Annoying proselytizing (and preaching)

[Sgt. Pepper]

I am really glad you are able to share your experiences and that people are more accepting of them without degrading what you do or insulting you personally. That is just not kind. I know there are many people who believe and have been helped emotionally by mediums such as yourself. And what an exciting ability!

Over the years, I've helped and consoled a lot of people by giving them personal messages from their deceased loved one. Most of them were skeptical at first, but they believed after I shared private information with them that was previously known only between them and their dead loved one. I enjoy helping people like that and being an empath helps me determine if they're open to it or not.

Honestly, there are really times now that I wish I could go back to believing the many experiences I have had over the years as being interactions with spirits. It was always comforting and uplifting. I've just become very boring in my old age and always thinking through how and why of what is happening when I have experiences now. I just can't make it past the scientific probability that the experiences have an earthy explanation.

What properties would these spirits consist of that could cause them to be visible? How could they exist but not be measurable? Am i experiencing something because I have a preconceived notion of what I would like to experience? In what part of the human body do they exist when alive and how can they survive physical death? Where do they live? See my problem? Boring!

Your concerns are well-founded, and similar concerns contributed to why I've spent the last 15 years researching the paranormal and have invested thousands of dollars on high-tech ghost hunting equipment that will record any evidence I find while I'm investigating haunted locations. Investigating the paranormal is a passion of mine, and I've traveled around the country in order to investigate both well-known and allegedly haunted locations. I take my investigations very seriously, and I don't leave any stone unturned (see here).

But again, I don't doubt anything you say about what you experience. It certainly is fulfilling and lends to an exciting life. I am going to follow some more of your links you have provided. Thanks again.

My life is never boring, that's for sure. I know I posted a link to one of my paranormal investigations in a prior post, but I can't recall if I mentioned that I have a few more threads in the same forum about my other investigations. My inbox is open, if you have questions.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I disagree. For instance, recently one 10-year old boy shot and killed his mother because she refused to get his something. Children cannot learn on their own.

Nobody's suggesting that children just be left to learn on their own. On the contrary, I think it's important to teach children values and morality at a deeper level than just "here's a list of things the invisible magic man in the sky doesn't want you to do. Don't do them or he'll hurt you."

Religion is an awful way to instill values in a child, IMO.

The main reason is that a person needs to have a relationship with God.
As Jesus said, "Why call me good? Nobody is good except one, God."

You make Christianity sound pretty toxic.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I’m usually accused of being an atheist but I remain a theist.

I get that a lot. I'm not really either, as both begin with conclusions and assumptions that I'm not really working with.
Personally I think we need to ditch the atheist/theist binary. It seems simple enough it should work, but it's a thing of people and people aren't governed by hard, unyielding laws of nature, nor are we machines of pure and sound logic. And as such the atheist and theist thing isn't that clear cut. Dawkins, for example, thinks Deism is watered down theism and said Thomas Paine was probably an atheist despite his saying he was a deist. But much of Paine's works do not render support for either claim but rather the opposite of both claims.
In Japan theism is typically used to describe adherents of Western monotheism (like Christianity or Islam), and though by out understanding of what a theist and atheist are we would say they are theist, however they tend to say atheist.
I tend to think for so long that for much of the West has so strictly been a worldview of things that are of god and not of god that our societies and cultures were ill equipped to accommodate new ideas as the printing press, literacy, libraries, education and the internet helped teach us so many things that we are learning the World and Nature and the Cosmos are different shades and degrees and colors, it's just a traditional worldview that has been rapidly unraveling and massivelu failing over the past couple of centuries that has tried to fit this all into a box of either-or.

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

It's comments like these that make me realize what a blessing I have to realize that God warned His people, the Israelites, NOT to communicate with the dead. Or anything like a "spirit medium."

He can ban it all He likes, but if He provides the talent, it’s His problem.

 

[YoursTrue]

He can ban it all He likes, but if He provides the talent, it’s His problem.

It will be settled,

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

He can ban it all He likes, but if He provides the talent, it’s His problem.

As I've previously stated (for example, in this post), any religious objections to my psychic medium abilities or any skepticism about whether they are real or not won't alter the fact that I have lived with these abilities my entire life, and I will not suppress them again out of fear of what other people will think. I've learned to accept and embrace my abilities after many years of being in denial. In fact, I've had Christians tell me that my abilities as a psychic medium are a gift from God and I should use them to glorify him, and I've had other Christians tell me that my abilities are demonic. As I said in another similar topic (read it here), I decided not to pay attention to either side because it doesn't matter to me what Christians think of my psychic medium abilities or of my personal experiences with the paranormal. It's my life, not theirs. I decided to share my gift of psychic mediumship with others because I wanted to address the negative stigma attached to it, and I didn't want to give other people the power to control me by shaming me into rejecting my unique abilities and forcing me into silence. And as I said before, as far as I'm concerned, people can accept or reject what I say about my own personal experiences as a medium in communication with human spirits. It's entirely their decision. Any objection is irrelevant to me.

And lastly, I'm an agnostic where it concerns the god of the Bible. I have my doubts that this god exists, but if "he" exists, then "he" isn't worth my time, just as I obviously wasn't worth his time while I was growing up in an abusive home. But that's neither here nor there now because I've renounced my genuine belief in the Christian god and my Christian faith. To be honest, disavowing my faith was the best decision that I've ever made for myself, and I don't regret it. The only thing I regret is that I didn't do it years ago. I could have spared myself years of pain and suffering if I had forsaken my faith and the false hope I had in the Christian god decades ago.

 

[YoursTrue]

As I've previously stated (for example, in this post), any religious objections to my psychic medium abilities or any skepticism about whether they are real or not won't alter the fact that I have lived with these abilities my entire life, and I will not suppress them again out of fear of what other people will think. I've learned to accept and embrace my abilities after many years of being in denial. In fact, I've had Christians tell me that my abilities as a psychic medium are a gift from God and I should use them to glorify him, and I've had other Christians tell me that my abilities are demonic. As I said in another similar topic (read it here), I decided not to pay attention to either side because it doesn't matter to me what Christians think of my psychic medium abilities or of my personal experiences with the paranormal. It's my life, not theirs. I decided to share my gift of psychic mediumship with others because I wanted to address the negative stigma attached to it, and I didn't want to give other people the power to control me by shaming me into rejecting my unique abilities and forcing me into silence. And as I said before, as far as I'm concerned, people can accept or reject what I say about my own personal experiences as a medium in communication with human spirits. It's entirely their decision. Any objection is irrelevant to me.

And lastly, I'm an agnostic where it concerns the god of the Bible. I have my doubts that this god exists, but if "he" exists, then "he" isn't worth my time, just as I obviously wasn't worth his time while I was growing up in an abusive home. But that's neither here nor there now because I've renounced my genuine belief in the Christian god and my Christian faith. To be honest, disavowing my faith was the best decision that I've ever made for myself, and I don't regret it. The only thing I regret is that I didn't do it years ago. I could have spared myself years of pain and suffering if I had forsaken my faith and the false hope I had in the Christian god decades ago.

I am so sorry to hear you grew up in an abusive home.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Personally I think we need to ditch the atheist/theist binary. It seems simple enough it should work, but it's a thing of people and people aren't governed by hard, unyielding laws of nature, nor are we machines of pure and sound logic.

Theism vs. atheism is always going to be a binary by definition - everyone is in exactly one of those groups - but I agree that it would be nice if the question of whether a person is a theist was much less important in our society.

And as such the atheist and theist thing isn't that clear cut. Dawkins, for example, thinks Deism is watered down theism and said Thomas Paine was probably an atheist despite his saying he was a deist. But much of Paine's works do not render support for either claim but rather the opposite of both claims.

Deism is a subset of theism. By being a deist, Paine was a theist.

(... or at least presented as a deist, and therefore as a theist. I'm not a mindreader, so I can't say whether he was actually a closeted atheist living in a society that would have persecuted him if he didn't wrap his ideas in some sort of theism)

Paine certainly argued against the sort of classical monotheism that features an intervenor-creator God, but there are many other ways someone can be a theist.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Deism is a subset of theism. By being a deist, Paine was a theist.

My point was Dawkins said otherwise, a supporting point for my claim it gets complicated.

(... or at least presented as a deist, and therefore as a theist. I'm not a mindreader, so I can't say whether he was actually a closeted atheist living in a society that would have persecuted him if he didn't wrap his ideas in some sort of theism)

He spent time in jail for violating blasphemy laws yet he still referenced the Almighty and even complained in Age of Reason that Christianity is good at making fanatics and atheists. Reading Paine there is just no hint or suggestion or indication he was an atheist.

Theism vs. atheism is always going to be a binary by definition - everyone is in exactly one of those groups - but I agree that it would be nice if the question of whether a person is a theist was much less important in our society.

Except this binary doesn't translate well in some cultures. This is why I mentioned Japan, where we would say they are theist based on their beliefs but they themselves would say atheist as theist is often used to describe Western monotheism.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

My point was Dawkins said otherwise, a supporting point for my claim it gets complicated.

Did he? I'd count a "watered-down theist" as still a theist.

He spent time in jail for violating blasphemy laws yet he still referenced the Almighty and even complained in Age of Reason that Christianity is good at making fanatics and atheists. Reading Paine there is just no hint or suggestion or indication he was an atheist.

Fair enough.

Except this binary doesn't translate well in some cultures. This is why I mentioned Japan, where we would say they are theist based on their beliefs but they themselves would say atheist as theist is often used to describe Western monotheism.

If they don't regard their kami as gods, then they aren't theists.

Atheist <> strict materialist

 

[Shadow Wolf]

If they don't regard their kami as gods, then they aren't theists.

As I said, it's how they use the terms. We would say theist, but they wouldn't because theism to them is Western monotheism.

Did he? I'd count a "watered-down theist" as still a theist.

Called it watered down theism and then proceeded to try to claim Paine was probably an atheist. He gives the impression he doesn't really count deism as theism like he would Christianity.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

Theism vs. atheism is always going to be a binary by definition - everyone is in exactly one of those groups

Some people don't know if there is a God or not, and do their best to sit on the fence, however uncomfortable that may be.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Some people don't know if there is a God or not, and do their best to sit on the fence, however uncomfortable that may be.

Well, if they're leaning far enough to one side to believe in at least one god, they're a theist; otherwise, they're an atheist.

If we're being honest with ourselves, the question "how many gods do you believe in?" has a single answer for every person.

Maybe that answer changes over time, and maybe the answer reflects a conclusion held with a high degree of doubt, but for a given person at a given moment, there is one answer.

 

[YoursTrue]

Over the years, I've helped and consoled a lot of people by giving them personal messages from their deceased loved one. Most of them were skeptical at first, but they believed after I shared private information with them that was previously known only between them and their dead loved one. I enjoy helping people like that and being an empath helps me determine if they're open to it or not.



Your concerns are well-founded, and similar concerns contributed to why I've spent the last 15 years researching the paranormal and have invested thousands of dollars on high-tech ghost hunting equipment that will record any evidence I find while I'm investigating haunted locations. Investigating the paranormal is a passion of mine, and I've traveled around the country in order to investigate both well-known and allegedly haunted locations. I take my investigations very seriously, and I don't leave any stone unturned (see here).



My life is never boring, that's for sure. I know I posted a link to one of my paranormal investigations in a prior post, but I can't recall if I mentioned that I have a few more threads in the same forum about my other investigations. My inbox is open, if you have questions.

Just out of curiosity, do you think the dead need a "medium" to speak for them?