A look into paranormal activities may reveal that beliefs and participation into paranormal phenomena is thought to be innocuous to some but to others it can be harmful. For many years, people have been cynical on believing that there may very well be “things that go bump in the night,” as we were told as children to make us scared. Ghost stories, Quija boards, séances and those very scary haunting movies, are the very thing that wants to make people “want to know”. Is the belief of paranormal phenomena harmful or harmless as a past time? Paranormal is interesting and some said that believing in paranormal phenomenon is considered to be “devil worshiping”. According to some scholars, and other skeptics, believing in the paranormal can be dangerous. While reading a post, “Superstition is Not Harmless, But Telling the Truth Upsets People. Paranormal Activity, The Blair Witch Project and The Haunting of Connecticut were all very popular blockbuster movies. Why? Because many people are interested and curious to know if this is real. The movie, “Paranormal Activity (2010)” was based on a couple hearing strange noises in their home. The boyfriend went out, bought a video recorder to begin filming the strange activities in their home. The girlfriend was the skeptical one, while the boyfriend, the one who was deeply interested to know if it was “paranormal activity”, was the one killed at the end of the movie. Now, this movie was not based on true events, but it had me believing that it was. So, this makes you think again….can the beliefs in paranormal phenomena be a harmful past time? The answer is yes. Although this was a fictional movie, the boyfriend died because of his interest into the supernatural being that was in his home, it was assumed that the girlfriend had become possessed.
Many skeptics want to believe that practicing or engaging in such activities is harmful. Example, exorcisms. Exorcism is a religious practice of evicting demons from people believed to be in possession of demons. The movie, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, was based on a true story of women who was believed to be in possession of a demon and while being exorcised, died. This was loosely based off the true story of Anneliese Michel. “Anneliese Michel herself said that Judas, Nero, Hitler, Cain, Lucifer and others were inside of her”. Although Ms. Michel died from dehydration and malnutrition, many believed that she was in fact possessed by demons and that her parent’s beliefs in the supernatural phenomena may have caused her death. Once again proving that the belief in this paranormal phenomenon is very dangerous to the people who believe.The ritual of exorcism is used by many priests today to cast demons out of the body/soul. As quoted by Father Graham, a catholic priest, referring to Satan whom many people worship, “It seems that most religious fear Satan and what he can do to them, more then they believe in God who can do ALL things. Fear Satan’s dear friend. When someone fears Satan, Satan has power over them.
Paranormal is everything that is not “normal”. To some it can be like a drug, a drink or a bad relationship, it’s not going to end well. Although creating a past time believing in these phenomena, going into years of great movie ideas, great book ideas and entertain our sleepover parties as young kids, it is entertainment until you grasp what it is you are really dealing with. It is interesting to believe in UFO’s, ghosts, hauntings, and demon possessions but do you just believe or is it just entertainment for you?
By: Ammara Siddique
Tags: Articles, BELIEF IN PARANORMAL, Harmful, MYTH, PHENOMENA
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.