Guest FreestyleFred Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 I am sure that in the past this topic has been discussed, but I wasn't around, so I shall open it up. What are your (referring to non-Christians) takes on various things such as Ouiji Boards, Demonic Possessions, etc? I have heard multiple responses on Demons from various atheists that range from negative energy to lost souls. I have also heard multiple interpretations of Ouiji boards, usually with the assumption that it is the subconscious moving the persons hands, but I still wish to hear some other ideas and/or explanations on this topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Broke Free Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 I have seen Ouiji Boards in action many times. In ever case it was moved by an evil older sister playing jokes on her gullible little brothers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Mass hallucination, believing in something so strongly that you end up deceiving yourself, altered states of consciousness, self-hypnosis...there are many logical reasons for these things that haven't got anything to do with the supernatural. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefranden Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Ouiji Boards = The gullable heaping money upon Parker Brothers. Demons = The gullable heaping money upon the likes of Pat Robertson. Oops forgot one. Ouiji Boards = Getting to touch Cindy Meklin's hand. sigh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caretaker Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Ah, yes. Ouiji Boards is just a game to me.. I have never played with one, let alone see one in real life. As for demon, I tend to think this is merely a term that some use to describe people, or perhaps a deviation within people who are, um, for a lack of a better term, different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Japedo Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 I am sure that in the past this topic has been discussed, but I wasn't around, so I shall open it up. What are your (referring to non-Christians) takes on various things such as Ouiji Boards, Demonic Possessions, etc? I have heard multiple responses on Demons from various atheists that range from negative energy to lost souls. I have also heard multiple interpretations of Ouiji boards, usually with the assumption that it is the subconscious moving the persons hands, but I still wish to hear some other ideas and/or explanations on this topic. Never touched a Ouija board, but I've been accused of being Possessed by Demons and had them cast out of me.(Glorrrrrrrrrry ) There was no Demon no matter what the freakin Hysterical Bible thumpers believed. They were demented Fools who had to believe demons got a hold of me, as there was no other 'explanation' a teenager would put on makeup and punk her hair up. I think things have explanations and as already stated, the mind is a very powerful thing. How does David Copperfield make the Statue of Liberty disappear? Illusions nothing more. There are no Demons and what not, If anything manifests itself into a "Demon" it's a FUNDY, scarier then hell those people are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vixentrox Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 The actions of the Xtian god seem rather demonic. Read the bible if you don't belive me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadfox Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Christians often make a mistake in presuming atheists/skeptics are solely against Christianity, when in truth we spend just as much time or more debunking the paranormal/new age believers. There are no atheists I know of who believe demons to be "negative energy" or lost souls. Everyone I know of who takes demons seriously either is ignorant/superstitious or mentally ill, more frequently the latter. My aunt is a super fundie to the point she sold her home and spent her life savings to wander the ghettos of India to preach. She also believes heavily in demons to the point she's stated she's been raped by them and can clearly see them manifest. She's also schizophrenic and frequently threatens suicide. So much for the "power of Jesus." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerise Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 I've never seen a ouji board except on t.v. Ditto for demons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bdp Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 My family went through a brief phase of experimenting with a Ouija board when I was in high school; the pointer always made patterns unique to whoever was sitting at the board, so I am completely convinced it's a subconcious manipulation of the pointer. I've never seen anything remotley like a demon and so have no reason to believe they exist or attempt to explain them as something else (i.e. negative energy). bdp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 I don't have much to add to what has been said already, except that I've participated in some both simple and impressive experiments on the power of the subconscious. Test it yourself if you want to. Get yourself two groups of people, have some photos handy (of people, some male, some female) and two pendulums. Place the photos in two stacks on two tables, then let your two groups of participants in. Place them at those two tables and tell them to try to discern the gender of the person on each photo with the pendulum: If it swings from side to side it's a male, if it swings in a circle it's a female. And tell the people at the second table the opposite. Guess what you'll see? Yep - both groups will find that "the pendulums really work!!!"... despite your having told the second group the exact opposite of what you told the first group. What does that tell you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Guess what you'll see? Yep - both groups will find that "the pendulums really work!!!"... despite your having told the second group the exact opposite of what you told the first group. What does that tell you? That it's subconscious movements on their part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatifidontwantausername? Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 My moms girlfriend is bi-polar and has multiple personality disorder... And yes, both her and my mother have been called demon-possessed. Though I personaly beleive that in the case of a true demon possession medications wouldnt help. I have also been called the Devil, Satan, Lucifer, you get the idea... and I realy doubt I am demon possessed (Just the sort of thing you would expect the Devil to say right?) -Jake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Carrion Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Ouija boards are utterly ridiculous. If a "spirit" had the intention of communicating with those of us still in the land of the living, why the hell wouldn;t it find a more productive method than moving a bloody glass around a board of letters? Furthermore, why does it only work when THERE ARE PEOPLE TOUCHING THE DAMN GLASS? There have been a number of experiments conducted by a variety of psychologists in which the "oujia board" phenomena has been reproduced in a sterile, secular environment, induced using the same psychological techniques of suggestion and wish-fulfilment that mediums and spiritualists have been using since time out of mind to con the gullible. Don;t get me wrong; I am en tirely open to the notion that there may very well be some legitimate phenomena occuring in certain so-labelled "paranormal" investigations, but until I see a little more evidence than people tilting tables and moving glasses around with their fingers I see no reason to adhere top the notion one way or the other. As for demons, demons are conceptually ridiculous. Why on earth would any entity, regardless of what "plain of existence" is inhabits function with reference to human moral polarity? Probably because "demons" and "angels" are mythological constructs designed to reinforce the moral ideologies of particular cultures via a psychologically perverse dynamic of threat and promise (in the same manner that Christians attempt to scare or tempt non-adherents to their faith with stories of Hell or Heaven). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skankboy Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Ouija? = crap, crap, crap Demons?= crap, crap, crap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Ouija? = crap, crap, crapDemons?= crap, crap, crap You know, I could imagine some situations where an Ouija board might be a benefit in psychotherapy or similar. Kind of "the board lets the patient express things he doesn't dare to consciously admit". But then, exceptions can be found to pretty much every rule, so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skankboy Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 You know, I could imagine some situations where an Ouija board might be a benefit in psychotherapy or similar. Kind of "the board lets the patient express things he doesn't dare to consciously admit". Yeah, I'll buy that. It could be used to interact w/someone on a subconcious level... You gotta love all this attention around a game invented in the US only about a hundred years ago. I mean parker brothers owns the rights to it and Monopoly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MalaInSe Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 I have heard multiple responses on Demons from various atheists that range from negative energy to lost souls. I have also heard multiple interpretations of Ouiji boards, usually with the assumption that it is the subconscious moving the persons hands, but I still wish to hear some other ideas and/or explanations on this topic. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Demons? The fact that you want to hear other explanations on Ouija boards does not mean there are other explanations on Ouija boards. I've used them often with sometimes creepy results and one centers largely in ghost story I like to tell. However, I have seen no reliable evidence that Ouija boards work by anything other than the subconscious mind and light pressure. Good evidence in support of that contention, in fact, is that I've never gotten one to work using it by myself. Why? Probably because I can't provide the pressure necessary to move the pointer by myself. Trust me, I would love to believe this stuff, but the fact is, there is no evidence for it, just as there is no evidence for your own supernatural fantasy. Stop reading those trashy gothic fantasy books and you'll sleep better at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefranden Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 You know, I could imagine some situations where an Ouija board might be a benefit in psychotherapy or similar. Kind of "the board lets the patient express things he doesn't dare to consciously admit".But then, exceptions can be found to pretty much every rule, so... Hey, good idea. I wish I'd of thought of this when I was doing marital counsiling as a minister. I couldn't have called it a Ouiji Board of course: Paul Board; Board of Prophecy; Jesus Board; Bored of Sex? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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