Me, too. So my question is, what is behind all of these ghost stories, and experiences? Like,
Lincoln's ghost - Wikipedia , or List
of reportedly haunted locations in the United States - Wikipedia , or the thousands of others
Granted, many incidents are faked...
but all of them? With many reputable people
being the eyewitnesses?
The major line of enquiry is suggestion. Having experienced the creeps, I don't doubt they're real, but I suspect they evolved to reinforce care in situations likely to be dangerous, particularly at night.
I've never been in the White House, so I don't know how spooky or echoey or atmospheric the place is, not least at night. But many of those reports in your linked article don't involve appearances, just 'the sense of a presence'. How does 'the sense of a presence' translate into Lincoln unless the connection is provided, not by the data but by the subject?
As for poor Queen Wilhelmina, in what emotional state did she go to the door, in particular was she already spooked? (I suppose one could argue that her fainting suggests she was cold-cocked, but not necessarily.) Second, did she really see someone, and if she did, did she imagine it was Lincoln? Or was it someone who could be mistaken for Lincoln? Whichever, if not an error, which is more likely, a spook or a hoax?
As for the photos, if you can photograph a ghost, why aren't the security cameras full of Lincoln's hauntings, all day every day?
What is a ghost if not simply an image in the mind? What physical presence does it have by which it can knock on doors ─ why would it knock on its own bedroom door? ─ or deflect light so as to appear in photos?
Why Lincoln? He died elsewhere, even if his body was taken to the White House later. Why isn't the ghost of John Tyler or Rutherford Hayes shaking everyone up? Or the doppelganger of Jimmy Carter, for that matter? Suggestion, suggestion, suggestion. And maybe helped by a spooky or off-putting atmosphere at times.
Since the Bible says 'the dead know nothing, their thoughts perish, they are sleeping' -Ecclesiastes 9:5; Psalms 146:3-4; John 11:11-14 ....What is going on? I'll tell you: intelligent forces are trying to mislead people (and succeeded) as Revelation 12:9 informs us..
I really don't think so. I've never even seen a reasonable explanation of what 'supernatural' means that isn't the same thing as 'imaginary''. Nor do I think people 2000 years ago knew more about such things than we do, otherwise there wouldn't be such cultural distinctions between supernatural beliefs. Rather I think that human curiosity demands an explanation, and before science was on the scene, this job fell to the storytellers and the sages as repositories of folk wisdom.
Something else to think about: if, as the Bible says, the dead "know nothing"...just how did Bible 'supporters' get this idea of tormenting the dead? Since, really, the dead can't feel?!
Interesting point. First, I agree the dead know nothing. The same idea is also found in eg Job 12:7-8, 14:10-12. Ecclesiastes 3:18-22. In the NT, Paul thinks death is the end eg Romans 6:9, as does John eg 3:16. Mark, perhaps metaphorically, thinks baddies go to Gehenna, but Matthew and Luke and John of Patmos are all for the eternal fiery lake. So for those who think the soul is a meaningful real thing, it's take your pick, really.
Just think about it...the conclusion is obvious...there are unseen intelligent entities trying to fool mankind! Any way they can....getting them to believe lies!
They go by various names ─ politicians, Big Business, Trump, Facebook ... a lucrative industry, I'm told.