well mr robbwillis yes there is spirits, are there good or bad i am not sure, i too did not believe until i had a experince

its not something that should be taught in school,  because everyone believes different on this subject.  my husband does

believe and thats ok ,,, i just know what i went thru and thats the way it is

Hallucinations and paredolia are experiences too. There is as much evidence for Vishnu as there is for Jehovah. Evolutionary fossil records are real things you can hold in your hands. You don't have to deny evolution as fact to believe in spirits. Who knows what lurks in parallell universes? Darwinism IS theory, evolution IS fact. It amazes me when people look at the fossil puzzle which includes man like creatures in various states of development, yet when a couple of pieces are missing it must be wrong, or worse yet .......conspiratorial and satanic. If you put a jigsaw puzzle together of the Statue of Liberty, and 40% of the puzzle pieces are missing, do you think you might still have an idea of what it is?

There are 10s of thousands of different deities. Mathematically the chances that YOUR God is the real God, are slim. You base your belief on ancient text. Buddhists also have ancient texts, Greek and Norse and Hindu religions also have ancient texts. On the flip side, Evolution is based on empirical evidence, in which all the data is not there, and of course some of the data is misinterpreted for sure. But because a particular theory does not have all the answers doesn't make the FACT of evolution wrong.

And before we starting calling Darwin, a follower of Satan, we might also ask ourselves how many people have been murdered in the name of God as opposed to in the name of Satan. God wins that one every time because, of course, God is on theeeeeir side.

I've often entertained the hypothesis that there is a God and there is a Devil, and most folks just have 'em backwards.

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But that's silly.  Robb has it nailed in his first sentence above.  No ghosts, no angels, no devils, no gods.  Human beings evolved as pattern-recognizing animals.  We connect the dots into patterns, whether it's the lights in the sky forming crabs and giraffes, or the reasons why Uggh standing next to us got trampled by the mastodon and we escaped.

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It's our "trick," how we managed to stick around as long as we have (although sharks have us beat and we've yet to surpass dinosaurs in longevity.)  But if all you have is a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail, as the saying goes.  And pattern-recognition doesn't help you when *THERE IS NO PATTERN.*  Human beings fail to accept that life, the universe, everything is essentially random, except for the order WE impose.

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Why do some people have ghostly experiences?  Because they saw or felt things they couldn't understand and applied a pattern to it.  Certain hallways have acoustic properties which play tricks on the human nervous system.  Our visual systems "fill in the blanks" so often we see what we expect.  Smells are sensed practically with the bare brain and activate the limbic system--the oldest parts of the brain.  We get input into these systems and apply ghostly patterns to them.

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(It's long been a hunch of mine that the urge to worship gods is the human expression of the general "surrender reflex" in other mammals.   In an attempt to categorize the feelings which cause dogs to expose their bellies and urinate,  instead we bow our heads and tithe.  I guess it's easier to keep the churches clean that way.)

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There are folks who don't put any faith in unicorns or deities.  Many go by the unfortunate nickname of "Brights," an attempt to bypass the stigma put on the perfectly harmless, neutral word "atheists."     More at http://www.the-brights.net

Excellent statement tonyh.

Humans and monkeys both evolved from something that had characteristics still found in each, Tonyh.  You make the common mistake that things in science are "proven" right.  They aren't.  Things in science are only proven *WRONG.*  That's the way it works.  As Edison said, he knew hundreds of ways not to make a light bulb. :) 

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We don't have "all the pieces" of *ANYTHING,* let alone skeletons of things which died 65 million years ago.  But we have enough to make a guess, test it and prove it wrong, make a better guess, test it and improve it.  That's what happened to evolution.  It went through enough "good enough" guesses to be accepted as fact.  Intelligent Design Creationism failed that test about a century ago.

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I, too, am leery of folks forcing their "beliefs" on others.  (Although it's quite acceptable to argue your case, obviously.)   I don't want anyone to force Genesis to be taught in schools, for example, without also teaching the mythology of other religions on an equal footing. 

I respect people's beliefs Tony. I don't attack Christianity, I attack those that misuse and misstate. Christianity is a great religion. Unfortuantely, the spirit of Jesus' teachings is often morphed for political reasons. It happens to every religion as evidenced by the Islamic Terrorists today. Even if you believe Jesus was only a man, his teachings reach  deep seeded moral values that reside in all of us. That is why it is such a popular theology. The New Testament is a kinder, gentler religion when compared to the Koran, or even the Old Testament. It is another stepping stone in man's quest for understanding and for civilization itself. Man has evolved into ritually eating the body of Christ, from actually eating someone's heart to gain their attributes! Well, in most of the world anyway.....but I stay away from the deep interior of Micronesia!      &n bsp;LOL

Random is correct when people make the assumption that we evolved from monkeys. Humans, and all modern apes evolved from a common ancestor. Scientists DON"T have it down pat, but the evidence is overwhelming when compared to a theology.I think the difference is that I don't try to make my religious beliefs, or lack therein, into public policy.

That is the very essence of Freedom of Speech. You have the right to believe in whatever you want, as long as it doesn't infringe on my right to believe in whatever I want. Random doesn't want the Code of the Babylonian Talmud on the courthouse wall anymore than the Ten Commandments. Personally I don't have any problem with it because it is non threatening to me, but many people see it as a slippery slope to a state religion.

Sam is obviously a well educated, intelligent, and excellent writer who has a great belief in God. I would never deny him his right to his beliefs. And as we get older and reflect on our lives, we all want to believe that our family and friends are waiting somewhere for us. In man's history, religion was a way to introduce moral codes, keep anarchy at bay, and give hope that a well lived life will reward you in an after life. Nobody wants to die, and religion gives us immortality.

There are no ghosts, demons, miracles, or any other unexplained mysteries.  If it doesn't jibe with the law of physics, it doesn't exist.

People believe what they want to believe, regardless of how dumb it is.

My point is that you're mistaken about that.   Science isn't facts at all.  Science is a procedure for finding out what aren't facts, and clearing them out of the way.  The only "belief" involved is the belief that it's a superior system for removing things which aren't true.  And it "HAS" proven to be better than alternatives such as "jury trials" or "divine revelation."  Come up with a better system, one which is more reliable, and scientists will carry you on their shoulders and name you King. 

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The difference between science and religion is that science is willing to say "prove me wrong and I'll change my opinion."  Religion isn't.  (With rare exceptions like the Dalai Lama.)

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You're mistaken about the difference between fact and theory.  "Theory" is as close as science comes to declaring something a "fact."    Gravity, as has been tirelessly pointed out, is a "theory."  That the Earth revolves around the Sun is a "theory."  Evolution is a "theory."

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Different is *GREAT,* not just OK.  But I will not let the Religious Right determine what is and isn't science.  That's not their playground, and they don't follow the rules.  They're *AFRAID* of following the rules of science, because they know what the answer will be.  That's the great sadness around ID Creationism.  It's an attempt by some to shore up their imperfect faith by having the government tell them they're right.  And when people spread the incorrect information put out by such as the Discovery Institute and Kurt  "Indicted Tax Evader" Hovind I will correct them.  Politely, but firmly. 

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There is a quantum difference between dumb/stupid and ignorant.  Ignorant can be cured.  The cure is called Science and Education.  I do not believe you'll find me calling anyone on these blogs dumb or stupid.  (I do mention dumb or stupid people, some of them in Washington, but I try to be kind otherwise.) 

Nobody was as big a proponet of evolution as the late, great Stephen J Gould. His explanaton is that evolution is a fact, and Darwinism is one theory of how we arrive at that fact. Facts are data, theories are how, and what mechanisms are involved to bring those facts into fruition.

But yes, think of science the same way you think about medicine. Medical diagnosis is mostly an elimination of what is not wrong with you. Doctors hypothesize what is wrong with you based on symptoms, then after several tests may have eliminated possible causes, one test may make your malady a fact. Even then..... false positives, etc can make a perceived fact, not a fact at all. So I suppose the diagnosis for tuberculosis is a theory.

Fundamentalists make theorizing seem like scientists are making a random guess. Hypothesis may better be described as guessing, and even that is an educated guess.  Like Random says, gravity is merely a theory for the forces that hold us to this earth, but does anybody want to test the theory by standing under a falling tree? After the tree has fallen, it is a fact that it has fallen, and it is theorized that gravity caused the fall. Fact does NOT mean absolute certainty, but we wouldn't get very far without recognizing them.