you haven't really specified what they actually believe to be true about ghosts - are they disembodied spirits, residual energy, bends in the space-time continuum that show images from the past - who knows?

the problem is that no one knows what they really are or are not, so you can't really apply a static set of "rules" to the unknown.