bmadccp wrote:
OK, good points
The hypothesis I'm talking about (in a nutshell) is that there is an ongoing battle between good and evil and paranormal phenomenon (especially UFO's) are manifested by evil entities who do bad things to humans and/or try bolster the great apostacy.
Well, unlike (I would guess) most people I do believe in good and evil as actual things, and not abstract concepts. And I'm sure some paranormal events are manifestations of that. But I'm not sure UFOs are the best example. UFOs usually just go about their business, disregarding humans, like we're insignificant to their purpose.
bmadccp wrote:
Some speculate that this hypothesis is supported by scriptures and by the fact that we seem to have no solid evidence of the UFO phenomenon. Again, this is the cliffs notes version.
The "supported by scriptures" part is where you lose people, IMO. That sort of thing carries weight inside a church, but not anywhere else. And it implies that you've already got a belief matrix into which you're trying to cram the UFO phenomenon.
Could UFOs be some kind of "spiritual" phenomenon? Sure, but like any other neat little pigeonhole people try to put them in, they sorta fit, but not quite. There's definitely a consciousness connection that goes beyond "nuts and bolts", so the spirituality aspect is a legit topic of discussion, IMO.
But in my experience, religious people don't really want open-minded discussion. They just seek to incorporate things into their preexisting belief system. So it's hardly surprising that religious people have a hard time finding non-religious people to engage in their brand of dialogue.
bmadccp wrote:
I would argue that the UFO/paranormal phenomenon is (without solid evidence in hand) a belief system as well. And solid evidence for any of the paranormal is lacking.
That's true to some extent, but most "scientific" UFOlogists tend to avoid conclusions and simply collect evidence that there is something weird going on. Of course there are plenty of crackpots too, who believe all kinds of crap (which could be true, who knows; the Universe is a weird, freaky place).
bmadccp wrote:
The over arching point is that we discuss the paranormal and many people want answers but when a person tries to explain interject the possibility of a "God" answer (for lack of a better term), he or she gets slammed.
Because a "God" answer is a non-answer. It removes the issue from the realm of reasonable discussion into one of belief. If "God" did it, there's nothing to investigate. We may as well shut our minds down and not use our (God-given) critical thinking skills. But on the off chance the phenomenon has another explanation, and is something we can gain knowledge and understanding from studying, I think it's worth pursuing non-"God" hypotheses.
bmadccp wrote:
I don't care to debate the causes for the paranormal (god or ghosts or aliens or whatever), I want to know your thoughts on why on one hand we think it's OK to assume that people from other dimensions are flying mile long crafts over phoenix arizona but it's not OK to even discuss the fact that those "aliens" may be a manifestation of something else alltogether. Hopefull that makes sense.
Well, because the Christian narrative makes no sense whatsoever. Whereas, the existence of extraterrestrials with advanced technology is - while fantastic to imagine - squarely within the framework of the Universe as we know it. I get what you're saying, but just because the explanation for UFOs may be weird, doesn't mean any weird explanation is as good as another. I mean, people might as well be seeing the Tooth Fairy over Phoenix, if we're just going to speculate wildly. There's nothing wrong with a hypothesis that is bizarre, as long as it fits the known facts.
bmadccp wrote:
Again, I'm trying to keep the obvious religious overtones out of this because I would catch hell (so to speak) if I were to get to graphic in introducing the topic. I guess, another way to ask the question is this: Why is Lynn Marzulli laughed at but others who talk about UFO's taken seriously (within the field)?
To be fair though, I think there are other, non-Christian UFO researchers who also are not taken seriously.
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