The Atheist And The Ghosts

An interesting viewpoint on the atheist beliefs.

The Atheist and the Ghosts

Joseph Parish

Here it is folks; Halloween 2019 has descended upon us. This is my favorite time of the year – scrutinizing the witches, goblins, zombies and ghosts which wander throughout the neighborhood. I undergo great pleasure in observing the assorted costumes, and imaginative props benefitting the holiday, as the homeowners celebrate this October event. As I sit here examining some of the older horror movies appearing on television, it occurs to me as to whether or not atheists believe in ghosts.

I have had numerous courses in religion while attending the university, and unfortunately, this was one of the questions which I neglected to ask the instructor, so therefore, I had no other alternative, but to conduct my own research on the subject. There is a universally accepted perception that since atheists do not believe in God, they therefore must not accept the proposals attached to spirits or to the soul. Surprising, those people who forego and deny the actuality of God, still nurture convictions for an afterlife and of the soul. Throughout my life, I have often confronted individuals who profess not to believe in God, however they do acknowledge the existence of things correlated towards the afterlife, hosts, spirits and souls.

Although many times these wayward philosophies are derived from childhood teachings, some individuals have established the concept due to personal encounters involving supernatural events. I recall an individual which I was acquainted with in England. This man absolutely denied the existence of God, along with any sort of spiritual manifestation. One evening, he was visiting his girlfriend’s home for the weekend. The hour was late and everyone had retired for the evening. His female friend and her mother had departed for their individual bedrooms, and he had laid himself down upon the couch to sleep, when he suddenly detected a gentleman garbed in a British military uniform, standing across the room. He paid no attention to it, since he subsequently assumed that it was another visiting guest. The following morning at breakfast, he mentioned the man to his girlfriend, and she immediately started to describe his appearance and manner of dress. My friend responded to her in the affirmative, as she had accurately portrayed the man, he has seen the previous evening. She ultimately disclosed that the vision he had witnessed was that of her deceased father, who passed on five years previously. He was an avid advocate in ghosts after experiencing that incident, nevertheless he still argued that God did not exist. I believe that the key to understanding what is taking place here is to effusively realize that atheism only, excludes the belief in a god, and not with anything associating with the paranormal or supernatural.

As irrational as it may appear, it stands to reason, how an atheist can be acceptance of anything else other than the existence of God. This would include spiritual souls, as well as some form of heaven or paradise. It would therefore seem that we can define atheism as simply a belief system, which only excludes, and denies an acceptance in gods or gods. In all actuality, the quantity of atheists who believe in ghosts, souls, or some concept of life after a physical death is likely extremely minimal.

It would seem to be a foremost contradiction between refuting a positive correlation between the disbelief in God, and believing in the supernatural, which would naturally include the associated spirits and souls. Perhaps the solution to this dilemma lies in the fact that atheism, as we recognize it, is convincingly associated with naturalism, materialism, and science.

Thus, we can attain that atheists do not entail a skepticism towards anything relating to supernatural activities. We realize in this sense that a disbelief in God does not necessarily take place concurrently with a disbelief in naturalism, materialism, or science. We realize nothing within the “atheism” manifesto which would necessitate all of the individual’s beliefs to be rational.

In closing, I will affirm that there are those circles of atheists who maintain that acceptance of anything supernatural, a concept of souls and a belief in a structure similar to a heavenly location, are irrational figments, and would possibly separate a real atheist from a fake one. In making claims about atheists we must reserve our remarks to individuals and not apply them to the group as a whole.

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