are ghosts really non believers

[hauntedinsc]

I've heard the theory from others that ghosts that's haunt the living are people who once lived but were not believers in god. I personally don't know if I believe this but was wondering what some of you all think since I've noticed a lot of posts from people that say they do not believe in god. Seems strange someone would not believe in god but believes in ghost since neither can irrevocablely be proven to exist until our time comes and we find out for sure in the afterlife. I'm personally looking forward to meeting the holy father when my time comes my husband says its not a good thing to say but its cold hard facts. Death will end my physical suffering so whats wrong with looking forward to it. And for any smart asses out there suicide is not an option I personally believe its a sin so its definately best to leave it to god I don't want to take any chances of being turned over to satan cause then id have to take over hell and turn his behind Christian :-P

[Ashotep]

Then how do you explain the ghosts of animals?

[Maars]

I have not seen a ghost yet.........not sure if they exist

[ReaperS_ParadoX]

Then how do you explain the ghosts of animals?

You got a point! Can't wait for the poster to respond

[+and-then]

I'd be very curious to hear your story about your dead pet's ghost, Hilander. As to the question - I can see that being a reasonable view of hell. Being forever conscious but unable to interact in any significant way with the living or the dead. Imagine it. It would be kind of like being in a coma or being paralyzed and inarticulate - able to observe but unable to interact. Awful...

[Lava_Lady]

You cannot connect the belief of ghosts with the belief of god. There are too many different gods and they are all different. Your assumption realities too heavily on a flaws

[hauntedinsc]

My point lava is that you can't always See a ghost but they believe in them but some of the same people would argue that they don't believe in god because they do not see him physically. As for the many gods statement that's your opinion and I respect that even though I personally only believe in one God the god of the heavens and the earth.

[hauntedinsc]

Hilander I definately believe in god and ghosts but one experience I haven't had is seeing a ghost animal except on some of the ghost hunter shows on tv

[JesseCuster]

Damning someone to roam the earth for eternity unable to interact with it or anyone because they incorrectly thought you didn't exist seems to be an unnecessarily petty and cruel thing for God to do.

[JesseCuster]

My point lava is that you can't always See a ghost but they believe in them but some of the same people would argue that they don't believe in god because they do not see him physically

I've never heard of an atheist arguing God doesn't exist because they can't physically see him and I've read a lot of testimony from fellow atheists about why they hold their particular views on God.

[coldethyl]

I believe in a God but I don't believe in ghosts. I've seen neither.

Never seen Neptune either but I believe it's there.

Guess it's just faith.

[Lava_Lady]

I've heard the theory from others that ghosts that's haunt the living are people who once lived but were not believers in god. I personally don't know if I believe this but was wondering what some of you all think since I've noticed a lot of posts from people that say they do not believe in god. Seems strange someone would not believe in god but believes in ghost since neither can irrevocablely be proven to exist until our time comes and we find out for sure in the afterlife. I'm personally looking forward to meeting the holy father when my time comes my husband says its not a good thing to say but its cold hard facts. Death will end my physical suffering so whats wrong with looking forward to it. And for any smart asses out there suicide is not an option I personally believe its a sin so its definately best to leave it to god I don't want to take any chances of being turned over to satan cause then id have to take over hell and turn his behind Christian :-P

My point lava is that you can't always See a ghost but they believe in them but some of the same people would argue that they don't believe in god because they do not see him physically. As for the many gods statement that's your opinion and I respect that even though I personally only believe in one God the god of the heavens and the earth.

First, I respect your beliefs as well, you are allowed to believe anything you want. But, in discussing such a topic you need to be aware that that not everyone believes the same thing and that there is no one universal faith; therefore you cannot say people who believe in ghost should believe in god.

In responding to your statement, " Seems strange someone would not believe in god but believes in ghost since neither can irrevocablely be proven to exist" This statement limits possible answers by way of assuming god and ghosts are synonymous. Do you get my point?

If we look at your statement by way of saying, "there is only ONE god" then we would have to assume that ALL of that ONE gods rules apply.

So, now let's look at it from the ONE god POV; shall we start with Christianity? Which sect of Christianity would you like to set the perspective from? There are literally thousands.

We can close the gap even tighter and say let's go the Catholic route... well which Catholic POV? There are many perspectives here too. Some branches believe in demons and possessions. Others do not.

Now, let's jump to a different belief system, still in the Christian school of thought; Seventh Day Adventists. Again there are many different branches and they all have different beliefs. The devil is in the details, to use the cliché. The general theme is there are no such thing as ghosts. But, there is an afterlife where the good will be resurrected after the apocalypse. But is that really an afterlife? Or is it more just being brought back to life? hmm well, anyway, the point is they don't believe in ghosts at all but they are Christian.

Should we ask them, "how can you believe in god and not believe in ghosts?????" It's in the same grain as your OP.

So, now let's look at atheists... they do not believe in a superior being or religions based on a god; but like everyone else have differing views on the details.

Are atheists being hypocritical if they believe in the concept of ghosts? No. Not necessarily because, like I said earlier and also in a similar post, ghosts and god are not synonymous. That is a FACT... in certain belief systems.

Neither can be proven, as you mentioned in the OP, and to be fair, neither can be disproven. So, if you come across an atheist who believes in and is afraid of ghosts perhaps this person is coming from an angle of belief where ghosts are merely the energy of the dead lingering. This is an actual school of thought.

The atheist could be a subscriber to the String Theory, where multiple dimensions exist with being that live parallel lives (that is very abridged, btw). But dimensions exist for sure, we live in 3 of them.

Anyway, my point is if you're going to ask an atheist why they believe in ghosts and don't believe in god, you have to specify which god and which religion and when you do that the answer is simply and always going to be, "I don't believe that way". Does it make them wrong? Absolutely not.

There is no ONE truth.

And THAT is the truth.

I believe in a God but I don't believe in ghosts. I've seen neither.

Never seen Neptune either but I believe it's there.

Guess it's just faith.

Exactly.

[Lava_Lady]

Damning someone to roam the earth for eternity unable to interact with it or anyone because they incorrectly thought you didn't exist seems to be an unnecessarily petty and cruel thing for God to do.

I agree, but which god specifically? Even the bible has 2 conflicting parts.

[hauntedinsc]

Wow ok I totally see your point and I'm glad you posted its interesting to see the different opinions and theories of others it really gives you something to contemplate. It would be awesome to be able to communicate back and forth between realms so when one person passes they could come back to let people know whats happening on the otherside :-P ghostmail the new gmail lol I guess it would take all the mystery out of it and then what would some of us do when we get bored.

[Lava_Lady]

Wow ok I totally see your point and I'm glad you posted its interesting to see the different opinions and theories of others it really gives you something to contemplate. It would be awesome to be able to communicate back and forth between realms so when one person passes they could come back to let people know whats happening on the otherside :-P ghostmail the new gmail lol I guess it would take all the mystery out of it and then what would some of us do when we get bored.

I think you're on to something!! Ghostmail.com!! LOL I would totally register!

[Arbenol]

I've heard the theory from others that ghosts that's haunt the living are people who once lived but were not believers in god.

If this is true, there's gonna be a lot of ghosts around in the future.

[hauntedinsc]

Lol arben that is true. My husband doesn't believe in either but he believes in satan and the possibility of people being possessed. He also believes in the power of a priest to perform an exorcism so he seems to contradict himself in his thinking. It just seems that to think that way you would have to believe in some kind of higher power.

[+and-then]

Damning someone to roam the earth for eternity unable to interact with it or anyone because they incorrectly thought you didn't exist seems to be an unnecessarily petty and cruel thing for God to do.

By human standards maybe, but we are the created thing and who knows what the Creator knows? That would be an awful outcome but not nearly as bad as suffering an eternity of physical pain AND emotional anguish. I think we are all on a journey and only those who shake their fist in the Creator's face will be lost.

[Sakari]

Ghosts and God.....

2 things that have no proof of being real.

[JesseCuster]

By human standards maybe, but we are the created thing and who knows what the Creator knows?

The world is full of people who tell me what they know about the creator. They all seem pretty sure of his goals, intentions, etc. The fact that they can't agree on it makes me think they really know nothing about God.

Anyway, consigning someone to such an eternal fate is cruel regardless of what god knows. If I treat a dog with cruelty, I am being cruel even if I'm not by my own standards and the dog is being treated cruelly regardless of what the dog knows about me. The idea that we can't say God is cruel if he does terrible things because we are mere humans wh don't understand God simply doesn't wash. When unnecessary suffering is deliberately caused, it is cruel, regardless of who is the subject of the cruelty and who is causing the cruelty and what they do or don't know.

I personally believe there is no God so I only pass opinion on other's ideas of God and it never fails me the lengths to which believers will go to maintain that God is righteous, just, moral, etc. and simultaneously make excuses for the cruel and unusual punishments he doles out to people.

That would be an awful outcome but not nearly as bad as suffering an eternity of physical pain AND emotional anguish.

Just because it could be worse, doesn't mean it isn't cruel and pointless.

I think we are all on a journey and only those who shake their fist in the Creator's face will be lost.

I'm safe then.

[hauntedinsc]

I too believe we can choose weather to go into the light or not. I stood a foot from my husbands grandfather as he passed and listened to him speak to whoever greeted him in the light as I also heard him when he said he saw the light. He said yes I'm ready and smiled the most peaceful smile and his heart stopped. I wasn't sure if I should be happy or sad. I found out for sure there's the light and something beyond this world but had to lose a loved one to learn it.

[mysticwerewolf]

Then how do you explain the ghosts of animals?

back when I still had some form of belief ( way back when I was a kid and didn't know better ) it was explained to me once that the ghosts of animals ( the spirit of the animal) are there waiting for their people to join them, that they would be witnesses for or against the pet owner and therefore had to escort the owner to wherever he or she was going. if the owner could not get in neither could the pet, but if the pet was not allowed in and the owner was the pet would stand outside looking in for eternity.

(Just another reason I stopped believing In anything religious, punish one creature because of something another did or didn't do.)

Edited May 19, 2013 by mysticwerewolf

[hauntedinsc]

Wow I've never heard that but I could believe that of my first puppy she died waiting for me. I have a new pup now and she scares me because she does the same thing. I try to get her to stay inside when I leave but she walks me to and from the car no matter how long it takes me to get back. It almost breaks my hearts that jewel might be roaming around alone waiting for me still. Shes been gone 15 years now that would be a long lonely wait. Id rather believe she's in heaven playing and happy and I'll see her when I get there.

[Sundew]

I look at God and ghosts through the lens of Scripture, so I do not believe in what people call "ghosts". Scripture does talk about various orders of intelligence in the spiritual realm, everyone is familiar with the terms angels and demons, the devil and so forth. These spiritual beings may be what people have experienced as "ghosts" but as there is no physicality and no test to differentiate say, ghosts from demons, it would be difficult to say with any certainty.

I do know that most of the so called photographs of "ghosts" have been debunked as cleave forgeries, double exposures and now probably photoshop. Other "encounters" that cause uneasy feelings or other emotional reactions are equally hard to quantify. Or as Ebenezer Scrooge said about the senses, "A little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a bolt of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of undone potato." But ghosts, perhaps not?

[Sakari]

Wow I've never heard that but I could believe that of my first puppy she died waiting for me. I have a new pup now and she scares me because she does the same thing. I try to get her to stay inside when I leave but she walks me to and from the car no matter how long it takes me to get back. It almost breaks my hearts that jewel might be roaming around alone waiting for me still. Shes been gone 15 years now that would be a long lonely wait. Id rather believe she's in heaven playing and happy and I'll see her when I get there.

http://coldnosesbook.com/

There are no words that can fill the emptiness we feel with the loss of a precious companion pet. Their unconditional love and devotion are missed as much as their splendid and unique personality. But we can replace the grief with joyful anticipation and hope, if we understand that there is a plan for them. The words of this book are offered to guide you to that place. You may begin reading as a skeptic, but you will end with a newfound hope and a lot of important things to think about. Gary Kurz, Author