Do you believe in the supernatural?

[Torm]

Is this based on your floating the Black Company book across the table to yourself at our last game session?

No, that was a joke. I mean touch telekinesis - as in, I think I want something to move, and then I touch it, and it moves!

 

[Sebastian Francis]

This thread is SOOOO going to get locked. I'm surprised, frankly, that we are allowed to discuss "the supernatural" but banned from mentioning "religion."

:\

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

This thread is SOOOO going to get locked. I'm surprised, frankly, that we are allowed to discuss "the supernatural" but banned from mentioning "religion."

:\

Oooh.

'e said religion.

stone 'im.

 

[The_Universe]

Well, the two ideas are not necessarily tied together. It's just about stuff that can't be explained through conventional science and wisdom. WITHOUT DELVING INTO SPECIFICS (which I think would break the rules) we can talk about what merits we think various subtopics have.

For instance, I could say, "I believe in Telekinesis" without saying, "I believe in Telekinesis because it says to do so in Religious Text X"

 

[Rel]

This thread is SOOOO going to get locked. I'm surprised, frankly, that we are allowed to discuss "the supernatural" but banned from mentioning "religion."

:\

I think it depends a bit on the nature of the conversation. I've seen people mention the fact that they are religious or come from religious backgrounds (often in the "My Parents/Friends/Parent's Friends/Friend's Parents think D&D is Evil" threads) without threads being locked. It's because nobody is saying that their belief system is better, only that they have one and describing it in a general way. And so, in that spirit, I'm going to step up to but not (I don't think) over the line and say this about that:

I think that there are unquestionably "forces" within the scope of human experience that push us to do things that we would not or could not normally be capable of. It does not matter whether we created them or they created us but they are "real". I have seen too many acts of kindness, malice and the outright astounding done by those motivated by these forces to delude myself into thinking that they do not exist.

Many people will say (and I don't entirely disagree with them) that such acts are all, by definition, part of the human potential already. But if it takes some kind of additional faith to go beyond those boundaries then I see little point in contending that such motivators don't exist.

I am glad to have the faith that I do in the beliefs that I hold because it allows me to do things, endure things and experience things that would not otherwise be possible. That is real enough for me.

 

[Mercule]

Yes. I'm also very religious (your pick if it's the same thing -- I don't, but aren't offended if you do).

I pretty certain I've seen a ghost. My friends also are certain I'm a receiver -- I'm expressly prohibited from trying to predict die rolls by one DM. Psychic or not, I do have an uncanny knack of pulling numbers, words, shapes, etc. out of people's heads.

I've also seen some very, very wierd coincidences that followed a friend casting some spells (or whatever the right term is -- his schtick, not mine). Some of which creeps me out to this day -- mainly because it was the darker spells he had more success with.

Edit: I don't buy into astrology, though. There is no wisdom to be gained in the stars -- at least not that way.

 

[Sebastian Francis]

I think it depends a bit on the nature of the conversation. I've seen people mention the fact that they are religious or come from religious backgrounds (often in the "My Parents/Friends/Parent's Friends/Friend's Parents think D&D is Evil" threads) without threads being locked. It's because nobody is saying that their belief system is better,

So if I say modern Buddhism, with its emphasis on nonviolence and tolerance, is more moral than the religion of the ancient Amalekites, which involved child sacrifice and ritual orgies, am I out of line?

 

[Sebastian Francis]

Edit: I don't buy into astrology, though. There is no wisdom to be gained in the stars -- at least not that way.

Aren't you breaking the rules about religion by saying astrology is wrong?

 

[The_Universe]

So if I say modern Buddhism, with its emphasis on nonviolence and tolerance, is more moral than the religion of the ancient Amalekites, which involved child sacrifice and ritual orgies, am I out of line?

Probably not, but why push the envelope?

Aren't you breaking the rules about religion by saying astrology is wrong?

He's just saying he doesn't buy into it. Are you offended? If so, let us know. If not, let's let the MODS decide when and if to shut this puppy down, rather than trying to draw their ire by nit-picking each other's posts. This has the capability of being an interesting and non-rules-breaking thread.

 

[The_Universe]

Here's one of the cool archived threads I mentioned above - there's some great stuff here that I think is pertinent to the conversation.

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=56538

Maybe this will inspire someone to resurrect it with their own recollections....