[Readers - The following letter is from the same writer that asked about "prayer beads" in a column I posted August 29, 2011. You can jump to the previous post HERE. - Bro Jo]
Dear Bro Jo,
What is the Church's view on mediums & pschyc's? Communication between our world and the next(not through wuigi boards, those are just dangerous).
What are the churches /your view on the paranormal?
- Wondering
Dear Wondering,
Happy Halloween.
My personal opinion is that the human mind is a very powerful and creative thing. I believe in Feeling the Spirit, and that when it's God's will we may have impressions, promptings and visions.
I think mediums and psychics are at best nothing more than entertainment, and at worst charlatans, liars and crooks.
People can convince themselves of an awful lot of things, some of which may be (by coincidence) true, but most is not.
Stick with God. Stay away from things that purport to be otherworldly but aren't in tune with the Gospel. They're a waste of time, and can be Spiritually very dangerous.
And often are.
- Bro Jo
Ouija boards aren't "dangerous" (well, maybe they are...) but they are proven to be a huge hoax.
ReplyDeleteMy mother's friend's friend is a "psychic". A lot of what she has said has been incorrect or silly. But she has claimed to have spoken with a man that my mother identified as her grandfather and has known many things she couldn't possibly otherwise. She also said that my friend was suicidal; which I found to be true a few months later. How did this happen? In your opinion, is it more of a coincidence, or are these actual occurrences?
ReplyDeleteOuija boards might not be dangerous in and of themselves, the plastic and cardboard and whatever they're made of. I think the most dangerous aspect of all of these psychics and future-telling objects is that they seek to supplant and replace the Spirit. To be without the Spirit is the worst thing of all, I think... And things like the ouija board also encourage calling upon other spirits, maybe even demons. The only Spirit that should be called upon is the Spirit of God. I totally agree with Bro Jo that they are spiritually dangerous
ReplyDelete@ Hallee -
ReplyDeleteI believe in righteous promptings for ourselves and those we have stewardship over; I believe that smart and intuitive people can figure things out; I believe in the gift of discernment; I believe in intuition and common sense; and I also believe that if one guesses enough times one is bound to be right occasionally.
I think the more we work at hearing the promptings of the Spirit and the better we are at following those promptings, the easier the Spirit is to hear.
I do not think your mother's friend is "psychic".
I think that simply act of proclaiming one's self to be psychic is proof that one is not.
- Bro Jo
@ Anonymous -
ReplyDeleteExactly!
- Bro Jo
So what do you think of hauntings? There's a Mormon guy on a TV show about ghosts and I've always wondered if the church had an "official stance" on that sort of thing...
ReplyDeleteHauntings???
ReplyDeleteI'm not even entirely sure what that is . . .
First of all, remember, I'm an opinionated guy who happens to be LDS, not a spokesperson for the LDS Church.
Secondly, I don't know the "Mormon guy" or TV show you're talking about, but the world is full of "Mormon guys", simply being called such doesn't mean that they're representative of the Church, the Gospel, or Church Doctrine.
If you're asking me if I believe in "evil spirits", as in "those that chose to follow Satan in the War in Heaven", why yes, yes I do.
I also believe that those yet born and those that have passed sometimes communicate with those here, or at least they try to. I do think that's rare, and that people (especially Church members) are often attributing events, feelings, or "things" to spiritual visitations and sightings that . . . aren't.
But if you look through the Bible and the Book of Mormon you'll sure find several instances of other-worldly visitation . . .
What do you think?
- Bro Jo
Bro Jo, I don't know what I think to tell you the truth, I'm still trying to figure that one out!
ReplyDeleteThe show I was referring to is "Ghost Hunters" which I used to be a fan of but I haven't watched it in a long time. One of the main two guys that started it I noticed used all the stereotypical "Mormon swears" that I've heard people say and in one episode he was talking about how he spent 2 years in Italy...so I looked it up and sure enough, Mormon! Haha, so I thought that was pretty cool :)
The point of the show is to disprove a place is haunted rather than to prove it is but sometimes they can't and there's some pretty odd things that can happen. Of course it's "Hollywood" and they have to over-dramatize it to make it good entertainment; and yes, I realize the show is meant to entertain people in the end, even if it's supposed to be "reality TV" (I've been in show biz and don't really believe in "reality TV" to tell you the truth), but it does make you think...
I, personally, think that a lot of the stuff they can't explain is most likely coincidence, not ghosts.
But I also believe that on certain occasions spirits, "those yet born and those that have passed", can make themselves known. What I'm confused about is if it's possible to scientifically prove that using heat cameras and digital voice recorders and all that "ghost hunting" jazz.
The SciFi geek in me wants to believe it's possible to capture a spirit's voice on tape but the perhaps more sensible part of me wonders...what would be the point of having faith if you could just KNOW without it? If that makes sense...It's like doing a multiple choice test with the answer sheet right in front of you, there's no point to it anymore.
But that's just me rambling...
And you may just be "an opinionated guy" but you have good opinions which is why I asked :) Thanks for the reply!