I have read many profiles and it seems that the majority of Atheist/ Agnostics do not believe in "ghosts" or anything "supernatural". I for one have had paranormal experiences in my life, pre-cognitions, unexplained energy that slammed doors, tossed things across the room, unexplained noises in the house. I know it's energy, I'm not sure of it's source. Does anyone believe in the possibility of a parallel universe? Asking for a friend..?
I have personally experienced many things, occurances, etc. throughout my years. There are many levels to this vast universe we all inhabit and some just can't be explained. Religion has nothing to do with it nor lack of it. Energy is energy, pure and simple.
There are easy explanations for most of this story, but not all.
Back when I was a pastor's wife and we had a store-front church on an Arkansas small-town main street with our apartment in back, we had a visitor show up on our back porch. Keep in mind that a stranger to that town wouldn't have known anyone lived in the back of that commercial building, but anyway.
She was a tiny waif, tracked with the signs of abuse and a hard life, scared to death of everything, including us. She begged to sleep on our porch, refusing even to come in. After two nights of this, I insisted she come in and share a meal. She did, and we soon discerned that she had a severe personality disorder, psychosis or possibly schizophrenia. She had very little contact with reality, keeping up a constant stream-of-consiousness conversation with herself, the walls, the furniture, everything. It was obvious she should have been institutionalized, but probably got kicked out due to budget cuts.
After about a week of my constant care, tending and love, she was able to somewhat answer questions and conduct hygiene and housekeeping in a semi-normal manner, although that was unpredictable. Questions to her and research through government agencies showed that she'd been under state care. She talked about "bee stings" all the time and was afraid to go outside. When she was able, she indicated the "bee stings" were in her buttocks. I assumed they were probably constant injections from med personnel. We got her on food stamps, gave her her own room (where I often found her hiding in the corner), and made her feel useful and loved.
She said her real name was not Linda (it was), but Lindia, and that her daughter's name was Linda. I picked out from her convoluted talking that whenever she talked about "her daughter," she was really talking about herself ... as a 12-year-old child, turned out onto the street and sold as a prostitute by her stepfather, and other horrible things.
Anyway, she would join us for church in the front room on Sundays, where she had a habit of making the congregants uncomfortable. We had an open, free-form meeting, with very little formal preaching, in which everyone could contribute. Linda would often find a scripture, read it aloud, and I instantly recognized that it applied to someone attending, who I knew (very privately) was going through something those verses described (very often compromising). Okay, I know. Anything from the Bible can be made to fit anybody...not so mysterious.
Things got even weirder. One man who attended, a very staid, educated, stable engineer, stopped coming after a while. I called to talk. He said he would not step foot in our building ever if Linda was there. He said one Sunday she followed him out of the building, shouting shameful things he had done that NO ONE else knew about, in a man's voice he recognized FROM CALIFORNIA. He said he was afraid to be around her.
My husband had to talk to her one time about a misbehavior, and took her into a separate room, but I could hear through the door anyway. Very uncharacteristically, she got belligerant and started yelling at him, "I saw you when you were in Mexico! I saw what you did! I saw you when you were in jail in New Jersey!" and on and on with things we'd never discussed in front of her, and which were years in the past for him. He was a recovering alcoholic who got in trouble as a kid in New Jersey, and who (when he lived in New Mexico) used go over to Mexico to drink and carouse. Weird, huh?
The last straw was when my ex and I went out of town for two days. When we came back, my mother-in-law (who also lived with us) came out of her locked room, hysterically yelling, "Get her out of here! She can't say those things about me! She can't know those things!" and refused to say anything more about it.
Linda left that evening and we never saw her again.
Wow, what an interesting experience!
In all my years dwelling on this crazy rock we call Earth, I have yet to witness any event that could qualify as paranormal. I wish someone out there would be able to fully document these phenomena when they occur, so I'd have something to go by as opposed to just wondering. Nonetheless, I keep my mind open to any possible evidence that may present itself, as physical evidence could always change my mind. That's why my favorite identifying word is skeptic.
I think what we call "paranormal" would be normal if we just lived up to our human potential. We are naturally telepathic, we receive and transmit messages to the ones we love naturally. Mothers knew their sons were killed in WWII before the telegraphs arrived. Most of us use less than 60% of our lung's capacity, which means the blood going to our brains is not fully oxygenated. There are many more examples of how we have yet to tap the fullness of our minds, brains and senses.
@Scoobs Except that there are documented instances in which those mothers KNEW before the knock on the door or any telegram. Oxygen levels in the blood are related to higher awareness and consciousness.
Since the word supernatural means literally "Above nature" or with a little leeway "outside of nature" I do not use it. If something happens it is within nature and its boundaries, that is simple logic, whether or not it can be explained yet, is another matter.
The many worlds hypothesis is a legitimate part of the study of quantum physics, that as yet beyond proof or testing but is an interesting idea.
The human brain and its psychological capabilities are forever being investigated and the effects it can under various circumstance produce in the body of the possessor or sometimes even in others are beginning to explain much of what has been thought of as magic for centuries.
However none of this means obviously imaginary things like gods, souls etc (at least in the Judeo Christian sense) exist nor frankly offer any hope of them being real, it does however demonstrate that there is a lot of knowledge and intrigue left in the universe and in the human condition especially.
I find that much more interesting and exciting than getting on my knees and asking an invisible man with a beard in the sky to keep my knackered old car running for another week.
Our brains have evolved to notice patterns and attach meaning to them. E.g. fear of things that go bump in the night prepares us for real dangers. Ditto with seeing things move on their own. E.g. dejavu is our brain attaching our current experience to something else that has happened in the past.
As for parallel universes, some scientists have proposed that it's likely. But it's not what most people think as "parallel universe".
Multi-verses is what is more likely. It's like our Universe is in a "bubble". And there are other universes with the same or different physical laws that exists in a different "bubble". E.g. in another universe (outside our physical "bubble" or "bubble of understanding", no one knows), the speed of light may be slower. That one small change suggests totally different laws of physics. It's likely that we can't ever see or move to or even live in that other universe. How can we when we live with the speed of light at a constant "c" in vacuum. We can only theorise about the other universes.
There are other theories on multi-verses. And what I just typed above about the "multi-bubble-verses" could be totally wrong. I'm no scientist.
I have had a few experiences that could b interpreted as such, but they also could b explained away in other, more mundane ways. When I was about 4(I just had 2 ask my mom how old I was because its barely even a memory), my great grandma died. I remember the night before we found out she died, I was in bed, and what appeared 2 b her ghost came 2 me and we talked 4 a bit. I don't remember much of the conversation, but I do remember it basically had 2 do with don't worry and b a good girl. As I said, I was only at most 4 years old so my memory of it isn't all that clear. It could have been her ghost, or it could have simply been a dream. Before this my families elders had been talking about her impending death, and although they tried not 2 bring it up in front of us kids, we sometimes overheard things. It could have been that I heard she was dying, fell asleep with her on my mind, and had a dream. There is no way 2 know at this time one way or another, so I say it could go either way
I recognize the unknowable. That means that we cannot know if there is a God or if there is no God. Therefore, I am an agnostic, not an athiest. Assuming there is a God, or a Supreme Being, I do believe we can't define It by naming it Jesus or whatever. I have been advised to call It "All That Is." Since this is in the realm of the unknowable, I do not stress over deciding anything about it. BUT I do take hints from the few paranormal experiences I have had. Not as much as yours, but a few significant things. I have no need to convince or try to prove to anyone. Whatever I experienced was meant for me alone as yours was for you. So what do I derive from these hints? That's for another time. All I will say right now is that the meaning of our existence is vast.
If you're asking is it possible, my answer is yes it's possible BUT, it's far more likely that the things you associate with paranormal are actually normal. Slamming doors happen in my house anytime the balcony door is open and someone opens a window or the front door. I'm not saying that is what is happening with you but I think there is a strong likelihood that whatever the cause is that it's not a parallel universe causing it, but who knows it's not impossible.
I have had MANY paranormal experiences. I don't see anything contradictory in being an Atheist and beliving in ghosts. If anything, I would say that ghosts are a good case for Atheism.
Nope. I concentrate on reality. More than enough to do.