Poll: Inconsistencies with paranormal phenomena (just for fun,)

[Johanthemonster666]

I'm not a believer, though coming out of "The Conjuring" kind surprised me in that A TON of people really do believe that these events happened and that it's all real.

What are some of the common things you find odd or arbitrary with the 'paranormal' or 'unexplained'?

For example, why are certain places haunted by spirits due to some traumatic even, curse or just has a long history yet places where greater tragedies or are even older are never regarded as such. The house I live in (in fact every house) has had its share or deaths, tragedies and so on-no ghosts at all.

Also, why do only Catholics seem to get haunted by demonic entities? And why are Catholic believers/clergy more qualified to fend off evil than any other denomination or faith?

 

[tippy2k2]

I've always been...conflicted for lack of a better word.

On one hand, it's really really stupid. There are plenty of logical reasons for why your house is making noises. I've never seen a ghost or heard banging in the night or anything like that. I've never seen anything in real life (or video for that matter) that has ever convinced me that ghosts/paranormal exists.

On the other hand, some places just make you plain uneasy for no real reason. My father's old house, for whatever reason, filled me with dread at night. I can't explain it; I've never experienced anything in that house that would be "ghostly" but there were times where I was paralyzed in fear and stayed in the kitchen because that was the only light that was on when I was alone there (and I'm 18 at the time; it's not like I'm a little kid scared of the dark). I didn't even want to risk going into a dark room to turn another light on. Some places just have that affect and there's not really a good reason for it. To counter-example, I will turn the light off in my mum's place after finishing my laundry and head back up the stairs in the pitch black with zero cause for alarm so it's not the dark that's messing with me...

So basically, I say I don't believe in any of it but I recognize that the human brain can really mess with you.

What I've always wanted to do was find a place that's "Haunted" (and doesn't look haunted) but I would need no one to tell me that it was that way. I'm of the mind that hearing that a place is haunted is all it takes for your mind to decide that now is a good time to fuck with you (which is what I believe happened to my Dad's house; we had ghost stories combined with some creepy events at the same time that I think got my brain stuck in "fight or flight" mode).

Also Catholics are better at it because...

Spoiler

THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!!!

 

[DefunctTheory]

A couple things.

Protestants get haunted all the time. See Gettysburg (A predominately Lutheran area that ripe with Civil War 'Ghost').

Second, the Catholic church is seen heavily in movies and 'news' concerning exorcism/possession due to their heavy use of iconography and ancient rights, which just seems so much more badass then Protestants, who for the most part are not so visual or, well, bombastic.

In anycase, the big things that bother me is that so many of the experiences people have regarding hauntings are experienced by people every day and NOT attributed to hauntings. Deja vu, creepy 'feelings' when alone, seeing things in the dark, odd dreams... we all have experienced this. But when it happens to people who are suggestible, suddenly it's haunting.

A lot of the weirder stuff is actually quite common. The 'rape ghost' is actually just sleep paralysis, something that's very common (Though repeatedly suffering from it may indicate a serious issue).

It's all very silly, really.

EDIT: If anyones interested, James Randi is known for debunking some of this things. He mostly goes after psychics, but he occasionally does haunting stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/user/JamesRandiFoundation?feature=watch