When I lived in Bali, I couldn't help observing the pervasive evidence of belief in demons. And of course demons put in an appearance in the Bible, not to mention in the gargoyles of old cathedrals.
On the other hand, modern science would seem to categorically reject the existence of demons, without a clear reason why, unless it has to do with the axiomatic presuppositions of science's governing ideology of reductionist materialism.
Question: Do demons exist? What evidence is there, for or against?
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Do demons exist? Can that be tested?
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Do demons exist? Can that be tested?
Post #1"Love is a force in the universe." -- Interstellar
"God don't let me lose my nerve" -- "Put Your Lights On"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCBS5EtszYI
"Who shall save the human race?"
-- "Wild Goose Chase" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L45toPpEv0
"A piece is gonna fall on you..."
-- "All You Zombies" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63O_cAclG3A[/i]
"God don't let me lose my nerve" -- "Put Your Lights On"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCBS5EtszYI
"Who shall save the human race?"
-- "Wild Goose Chase" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L45toPpEv0
"A piece is gonna fall on you..."
-- "All You Zombies" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63O_cAclG3A[/i]
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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?
Post #531[Replying to Ozzy_O in post #532]
The Big Bang is a hypothesis ... it has not been confirmed in every detail but is supported by certain observations such as the present expansion of the universe, the cosmic background radiation and its characteristics, etc. It wasn't just pulled from thin air and may turn out to be wrong or need serious modifications (eg. to deal with the singularity at t=0). And obviously it cannot be reproduced in a laboratory on this tiny planet. But it is the prevailing hypothesis based on the observations we do have.Can you give us the link to the peer reviewed science on the big bang, which was observed, measured, reproduced, in a real world laboratory?
This is not just a hypothesis. We can directly measure global atmospheric temperatures over time (and have both directly, and long before the industrial revolution from analyzing ice cores, tree rings, and other methods). We can see a very high correlation between global atmospheric temperatures and anthropogenic activity that strongly suggests this activity is responsible for the rising temperatures. We may not yet know 100% of the details of how much is human caused and how much is natural, but we have enough data to know that the human caused portion is absolutely not insignificant.Same with "climate change"
In humans, it is the 23rd pair of chromosomes that are the sex chromosomes. XX is female, XY is male. Science has never disproved this, but rather it was science that proved it. Why would you think science disproves male and female chromosomes? It is just the opposite. This isn't in dispute.Or the sci nice that disproves the male and female chromosomes determine sex
I've never heard this term do have no idea what it refers to. It is a fact that some people prefer members of their own sex, and whether there are common genetic reasons for this I don't know. But humans vary widely in their preferences in just about every category, and some have a genetic basis.Or proof of the "queer gene"
Science is made up? You obviously don't know what science is if you think that. Demons don't exist just because someone imagines that they do. Climate change does exist because it can be directly measured. See the difference?No because that "science" isn't the real, it's made up....but ya, tell me demons aren't real cause "science"
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John Paul Jones, 1779
The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.
Mark Twain
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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?
Post #532My telling the truth, or being a bald faced liar, has no bearing on the theist's inability to show they tell it.OneWay wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 4:10 amDo you speak the truth all the time?JoeyKnothead wrote: ↑Mon Nov 28, 2022 2:59 pm No doubt the thiest considers it demonic to ask how we can know they speak truth.
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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?
Post #533Birds of the feather flock together.JoeyKnothead wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 9:37 amMy telling the truth, or being a bald faced liar, has no bearing on the theist's inability to show they tell it.OneWay wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 4:10 amDo you speak the truth all the time?JoeyKnothead wrote: ↑Mon Nov 28, 2022 2:59 pm No doubt the thiest considers it demonic to ask how we can know they speak truth.
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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?
Post #534So do sheep.OneWay wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 12:17 pmBirds of the feather flock together.JoeyKnothead wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 9:37 amMy telling the truth, or being a bald faced liar, has no bearing on the theist's inability to show they tell it.OneWay wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 4:10 amDo you speak the truth all the time?JoeyKnothead wrote: ↑Mon Nov 28, 2022 2:59 pm No doubt the thiest considers it demonic to ask how we can know they speak truth.
I might be Teddy Roosevelt, but I ain't.
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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?
Post #535Except for them that stray.JoeyKnothead wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 12:42 pmSo do sheep.OneWay wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 12:17 pmBirds of the feather flock together.JoeyKnothead wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 9:37 amMy telling the truth, or being a bald faced liar, has no bearing on the theist's inability to show they tell it.OneWay wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 4:10 amDo you speak the truth all the time?JoeyKnothead wrote: ↑Mon Nov 28, 2022 2:59 pm No doubt the thiest considers it demonic to ask how we can know they speak truth.
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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?
Post #536How do you tell when it's a demon speaking to you?OneWay wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 4:15 amDemons speak to you all the time.
So therefore you do not have to summon them up...as you say.
They speak to everyone
at one time or another.
Some more than others
depending upon their agenda and objective.
They can speak to you through another human
or they can speak to you through your mind.
They have several ways of communicating with you.
But what you are seeking is to find an open door to
speak with them as one of them.
Before you can do that,
they have open the door for you.
That ain't going to happen for you.
Being apathetic is great....or not. I don't really care.
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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?
Post #537Can you do the same for the earth orbiting the sun? Where has that been reproduced in a lab?
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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?
Post #538Since we also have angels and know that these are traditionally treated as in opposition to one another, we could ascertain from that, that demons describe any inner voice which causes the hearer to become upset and imbalanced, such as with Joey's cowardly voice of derision, for which Joey takes medication in order to counter the negative affects of that voice in his head.Jose Fly wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 2:08 pmHow do you tell when it's a demon speaking to you?OneWay wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 4:15 amDemons speak to you all the time.
So therefore you do not have to summon them up...as you say.
They speak to everyone
at one time or another.
Some more than others
depending upon their agenda and objective.
They can speak to you through another human
or they can speak to you through your mind.
They have several ways of communicating with you.
But what you are seeking is to find an open door to
speak with them as one of them.
Before you can do that,
they have open the door for you.
That ain't going to happen for you.
On the other hand, we have Tam, who tells us that she listens to the voice of her Lord, to which she unashamedly tells us she is a 'slave' to, and has no need of medication to silence that voice, as it does not speak to her in cowardly derogatory terms.
Re all that, we also have warnings which inform us that there is a grey area where demons can pretend to be angels [but not that angels can pretend to be demons] and therein that knowledge we can determine "when it's a demon speaking to you" and when it is not.
In simple materialistic terms, this equates to one's inner voice narrating either good messages or bad messages which either build a personality up, or cast a personality down...
...the tricky bit appears to be that a personality requires some type of insight in order to be able to tell the difference between being built up and being cast down...hence questions like "How do you tell when it's a demon speaking to you?" get asked.
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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?
Post #539So "Good thoughts = angels; Bad thoughts = demons"?William wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 2:49 pmSince we also have angels and know that these are traditionally treated as in opposition to one another, we could ascertain from that, that demons describe any inner voice which causes the hearer to become upset and imbalanced, such as with Joey's cowardly voice of derision, for which Joey takes medication in order to counter the negative affects of that voice in his head.Jose Fly wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 2:08 pmHow do you tell when it's a demon speaking to you?OneWay wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 4:15 amDemons speak to you all the time.
So therefore you do not have to summon them up...as you say.
They speak to everyone
at one time or another.
Some more than others
depending upon their agenda and objective.
They can speak to you through another human
or they can speak to you through your mind.
They have several ways of communicating with you.
But what you are seeking is to find an open door to
speak with them as one of them.
Before you can do that,
they have open the door for you.
That ain't going to happen for you.
On the other hand, we have Tam, who tells us that she listens to the voice of her Lord, to which she unashamedly tells us she is a 'slave' to, and has no need of medication to silence that voice, as it does not speak to her in cowardly derogatory terms.
Re all that, we also have warnings which inform us that there is a grey area where demons can pretend to be angels [but not that angels can pretend to be demons] and therein that knowledge we can determine "when it's a demon speaking to you" and when it is not.
In simple materialistic terms, this equates to one's inner voice narrating either good messages or bad messages which either build a personality up, or cast a personality down...
...the tricky bit appears to be that a personality requires some type of insight in order to be able to tell the difference between being built up and being cast down...hence questions like "How do you tell when it's a demon speaking to you?" get asked.
How was it ever established that any of those actually came from angels/demons, rather than just being one's own thoughts?
Being apathetic is great....or not. I don't really care.
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Re: Do demons exist? Can that be tested?
Post #540[Replying to Jose Fly in post #539]
Re that, with both Joey's testimony and Tam's, in both cases the information is that the voices heard are not recognized simply as being from ones own thought/self - but are distinct as in 'other' - so the answer is not simply "good thoughts/bad thoughts" = "my thoughts which I generated for myself.", thus - more study is required...
How has it ever been established that out thoughts do NOT come from demons or angels, given the subject remains open and questions such as "Do demons exist? Can that be tested?" derive?So "Good thoughts = angels; Bad thoughts = demons"?
How was it ever established that any of those actually came from angels/demons, rather than just being one's own thoughts?
Re that, with both Joey's testimony and Tam's, in both cases the information is that the voices heard are not recognized simply as being from ones own thought/self - but are distinct as in 'other' - so the answer is not simply "good thoughts/bad thoughts" = "my thoughts which I generated for myself.", thus - more study is required...