Why is it that skeptics won't believe in UFOs, psychokinesis, ESP, etc...yet they have no problem believing in god, jesus and all that religious stuff; so I ask again: why is that?!

Wha?

skeptic

\Skep"tic\, n. [Gr. skeptiko`s thoughtful, reflective, fr. ske`ptesqai to look carefully or about, to view, consider: cf. L. scepticus, F. sceptique. See Scope.] [Written also sceptic.] 1. One who is yet undecided as to what is true; one who is looking or inquiring for what is true; an inquirer after facts or reasons.

Tell that to the people who run that magazine "The Skeptical Inquirer", as they are no undecided...they've already made up their minds!

that's not being skeptical, it's being opinionated ( Debunkarism if I may). Trying to disprove something without having anything to counter your theories is being opinionated or close minded. I consider my self a skeptic because all my post have a pro and a con in them (exept in debate of course)
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I haven't heard of a skeptic that haven't asked them self the "what's/Who's/Why" questions about god.

Hell, I'm a skeptic and I have hell of a hard time believing in any kind of god like entities.

mlauzon
Why is it that skeptics won't believe in UFOs, psychokinesis, ESP, etc...yet they have no problem believing in god, jesus and all that religious stuff; so I ask again: why is that?!

I dunno the answer to that... but I reckon that being a skeptic is no different to being a believer except each views things from a different end of the tunnel...

What a die hard skeptic and a die hard believer have in common, is an interest in such matters... So there must be something there for a skeptic to be drawn so ardently to the topic... Otherwise why bother wasting time and energy into something you don't believe in unless there is some inner motive? Even if this 'motive' is not a conscious one....

Welf
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The difference: Most skeptics wany to believe; but won't fall all over themselves in a mad rush towards believerhood. Instead we stand and examine what we know for fact and weigh that against what we are told or what we might personally believe..
Most true believers have an innate need to believe in something and so they do. Regardless of what evidence may tell them...Not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that. If it gets you through the night good for you..
But we demand something more..
And if you're a true skeptic it doesn't matter if it's little green men,ghosts or God himself.....You question.

As a skeptic, I can honestly say that I no more believe in god, than I do in Michael Jackson's ability to run an elementary school, without getting in the front page news.

Skeptics, real skeptics, don't just "refuse to believe" in something...rather they instead believe in more likely alternatives, until such time as evidence is provided to the contary. Skeptics live in a world where fact is determined by evidence and logic...not my blind faith.

For example...

UFOs - the laws of average dictate that it is literally impossible for earth to be the only planet supporting intelligent life. However, the size of the universe also makes it virtually impossible that any other species has, or ever will, find us.

psychokinesis, ESP, etc - people have made outrageous claims to have amazing powers for years, and nobody has ever proven it. There have been countless lab expiriments and studies to try and prove these people right, and each and every one of them has failed miserably. If psi was real, it would be very easy indeed to prove it...as nobody has, logic indicates it isn't real.

God - don't get me started on god

Anyway, like Falco said, skeptisism isn't about dismissing possibilities, it's about deciding which possibility is the correct one. That's the main advantage we have over "believers"...believers have blind, unshakable faith in whatever they think is out there, and no amount of evidence is going to sway them...sceptics, on the other hand, form their opinion FROM evidence, and nothing else. To us, changes in evidence mean changes in our opinion.

We're the only group who are actually interested in finding the truth, rather than just sticking stubbornly to the same worn out peashooter, despite being totally outgunned.

I must be the most radical believer in UM cuz I believe
that Jesus rides in a UFO!

Back in the 70's there was a team assembled by the CIA to see if remote viewing and other pychic phenomina could be used for military intelligence, it did not fail miserably. take a look at this. The same person that worked on that also has done research into scientific reasons for the phenomena which can be found here.




every time anyone challenged common belief people were either exiled or burned at the stake... and then later it was found out that they were right. I wouldn't want to be the spokesperson if it meant possible DEATH.