Matthew, first thank you for your support. I completed the following response to Ra before noticing both your two posts and Ra's. I would revise my thread accordingly, except I detect a striking synchroncity. I can't recall the "assume" pun you cite being mentioned on this board, though it has often been warranted. Yet I seem to have composed my allusion to this pun at almost the same time as you did! I suspect that some ESP is involved here. Recently, I've been having the odd experience of commenting on other people's random thoughts without realizing it until they pointed it out to me. Interesting!
[Ra:] "Don I am 100% sure that the bible is Nonsense... I haven't taken the time to read the bible and never will."
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Phew! I initially assumed that your ideas get very lonely. After all, you routinely inject profanity-laced rants into issues that call for a smidgeon of rigor to season one's penchant for bluster. I usually suspect that 100% certainty about uninvestigated afterlife claims betrays the I.Q. of a geraniun.
So I am heartened to hear you claim: "I have an IQ of 162 which seems to get higher everytime I take a test."
[Ra:] "Really Don why are you here? You reject pretty much everything on this board that doesn't relate to your religion. Don, if your going to be here at least try to broaden your horizons.
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Not so. It's dangerous to "assume." If you "ass/u/me, " you make an "ass" of "u" and "me." I have a substantial library of books on the paranomal, afterlife evidence, and New Age thought. I'd wager I've read more books on these subjects than you have! I paid about $550 for TMI's Gateway CDs and have often practiced with them. I've probably had more paranormal experiences than anyone posting on this site and I have discussed many of these in MANY threads almost devoid of biblical allusions. I've even experienced a few ADCs and recently started a thread on problems of coherence in paranormal evidence for the afterlife.
I am here to gain new insights from astral exploration and other afterlife evidence and to motivate myself to continue my own attempts at exploration. As I've explained several times, I've experienced the hallmoarks of OBEs--floating near the ceiling, looking down on my body, trying to reconnect by draping my spirit body over my physical body, performing highly emotional retrievals, arguing with dream people that they are merely figments of my imagination, and even poking dream figures with my finger to determine if they feel real. But after initally succumbing to wishful thinking, I reluctantly concluded that all my experiences are merely vivid lucid dreams that simulate OBEs. So naturally I try to detect whether alleged OBEs reported here are just as bogus as mine and that concern makes the issue of verification loom large. I don't dismiss OBE claims here simply on the basis of my own illusory experiences.
[Ra:] "It is getting pretty annoying to keep seeing these Jesus posts pop up on this forum."
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(1) I seldom start such threads. Dude made the outrageous claim that he could prove that Jesus never existed. So I challenged him to back his claim up and then replied to his material and will continue to do so. Then Chumley, Recoverer, and Juditha started their own threads addressing the Jesus issue. (2) Alleged retrievals are a primary focus of this site. The earliest literary evidence for soul retrievals derives from the New Testament and the early church. OBEs were even a routine part of Catholic worship around 200 AD. Jesus is a major player in NDEs and even in Robert Monroe's OBEs and one of Bruce Moen's astral explorations. So who are you to tell me what approach I must take towards afterlife evidence? If a thread doesn't suit you, ignore it. That's what I do all the time.
[Ra:] "I honestly think you are just here to convert weak minds into your beliefs."
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I have explained why I am here. But I admit that Christian witness is also a part of this motivation. My arguments have exposed New Age bigotry here. As a result, some have PMed me to learn more about Jesus and the Christian life and are now radiant Christians. I could care less whether you object to this. In fact, I don't mind if you try to persuade posters to adopt your own spiritual perspective. The attempt to persuade is part of an honest and open-ended discussion of spiritual issues. If a perspective is not worth defending, it is not worth believing. argue the way I do because this has proven effective.
Don
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