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Author Topic:   The Power/Reality Of Demons And Supernatural Evil.
crashfrog
Member (Idle past 1466 days)
Posts: 19762
From: Silver Spring, MD
Joined: 03-20-2003


Message 4 of 334 (68707)
11-23-2003 12:47 AM


Just tonight on Fox News it was announced that an old Hindu man has lived for 66 years without food or water.
They've been watching him? He never eats? How do they know?
I heard
I think that's all I needed to hear about your other story. We're supposed to take a third-hand account seriously?

  
crashfrog
Member (Idle past 1466 days)
Posts: 19762
From: Silver Spring, MD
Joined: 03-20-2003


Message 7 of 334 (68722)
11-23-2003 8:09 AM
Reply to: Message 5 by Eta_Carinae
11-23-2003 1:41 AM


Well, now, wait a minute.
Let's be clear on the reason we're rejecting these reports. We're rejecting them because they're unsubstantiated third-hand or worse anecdotes, and that's little basis for overturning 2000 years of medical science.
The mere fact that they seem improbable or even impossible according to our medical models is irrelevant. If they happened, they happened, and our models would be in error.
But we don't know that they happened, because there's no evidence that they did, and there's a considerable weight of evidence that suggests thatsch happenings are impossible.
But just because the idea of demon possession is medeval, that's not itself sufficient to reject these reports.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 5 by Eta_Carinae, posted 11-23-2003 1:41 AM Eta_Carinae has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 10 by Buzsaw, posted 11-23-2003 11:38 AM crashfrog has replied

  
crashfrog
Member (Idle past 1466 days)
Posts: 19762
From: Silver Spring, MD
Joined: 03-20-2003


Message 12 of 334 (68779)
11-23-2003 5:19 PM
Reply to: Message 10 by Buzsaw
11-23-2003 11:38 AM


Thanks Crashy. Good post.
Well, no matter what side you're on, it's dogmatic thinking to reject something soley because it contradicts your model. The universe is. Our models merely approximate it.
Nonetheless I think these stories are bogus, but not because medical science says so. They're bogus because "these stories were told by liars" fits a lot more data, and is a lot simpler, than "these stories are true because biblical demonology is true, despite the weight of evidence to the contrary."

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 Message 10 by Buzsaw, posted 11-23-2003 11:38 AM Buzsaw has replied

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 Message 13 by Buzsaw, posted 11-23-2003 5:39 PM crashfrog has replied

  
crashfrog
Member (Idle past 1466 days)
Posts: 19762
From: Silver Spring, MD
Joined: 03-20-2003


Message 14 of 334 (68789)
11-23-2003 5:44 PM
Reply to: Message 13 by Buzsaw
11-23-2003 5:39 PM


Evidence that demons don't exist? Like what evidence?
What would they be? What would they be made out of? How would they possess or influence humans if they're not made of matter?
If they exist, then why can everything they're said to do be explained by normal, non-supernatural processes? Why assume they exist if there's nothing that requires demons to explain?

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 Message 13 by Buzsaw, posted 11-23-2003 5:39 PM Buzsaw has replied

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 Message 15 by Buzsaw, posted 11-23-2003 6:05 PM crashfrog has replied

  
crashfrog
Member (Idle past 1466 days)
Posts: 19762
From: Silver Spring, MD
Joined: 03-20-2003


Message 16 of 334 (68831)
11-23-2003 6:41 PM
Reply to: Message 15 by Buzsaw
11-23-2003 6:05 PM


But you stated that there's a "weight of evidence" that contradicts their existence.
Maybe you should tell me what a demon is, first, and what qualities it has. All I know about demons I know from mythological sources, and the Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual.
Can demons be summoned? Can they be bound to do the summoners bidding? Or are they just some random, malevolent force? Are they visible or invisible?
We only know they exist because of the effect they make in the universe.
Well, as I said, there's no effect on the universe for which demons are the only, or even the simplest, explanation.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 15 by Buzsaw, posted 11-23-2003 6:05 PM Buzsaw has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 21 by Buzsaw, posted 11-23-2003 11:01 PM crashfrog has not replied

  
crashfrog
Member (Idle past 1466 days)
Posts: 19762
From: Silver Spring, MD
Joined: 03-20-2003


Message 64 of 334 (74517)
12-21-2003 3:24 AM
Reply to: Message 63 by Dart3055
12-21-2003 2:37 AM


I've got a supernatural power. It's called "using proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar." It's quite powerful. You should look into it.
Seriously, though, I don't hold with mind-magic. In my role-playing group we ban the Psionics Manual. Mind-magic has no place in fantasy!

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 Message 63 by Dart3055, posted 12-21-2003 2:37 AM Dart3055 has not replied

  
crashfrog
Member (Idle past 1466 days)
Posts: 19762
From: Silver Spring, MD
Joined: 03-20-2003


Message 205 of 334 (99047)
04-10-2004 1:42 AM
Reply to: Message 204 by kofh2u
04-10-2004 1:31 AM


Devil = Anima/animus = The Feminine Principle
The what?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 204 by kofh2u, posted 04-10-2004 1:31 AM kofh2u has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 206 by kofh2u, posted 04-10-2004 2:47 AM crashfrog has not replied

  
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