However I enjoy them in the same way that I enjoy super hero movies, or sword and sorcery movies, or films about alien invasions.
I don't actually expect to see Superman flying above me, a dragon snatching up stray dogs in the neighborhood, or aliens blowing up the White House.
And I also do not expect to see ghosts, goblins, or werewolves.
To be clear there is no such thing as the paranormal, the supernatural, or miracles.
Each of these labels are used to explain phenomena which have fact based explanations, but which some are too ignorant or superstitious to accept.
Take the word "supernatural" for instance.
In ancient times when people believed that the sky above them was an ocean, mental illness was the result of demonic possession, and sickness could be cured with incantations and charms, the idea of the supernatural was somewhat understandable.
After all everything about the world around these people seemed filled with terror and unseen danger.
But the word "supernatural" has no real meaning, because nothing that can be seen, heard, felt, or tasted can actually be categorized as supernatural once it has been perceived by our natural senses.
In other words the only things which can remain in the realm of the supernatural are those things which we only imagine, and which have no substance in reality.
And yes that line of reasoning does take us in a very obvious direction.
But I will leave you to explore that on your own.
As for myself I will continue enjoying these movies confident in the knowledge that I need no sorceress, shaman, or priest to protect me from their influence. And neither do you.
I tend to think of it in a similar way that I think of abortion - if you don't approve of it, just don't do it. If you disapprove of gay marriage, don't marry someone of the same gender.
ReplyDeleteWhat I can't understand is why you allow these things to disturb you so much. As an agnostic, I am apathetic towards any kind of religious belief or practice, but if someone else wants to believe, then that's their business, as long as they don't infringe on my rights. How does the existence of a one page flier infringe upon your rights?
Live and let live.
Well said. I agree.
DeleteNow see 2:13 that is incredibly naive. If you really believe that superstitious nonsense, and primitive religious beliefs have no negative effect on our society than you must be living in a cave in the jungles of South America.
DeleteA large reason for this blog's existence is in response to organizations like the Moral Majority and the dangerous political power they were once able to wield.
Teaching children at an early age to fear the supernatural is how certain religious groups retard critical thinking skills and create individuals who are easily manipulated by certain hot button phrases which invoke fear and even a sense of panic.
Your plea to "live and let live" denotes weakness in my opinion, and is exactly why these groups have been able to spread their influence all over the world while the cowardly sit huddled under their covers fervently hoping that the poison all around them will leave them unscathed.
It won't. And it didn't.
You are just too blind to see.
G. That IS exactly the same reason I compared and called out yesterday this>
Delete"Really RM on MSNBC?
"By that I mean, the most important job of being a vice president is to be ready to be president if 'GOD FORBID' something happened to the commander-in-chief."
Is that like saying/asking "praise be to allah?"
I THINK IT DOES, but i got this response>
Reply
Replies
Nefer10:35 AM
Oh, for heaven's sake. It is a common rhetorical usage that in two words expresses that of course you do not want the terrible thing to actually happen that you are hypothesizing about. Connotation, not denotation.
Reading more than that into it is just silly.
I SAY to Nefer using "CHRIST or HEAVEN SAKE" SAME>BULLSHIT!! . It is MINDCRAFTing.
Beng pragmatic and fairly agnostic with Buddhism thrown in I have to say I am not as sure as you gryphen about there not being paranormal happenings. All the energy that existed when the earth first evolved from the Big Bang is still here-the same energy merely changing life forms. Buddhism includes the belief that everything has energy be it a tree or cut wood from the tree that makes a table.
DeleteThe essence of you or me or anyone is an energy created by all of the zillion molecules that make us. Who is to say that energy does not remain intact but takes on another form that is not visible to the human eye. I am not talkng angels here- I am just saying who knows if when I pass my 'energy' does not become the wind? Or a tree or a butterfly? What if the energy/essence that is me stays intact while the tangible /physical shell of me dies? Can I not then still seek out those I love and try to make my presence known?
All the energy is the same energy that has always existed. Because of this simple statement and fact I believe yes there does exist spirits for lack of a scientific description.
The fact that energy connects all of us is a beautiful thought, that just so happens to be supported by science.
DeleteHowever extrapolating out from that to explain ghosts or spirits, is a logical leap which undermines our critical thinking skills.
And yet if evidence were to be discovered that ghosts did exist, fairies were real, and leprechauns lived among us, that very evidence would then move them from the realm of the supernatural into the natural and observable universe.
Which is the point of the post.
So I am perfectly willing to accept ghosts, and spirits, and even gods just as soon as the evidence is made available to me.
Then perhaps stop saying "there is no such thing", and instead say you haven't seen evidence they exist yet.
DeleteAnonymous 9:17 AM wrote: Then perhaps stop saying "there is no such thing", and instead say …
DeleteIt's verbal shorthand, much like your writing "stop saying" and writing "instead say" when you don't really mean speech, but rather entering characters on a computer screen with the aid of a keyboard or other suitable method.
Well 9:17 if after thousands of years there has been no real evidence gathered which supports the existence of the supernatural or magical entities from our fairly tales and religious tomes then we can say with a fair amount of certainty that they in fact do not exist.
DeleteThe only reason to argue otherwise is the desperate need to cling onto superstitions or primitive religions which really have no place in the modern world.
My beliefs' are the same as 9:17. That said, what if there is a science yet to have invented a gadget/machine that unlocks the supernatural universe to us...🌌
DeleteTwo words: William Castle
ReplyDeleteSeven more words: There is a sucker born every minute
You took the words right outta my mouth, 3:25! I ADORE those oldie horror flicks by Castle. Even when I was a tadpole, I knew that shit wasn't real.
DeleteIt's all a marketing tool to get you in the theater and set you up to be scared. My guess is the movie ISN'T that scary, so they had marketing come up with this little scheme.
ReplyDeleteI was fifteen when the "The Exorcist" was released and my parents refused to allow me to see it. Anyone old enough to remember the controversy surrounding that?! 1973. I saw it years later; I remained unscathed. :)
ReplyDeleteDid you ever read about the huge increase in actual exorcisms that resulted from the movie?
DeleteSuddenly demonic possession, something that was typically relegated to the more primitive societies on the planet, was all the rage again.
The Catholic church even started training priests so that they could respond, and "cure" these poor afflicted souls.
Yes, I remember that. About as nutzoid as the "esteemed" Reverend Muthee's laying on of hands for $arah video. Give me a break already. We've all seen how that turned out!
DeleteI went on my first "real" date to The Omen (it had the same controversy a couple of years later)My parents didn't know that was the movie 🎥 he was taking me to see, or they wouldn't let me in the date!😲
DeleteMystery on mystery, there are wonders beyond our understanding, galaxies, black holes.
ReplyDeleteAn old Taoist saying: "The sage roams the outer edges of natural law."
Science doesn't know, can't even guess, what the outer edges of natural law are. What is considered "paranormal" may well within them.
I can play dominoes,better than you can play dominoes. Diego. Now send your money to the Lord and here is my address.
ReplyDeleteAs The Right Reverend Deuteronomy Skaggs of the Little Radio Church of the White Winged Gospel Truth used to say... Dig in them jeans and bring out that Green Salad of Salvation.
DeleteRAinNC
This poster is simply an advertising gimmick. No need to take it so seriously.
ReplyDelete4:58 - I recall the hype and my own brother slept with the lights on for weeks - his wife told me!! Lol. It didn't bother me a bit and I prefer scary movies that don't use too much gory blood and guts.
ReplyDeleteGryphen - my first thought was similar to 2:13 - but after you responded I realized how much I agree with you and have spoken out many times in my own life - whether it's politics, work related, children - "evil prevails when good men/women do nothing" - of course the definition of evil to me is more about injustice, harm and any other action that causes pain or fear.
Idk. I think because so much is unexplainable still and much has to be discovered, a paranormal could exist.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 8:18 AM wrote: Idk. I think because so much is unexplainable still and much has to be discovered, a paranormal could exist.
DeleteSure. If by "paranormal" you mean "stuff that behaves in a way contrary to my understanding of how the world works."
But that would only remain "paranormal" until it could be studied, at which time, no matter how bizarre it may seem at first, it becomes part of our "normal."
DeleteThere's no way on earth I'd even suggest anyone go to a priest because of a work of fiction, We'd need about eighty or more representatives at every movie theater to cover all beliefs and myths. And where do people go when it goes to DVD?
ReplyDeleteIf one takes this sign seriously and has a shadow of a doubt, perhaps they should use their free will and see "Finding Dora" instead.