Apparently since I consider myself an atheist I'm supposed to not believe in aliens or the supernatural. To be honest, it never occurred to me that it was an either/or situation.
I see the existence of aliens as a given. This universe is incredibly large, and to believe we're the only intelligent creatures in this universe is ludicrous. As for the supernatural/paranormal...... I see it as science that hasn't been explained.
No question here, I'm just at a loss as to why I'm suppose to not even consider the above.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I have to disagree. Strongly. Especially when it comes to the supernatural/paranormal. This has been studied extensively scientifically and all claims have been shown to be completely without substance. So what makes you believe there is anything to it? What supernatural phenomena precisely do you think are real?
The belief in supernatural things is in many cases a kind of primitive religious belief. Essentially a belief in magic that is meant to either explain things people do not understand or make the world work more like people want it to work than how it actually works. Both are the essence of religions as well.
josmi6699
Level 6
Jan 9, 2018
0
Can't say for anyone else, but for me the "belief" comes from me witnessing things that I can't explain. Some examples are:
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My family has a history of precognitive dreams. While I have never experienced them, my sister, father, children, and other family members have.
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My children have seen ghosts/spirits in places that I've lived. My father has had to re-turn off the gas several times in a haunted house that I lived in as a child. I vividly remember sitting on the stairs of said house when I was a child, watch the front door open by itself, close and lock itself.
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In the house I currently live in I occasionally smell cigar smoke permeating the house. No one in my house smokes. I also occasionally smell my mother's sickly sweet perfume.
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In haunted house my siblings and I were playing hide-and-seek. My sister and I hid in a passageway that we found that was between our closet and our parent's closet. When we went to show it to our brother it had disappeared. Years later I asked the people who bought the house after we left about the passageway. They told me that they had heard about it, but when they remodeled they didn't find it. They also told me that the six year old girl that haunted the house left after the remodel.
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I have had several instances of past life remembrances/hallucinations (depending on your interpretation of the events). At the time I had never taken any hallucinatory drugs and was not on any medication.
Now, I am well aware that all of this isn't "scientific" proof, however it is proof to me. I have never had any type of proof of an existence of any God even when I was begging for proof when I was on the verge of suicide.
I believe you should 'question' everything. The more restrictions you place on your beliefs, the fewer places you can go.
AstralSmoke
Level 8
Nov 25, 2017
0
I think this kind of thing could be considered dogma. The most experience with atheists I've had has actually been on this site. It seems that many are so hung up on scientific evidence that they reject anything that isn't explained, even rejecting unexplained phenomena that -might- have a scientific explanation.
The universe is so huge and old that it seems highly plausible that intelligent life could have evolved somewhere other than Earth, and long enough ago to be far more advanced than humans, advanced enough to have traveled here... also a very long time ago. I tend to agree with you that things we usually identify as supernatural or paranormal could very well have scientific explanations.
bingst
Level 8
Nov 16, 2017
2
I consider myself as an atheist but as far as aliens are concerned I've been in contact with them more than once an they're likely to be answer the unanswered questions about the paranormal in general. I've learned a lot from them if you wish to ask I'll tell you what I know. I may be an atheist but it's not for others to decide what I can and cannot believe or know.
WilliamBuchanan
Level 3
Nov 15, 2017
2
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