Wanting Belief to be True

[Syne]

Ah, so not religious. That's what I thought.

[Zinjanthropos]

The only difference is my belief is based on actual evidence.

You finally said what I've been waiting for. My friend, if you have hard evidence then you personally, no longer have a belief. 

Honestly, I don't care what you believe. I've said this several times already, believe in whatever the hell you want. All this time, and appears you've missed it, myself and others have been skeptical about your TRUTHS. The paranormal is not a belief for you anymore, you've upgraded it to gospel. You're doing yourself a disservice by calling the paranormal a personal belief. Myself and many others would love to see you prove the truths, not the belief. It just isn't happening. IMHO you're proselytizing more than proving.

What I find puzzling is your sensitivity to anyone questioning your actual evidence when you present it. It's as if you've proven the paranormal by believing the evidence is the actual, as you say. Have you substituted one belief for another? If so then I won't interject any longer. You would be free as far as I'm concerned to chat with your followers without any interference on my part. You might however be asked to prove the evidence is genuine.

[Magical Realist]

The only difference is my belief is based on actual evidence.

You finally said what I've been waiting for. My friend, if you have hard evidence then you personally, no longer have a belief. 

Honestly, I don't care what you believe. I've said this several times already, believe in whatever the hell you want. All this time, and appears you've missed it, myself and others have been skeptical about your TRUTHS. The paranormal is not a belief for you anymore, you've upgraded it to gospel. You're doing yourself a disservice by calling the paranormal a personal belief. Myself and many others would love to see you prove the truths, not the belief. It just isn't happening. IMHO you're proselytizing more than proving.

What I find puzzling is your sensitivity to anyone questioning your actual evidence when you present it. It's as if you've proven the paranormal by believing the actual evidence, as you say. Have you substituted one belief for another?

Actually I've been posting on the paranormal in the Weird Forum for at least 2 years before you even came here. They're posts meant for discussion. If that bothers you so much, which it obviously does as you have started a whole thread now whining about it, then don't read them. You're not going to censor me from posting whatever I choose in the appropriate forums. Got it? Good...

[Zinjanthropos]

Actually I've been posting on the paranormal in the Weird Forum for at least 2 years before you even came here. They're posts meant for discussion. If that bothers you so much, which it obviously does as you have started a whole thread now whining about it, then don't read them. You're not going to censor me from posting whatever I choose in the appropriate forums. Got it? Good...

WTF? Bother, whine, censor? Deflection is an art. Changing the topic is what, protection? Not answering tough questions is what, strategy? Refusing to deal with evidence that's either contrary or at least thought provoking is what, denial? Performing a psychoanalysis on fellow posters is what, dismissal? 

Are you also the Templar Knight for the weird and beyond? You can't take your ball and go home here I'm afraid.

[Secular Sanity]

I just got home from my aunt’s funeral. You know how difficult it is to contain or stop laughing during inappropriate times. It can be almost painful and impossible to stifle. Well, I couldn’t do it. I laughed out loud during the service. Oh my god! I was so embarrassed. I couldn’t it help, though.

My aunt has two grandchildren that are autistic. The youngest one is so handsome and adorable. He wore a nice suit with a big red bow tie. He wanted to speak, and I must admit, it was by far the best tribute that I’ve ever heard. Straight from the heart.

He started out by introducing himself and telling us what the date of her death meant to him. He said that it meant that she was dead, yep, dead, and that he would never get any of her jam again. He related to my aunt through her cooking. He told us in detail about how she would give him the jam to take home and how he’d think about it all the way home. He described each and every little detail in sequence. How he’d get home and rush to the kitchen to take out the bread, set it on the counter, put it in the toaster oven, and then spread on the butter and jam. I totally lost it when he got to the part about being so excited when he'd hear the beeeep-beeeep-beeeep from the toaster oven. My cousin sitting next to me started squeezing my leg and elbowing me. I tried to cover it up with a fake cough, but I don’t think it was very effective. He vowed to carry on the tradition and provide us all with jam. He started crying and ended it with "I’m really going to miss that jam. I love jam. Well, that’s about all I have to say on the subject."

My asshole cousin, the one that was screaming at me for being an atheist, was sweet as pie. He wanted me to sit with him after the service. He got my chair, carried my plate, and waited on me hand and foot. Come to find out, the week before my aunt died, he was a total dick to her, too. He got into an argument with her on Facebook and all my other cousins unfriended him. I was the only one that would speak to him.

It sounds bad to say, but that was probably the best funeral that I’ve ever been to. I actually had a great time.

[C C]

It sounds bad to say, but that was probably the best funeral that I’ve ever been to. I actually had a great time.

In recent years, I've somehow wound up at several funerals (different locations) which featured the same pastor presiding over them. He'd go out of his way encouraging the speakers beforehand to relate stories and incidents about the deceased that would arouse "Chuckles Bites The Dust" giggles from the audience. For awhile I began to muse that ceremonies of the dead must be re-inventing themselves for a post-postmodern Geist. But a good round of somber ones again with pleas or dashes of "Don't wait until you're on hospice or hooked up to tubes to finally get saved, like ___ here did!" brought me back to eschatological norms.

[Secular Sanity]

Oh my god!  I never saw that episode.  That's hilarious!

Perfect, C C. 

[Zinjanthropos]

When my M-I-L died in '15 the priest allowed the siblings to each share an impromptu eulogy for the departed. My atheist B-I-L from the other side of the country has always considered himself the black sheep of the family and wouldn't you know it, the chapel we were in provided the perfect prop for his speech, a backdrop painting of a shepherd tending his flock with one sheep being totally black. He took advantage of it and in a few moments the place was in stitches. It lightened up the mood and made the trip to the cemetery much more enjoyable.