{"id":5867,"date":"2016-05-10T08:02:34","date_gmt":"2016-05-10T13:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=5867"},"modified":"2016-05-05T10:16:45","modified_gmt":"2016-05-05T15:16:45","slug":"may-15-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/may-15-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"May 15, 2016–Of Spirits and the Spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jen Krausz, Bethlehem, PA
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Warm-up Question<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why do you think people are so interested in the supernatural\u2014including ghosts, demons, zombies, and superheroes?<\/p>\n

Of Spirits and the Spirit
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Some of today\u2019s most popular television shows and movies are built around belief in the supernatural, which reflects what Americans say they believe about otherworldly occurrences. Shows like Supernatural<\/em>, The Walking Dead<\/em>, and The Flash<\/em>, along with movies like the hugely popular Avengers<\/em> and Star Wars<\/em> franchises all feature characters with powers normal humans don\u2019t possess.<\/p>\n

\"shutterstock_49349431\"<\/a>A LiveScience<\/em> infographic states that 56% of Americans surveyed believe that ghosts are spirits of the dead, and 55% believe in psychic or spiritual healing. 42% believe that people on Earth are sometimes possessed by the devil, and a whopping 71% believe that they have had a paranormal experience in their lives.<\/p>\n

Richard Wiseman, author of the book Paranormality<\/em>, has studied people\u2019s beliefs about paranormal activity as well as the science behind some of these occurrences. \u201cThese beliefs are very comforting,\u201d Wiseman told LifeScience<\/em>. \u201cIf you\u2019re ill, then the idea of the psychic healer is a nice idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beliefs in ghosts and hauntings may not be nearly as comforting, but arise from fear and hyper-vigilance that sometimes makes us see things that may not be there. Surprisingly, those who are more educated often have more beliefs in the paranormal than others. And being religious doesn\u2019t always mean you don\u2019t believe in ghosts and other paranormal phenomena. A 2009 Pew Research study showed that half of Catholics and black Protestants believed in or felt they had experienced at least two supernatural phenomena listed.<\/p>\n

People want to believe in supernatural phenomena because it shows that there are bigger forces at work than just what the eye can see or science can quantify. Although beliefs in ghosts or zombies may be misplaced according to science, the world is a vast place that contains much more than one person could ever experience in a lifetime.<\/p>\n

Discussion Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n