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Debunking
PseudoSkeptical
Arguments of
Paranormal Debunkers
Argument # 26: Paranormal
beliefs are childish
fantasies for dealing with a cold uncaring
world.
This is another biased statement of belief. Most psychic experiences don’t come as fantasies or wishful thinking, but as firsthand direct experiences. Often the experiencer doesn’t even choose to have them in the first place, as in the accounts of those who have sudden NDE’s or OBE’s. Mature adults who are not childish in attitude or behavior have had paranormal or psychic experiences. There are also many rational, down-to-earth people (both mentally and physically) who believe in God too. In addition, even if a belief or religion is used to cope with life, that doesn’t mean that the belief or religion is totally false. If it works, then there is something real to it, one way or another, on this plane or another. (See similar rebuttal in Argument # 14)
Also,
consider this. Belief
in God is innate, as these studies show.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6823229.ece
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2008/nov/25/religion-children-god-belief
We are
born with a natural
belief in God and the spiritual, and are more prone as children to
believing in
“fantasies”. When we become adults, some of us turn
into Atheists, yes. But in
old age, most people end up concluding after a whole lifetime of
experiences,
that there is “something out there” beyond the
physical, some guiding
consciousness, and that “everything happens for a
reason”.
One might
argue that they
are just looking for a reason to believe in life after death as they
near the
end of it. But fear is never sustainable as a prime motivator in any
belief. These
folks are basing their conclusions on a bigger picture view of life
they’ve
obtained after connecting so many dots in the events of their lives.
Plus it
could be that as one approaches death, one becomes more attuned with
the “metaphysical
realm” that they originally came from, as they did when they
were children
coming out of it, and so move toward a different consciousness again.
This
might explain why children and elderly adults tend to be less uptight
and more
easy going than young to middle age adults.
Either
way, we should be
focusing on the experiences and evidence of these many people, rather
than trying
to ridicule and judge them with biased accusatory terms which
contribute
nothing in the search for truth.
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