Demons, is there any evidence they even exist?

[Muffled]

It can be a mental disease of course.

Maybe you could explain how that works. I believe the mental conditions are only called diseases if the person can't cope with them. Also as is often the case with the medical industry the symptoms will be treated and not the cause.

 

[Muffled]

How does one tell the difference between demons and mental illness?

Having a demon is not a mental illness. Obeying a demon is downright dangerous. The mental aberration is the thinking that a demon is a good guide.

 

[Soandso]

Having a demon is not a mental illness. Obeying a demon is downright dangerous. The mental aberration is the thinking that a demon is a good guide.

This doesn't really answer my question, though. If you were to look at someone acting oddly, how do you tell whether or not that person is suffering from a mental illness or if they are demon possessed?

 

[F1fan]

I wouldn't trust a therapist to know his *** from his elbow.

Conservative Christians have low trust, and even contempt, for mental health services. This seems to extend from a general contempt for science which is likely an extension of the influence of creationism. So your comment above is a big red flag. You offer no justification for it.

I worked at a mental institution for a while and patients would drop by and chat. One definitely had a demon but I was too new a Christian to be of much help. She ended up kicking a nurse in the head and the court found her sane and sent her to prison.

Mental health in the USA is badly underfunded and hospitals put a low priority on it compared to more chronic conditions. Patients who need care do not receive it. They are often released from hospitals with short term medication and will end up involved in situations with police who have little training. So these folks end up in jails and prison. This is one reason why prisons are so full and dangerous.

 

[F1fan]

Having a demon is not a mental illness. Obeying a demon is downright dangerous. The mental aberration is the thinking that a demon is a good guide.

Sorry but demons are not known to exist. Those claiming demons as a cause for behavior are suffering from some mental health crisis.

 

[Wildswanderer]

You are incredibly averse to science.

The rest of what you've said here ignores our entire previous conversation as though it never happened. Bizarre.

You don't ever address the very real issues of the human spirit. Bizarre.
I'm not at all adverse to real science.

 

[F1fan]

You don't ever address the very real issues of the human spirit. Bizarre.
I'm not at all adverse to real science.

The religious ideas of “spirit” isn’t constant with reality.

 

[Apostle John]

How does one tell the difference between demons and mental illness?

A person obviously cannot tell. The Lord Jesus could though, obviously.

 

[F1fan]

A person obviously cannot tell. The Lord Jesus could though, obviously.

And we have no more reason to think a “Lord Jesus” exists any more than demons.

If demons do exist and cause harm to some folks then we can place the blame on God.

 

[Wildswanderer]

The religious ideas of “spirit” isn’t constant with reality.

Whose reality?

 

[Apostle John]

And we have no more reason to think a “Lord Jesus” exists any more than demons.

If demons do exist and cause harm to some folks then we can place the blame on God.

Personally I like this reason for existence:
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

I like the test and the accountability that awaits, not necessarily the mortal living part but respect others might be consumed with thoughts of the here and now.

 

[F1fan]

Personally I like this reason for existence:
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

I like the test and the accountability that awaits, not necessarily the mortal living part but respect others might be consumed with thoughts of the here and now.

Well none of that has any basis in reality (fact and reason). Why would you adopt a framework that is so absurd and contrary to what we observe?

 

[F1fan]

Whose reality?

If you are confused about this then you probably have inner conflict that can be resolved with reasoning. Of course you will have to abandon religious dogma and find an alternative to the emotional reward you seek from it.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

Sorry but demons are not known to exist. Those claiming demons as a cause for behavior are suffering from some mental health crisis.

The religious ideas of “spirit” isn’t constant with reality.

I do not want to debate or argue with you, but I would like to respectfully disagree with your assertion that those who see dead people are experiencing hallucinations or delusions. I'd like to point out that seeing the dead isn't uncommon (see my post here), but it's usually not the result of a hallucination or delusion. It's even more common for psychic mediums, like me, to see the dead and communicate with the dead. I know that you don't believe in ghosts, an afterlife, psychic medium abilities, or anything else paranormal. As far as I'm concerned, you can accept or reject what I say about these topics in this post. The decision is entirely yours. Any skepticism or religious objections to my abilities or any doubt about whether they are real or not won't change the reality that I've lived with these abilities all my life, and I refuse to suppress them again in fear of what other people will think. People I've never met or seen before have witnessed me reveal personal information to them that was previously known only to them and their deceased loved ones, confirming my psychic medium abilities to interact and communicate with the dead. I've revealed private information known only to the person and their deceased loved ones for many years, and I've never met anyone who remained a skeptic of the paranormal after our encounter. It's rewarding to help other people.

I've spent the past fifteen years researching and investigating the paranormal, traveling across the country to investigate well-known and rumored haunted locations, and collaborating with other paranormal investigators to assist their investigations into a variety of haunted locations. I've also used my ghost-hunting equipment to collect evidence of my encounters as well as other spirit activity. People I've met in person or with whom I've corresponded online, including both believers and skeptics, have reviewed and verified a lot of my evidence. I take researching and investigating the paranormal very seriously.

In relation to this post, I'm re-posting a portion of another post I made earlier in this thread (see here).

As I've explained in previous posts (such as this one), the reason I post on this forum about my mediumship abilities is so that others who don't have these abilities can experience what I see, hear, and feel every day and have since I was six years old (read it here). I also start threads about my paranormal investigations to share my experiences with people who have never had close encounters with the paranormal like I have (such as these posts here and here). I don't talk about being a psychic medium anywhere else online other than RF. And, aside from my husband, children, in-laws, and closest friends, no one else in my family or anyone who knows me knows that I am a medium or that I investigate the paranormal. I was also hesitant to give my first reading, which was for my therapist at the time (read about it here). To be honest, when I'm out in public, like in a restaurant, I try to avoid drawing attention to myself. I don't mention that I'm a medium to other people I meet and don't know while I'm investigating a haunted location (read my post here).

I will occasionally give a reading to someone if I believe they will be open to it, but I won't ever press the issue if the person is unwilling to listen. I can only give a reading to someone in person, never online. I've also taken part in a séance where I gave a reading to a former friend and a small group of her friends (read about it here), but it resulted in a real problem for me (read about it here), and I resolved never to do that again. I've met a lot of people over the years who were skeptical of the paranormal, but I have yet to meet someone who remained skeptical after I revealed private information that only this person and their deceased loved one knew. As a psychic medium, I've helped many people (both skeptics and believers in the paranormal) connect with and communicate with their deceased loved ones over the years. As I said, I've never met anyone who remained a skeptic after I shared private information that only they and their deceased loved one knew. I've also helped many lost, confused, and angry human spirits cross over into the spirit world, like the spirit of a young girl I wrote about in this previous post. In fact, I've persuaded many lost and confused human spirits to cross over into the spirit world, even though they believed they'd go straight to heaven to be with God and Jesus after death (end of portion taken from earlier post).

As I've previously stated in other threads, I don't argue or debate with others on these topics, and that is for two reasons: first, as I explained in a previous post here, I don't want to debate or argue with those who don't believe my abilities are real or believe in the paranormal, and second, I don't want to derail the thread. To avoid derailing the thread, I've included links to my previous posts, in which I discussed my beliefs about the afterlife (read my post here) and what it's like for me to be a psychic medium, including what my abilities are (read my post here) and some of my personal experiences as one (read my posts here and here). I'm not asking or expecting you to read the other posts I linked to, but I included them in case you're interested in learning more about my personal perspective on this subject. I share my experiences so that others can better understand the paranormal. Thank you for your time.

 

[F1fan]

I do not want to debate or argue with you, but I would like to respectfully disagree with your assertion that those who see dead people are experiencing hallucinations or delusions. I'd like to point out that seeing the dead isn't uncommon (see my post here), but it's usually not the result of a hallucination or delusion. It's even more common for psychic mediums, like me, to see the dead and communicate with the dead. I know that you don't believe in ghosts, an afterlife, psychic medium abilities, or anything else paranormal. As far as I'm concerned, you can accept or reject what I say about these topics in this post. The decision is entirely yours. Any skepticism or religious objections to my abilities or any doubt about whether they are real or not won't change the reality that I've lived with these abilities all my life, and I refuse to suppress them again in fear of what other people will think. People I've never met or seen before have witnessed me reveal personal information to them that was previously known only to them and their deceased loved ones, confirming my psychic medium abilities to interact and communicate with the dead. I've revealed private information known only to the person and their deceased loved ones for many years, and I've never met anyone who remained a skeptic of the paranormal after our encounter. It's rewarding to help other people.

I've spent the past fifteen years researching and investigating the paranormal, traveling across the country to investigate well-known and rumored haunted locations, and collaborating with other paranormal investigators to assist their investigations into a variety of haunted locations. I've also used my ghost-hunting equipment to collect evidence of my encounters as well as other spirit activity. People I've met in person or with whom I've corresponded online, including both believers and skeptics, have reviewed and verified a lot of my evidence. I take researching and investigating the paranormal very seriously.

In relation to this post, I'm re-posting a portion of another post I made earlier in this thread (see here).

As I've explained in previous posts (such as this one), the reason I post on this forum about my mediumship abilities is so that others who don't have these abilities can experience what I see, hear, and feel every day and have since I was six years old (read it here). I also start threads about my paranormal investigations to share my experiences with people who have never had close encounters with the paranormal like I have (such as these posts here and here). I don't talk about being a psychic medium anywhere else online other than RF. And, aside from my husband, children, in-laws, and closest friends, no one else in my family or anyone who knows me knows that I am a medium or that I investigate the paranormal. I was also hesitant to give my first reading, which was for my therapist at the time (read about it here). To be honest, when I'm out in public, like in a restaurant, I try to avoid drawing attention to myself. I don't mention that I'm a medium to other people I meet and don't know while I'm investigating a haunted location (read my post here).

I will occasionally give a reading to someone if I believe they will be open to it, but I won't ever press the issue if the person is unwilling to listen. I can only give a reading to someone in person, never online. I've also taken part in a séance where I gave a reading to a former friend and a small group of her friends (read about it here), but it resulted in a real problem for me (read about it here), and I resolved never to do that again. I've met a lot of people over the years who were skeptical of the paranormal, but I have yet to meet someone who remained skeptical after I revealed private information that only this person and their deceased loved one knew. As a psychic medium, I've helped many people (both skeptics and believers in the paranormal) connect with and communicate with their deceased loved ones over the years. As I said, I've never met anyone who remained a skeptic after I shared private information that only they and their deceased loved one knew. I've also helped many lost, confused, and angry human spirits cross over into the spirit world, like the spirit of a young girl I wrote about in this previous post. In fact, I've persuaded many lost and confused human spirits to cross over into the spirit world, even though they believed they'd go straight to heaven to be with God and Jesus after death (end of portion taken from earlier post).

As I've previously stated in other threads, I don't argue or debate with others on these topics, and that is for two reasons: first, as I explained in a previous post here, I don't want to debate or argue with those who don't believe my abilities are real or believe in the paranormal, and second, I don't want to derail the thread. To avoid derailing the thread, I've included links to my previous posts, in which I discussed my beliefs about the afterlife (read my post here) and what it's like for me to be a psychic medium, including what my abilities are (read my post here) and some of my personal experiences as one (read my posts here and here). I'm not asking or expecting you to read the other posts I linked to, but I included them in case you're interested in learning more about my personal perspective on this subject. I share my experiences so that others can better understand the paranormal. Thank you for your time.

Thanks for the post. I do find paranormal interesting. But notice I never mentioned dead people, only demons and gods. And i was responding to posters who dismiss psychology and therapy and prefer rather archaic ideas like demons.

 

[Wildswanderer]

If you are confused about this then you probably have inner conflict that can be resolved with reasoning. Of course you will have to abandon religious dogma and find an alternative to the emotional reward you seek from it.

Reasoning leads me to God every single time.

 

[SkepticThinker]

You don't ever address the very real issues of the human spirit. Bizarre.

I work in the field of psychology. I help people mentally and psychologically on a daily basis. Including myself.

I'm not at all adverse to real science.

You've demonstrated in this thread that you are and that you don't even understand how and why science is done the way it is.
You think anecdotes trump scientific findings.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

Thanks for the post. I do find paranormal interesting. But notice I never mentioned dead people, only demons and gods. And i was responding to posters who dismiss psychology and therapy and prefer rather archaic ideas like demons.

You're welcome. I noticed that you mentioned "spirit," as I quoted you in my previous post. That's why I mentioned the dead and the paranormal.

 

[Wildswanderer]

Conservative Christians have low trust, and even contempt, for mental health services. This seems to extend from a general contempt for science which is likely an extension of the influence of creationism. So your comment above is a big red flag. You offer no justification for it.

Ironically I'm sure you can not see the extreme bias you have to have ty write this.

 

[SkepticThinker]

Whose reality?

The one where people can demonstrate the veracity of their claims to others.