I was raised without relgion or any beliefs in the supernatural. My parents read me childrens science books when I was little. My first beliefs in something that might be called supernatural was a fear of monsters. This was after watching the movie Frankenstein on television. I knew that there were no real monsters and yet when it came time to go to bed something happened. This was when I was about six years old. I forgot to mention Santa the Easter Bunny and tooth fairy. I had already stopped believing in them at six, after some older kids in the neighborhood had set me straight. Since I didn't go to church and we didn't talk about God at home or ever pray, I didn't think much about the subject. I was finally exposed to Jesus by a neighbor at about 8. I believed in Jesus on and off, but mostly off until I was 22. At that time I open doors in my mind that I wasn't ready to walk through by practicing meditation and qi gong. The apparent synchroncity that I began to experience was overwhelming. My ability to filter and control my onwn thoughts was compromised. It seemed to me that God must be real and I believed that belief in Jesus was essential for avoiding the wrath of God. It took me ten years to straighten this out. Some forms of qi gong can unbalance the mind. I found and authentic Chinese qi gong doctor. The practices he taught me alieviated my anxieties. Reading the Bible also led me to believe that Christianity was not true in any literal sense of the word. I still was more open than before so it seemed as if there was a comsic mind. Now I think that this is probably my subconscious, but I don't know for sure. I am glad that I went through this process. I think that I have a better understanding about why some people believe in a monster God who would send them to an eternal hell if they don't have faith or follow some other proscribed path. For a while I was trapped by the fact that I knew that I could never really believe while believing that I must believe or else. What a slick method to control people. It can and does work on many, so I do not think that someone is any less of a person for getting sucked in. ONe must consider that the seeds are sown on the young who typically have no psychological defense. My experience has also made my wary of all intitutions. Lying to the masses works. Most people want to believe in something other than themselves. But there is no getting away from it. We all are, in the final analysis, our own authorities. We can reclaim our own minds, if we want, to even if it is a long and painful process.
On Dec 12, 3:50 pm, "Liz Purkrabek" <[email protected]> wrote: > Dave said that since it's a free service then that will be alright. > > LIZ > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Clogtowner > Sent: Friday, December 12, 2008 3:22 PM > To: Memphis Freethought Alliance > Subject: Re: How old were you when you stopped believing in the > supernatural? > > Hi y'all - yes I can help you with that. It is a classic case of what > we experts call "BedroomPhobia." My usual technique is to introduce > the patient to different bedrooms. I usually start with the > commonplace - hotels. Our first lesson is to make absolutely sure > there's nothing in the bed and then we proceed to the more challenging > eg. bathroom. After much practice, we are ready for the closet. > As as special favor, I am prepared to offer my services on a pro bono > basis. Please be grateful. > > On Dec 11, 10:27 pm, "Liz Purkrabek" <[email protected]> wrote: > > I spent my early to mid childhood being absolutely terrified of ghosts! > > Absolutely! Ghosts and devils and demon dolls! You name it! My mom was > a > > great help in alleviating my fears. She told me, "Don't be afraid of them > > and they can't hurt you." Thanks Mom. A simple, "There's no such thing > as > > ghosts." Might have helped me not to sleep with my entire body under the > > covers (except for the one foot for temperature regulation. And no, I > don't > > know why I thought that foot was somehow immune to monster attack.). > > > I also was cursed with two closets in my room. Unbelievable! I was > afraid > > on one much more than the other though. > > > I had serious problems with sleep walking and something like hypnogogic > > hallucinations when I was very little. Instead of having the classic > sleep > > paralysis induced panic, I would sleep walk and hallucinate while I > > interacted with the waking world. I used to freak my mom out. I guess > the > > nightmares were like night terrors that just went on and on while I walked > > around the house and played them out. > > > I was seriously traumatized for a very long time by some of those > > experiences because I always remembered them very clearly, and still do > with > > several of the dreams. > > > I don't know how I ended up talking about that. Oh yeah, you said > "ghosts." > > > I'm going to bed. I don't sleep walk anymore. I don't sleep eat or > > anything else very interesting either. I'm seriously glad. Going to bed > at > > night used to be torture. Imagine a small child's fear of bed time when > she > > knew, positively KNEW, that the bad things, whatever the hell they might > be > > that night, were waiting in the darkness under the bed, or the antique > doll > > in the rocking chair, or behind the slightly cracked closet door, or > outside > > the tree shadowed window, or under the floor boards, or just in my head... > > > Liz > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [email protected] > > > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > > ornamentalmind > > Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2008 9:29 PM > > To: Memphis Freethought Alliance > > Subject: Re: How old were you when you stopped believing in the > > supernatural? > > > "MFA members, > > Just out interest, how old were you when you stopped believing in > > gods, magic, Jesus, ghosts, an afterlife, etc.?" > > > Even though I may not be an official member, without quibbling about > > your list above, I’d say I never held such beliefs. I was puzzled by > > the god thing, and for a while was amazed by magic. The JC thing never > > made sense to me. Oh, as a kid, I did look under the bed now and then > > afraid of …whatever. So, in that sense, an undifferentiated fear could > > be called one of ghosts I guess. Afterlife? Naaaa. At least not in the > > more common ways that and the other beliefs manifest… > > > On Dec 11, 2:22 am, thevulgarone <[email protected]> wrote: > > > MFA members, > > > > Just out interest, how old were you when you stopped believing in > > > gods, magic, Jesus, ghosts, an afterlife, etc.?- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Memphis Freethought Alliance" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/memphisfreethoughtalliance?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
