Surveying the landscape => A paranormal, religious future?

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The Religious Typology: A new way to categorize Americans by religion

There's some more detail on the "New Age" beliefs that seem to be gaining ground. For more on that see this article:

New poll finds even religious Americans feel the good vibrations

Quote:In addition, the number of Americans who say they read Scripture daily, at only 11 percent, is strikingly low, and those who say religion is the most important source of meaning in their lives make up only 20 percent of the population.
By contrast, New Age beliefs pervade all seven American types identified in the survey.

“New Age beliefs are something we see many group members hold,” said Becka A. Alper, research associate at Pew, who worked on the poll. But she added, the study cannot explain why.

Fully 41 percent of Americans believe in psychics including 32 percent of “Sunday Stalwarts,” the most traditionally religious group of all.

Forty-two percent of Americans believe spiritual energy can be located in physical objects. Smaller shares believe in reincarnation and astrology.

The group with the most New Age beliefs was what researchers called the “Diversely Devout.” This group, which makes up 11 percent of Americans, consists of Protestants and unaffiliated Americans, the so-called “nones.” Among this group, solid majorities have New Age beliefs.
'Historically, we may regard materialism as a system of dogma set up to combat orthodox dogma...Accordingly we find that, as ancient orthodoxies disintegrate, materialism more and more gives way to scepticism.'

- Bertrand Russell


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  • Ninshub
(2019-01-04, 08:15 PM)Stan Woolley Wrote: If I may, do you think Source is ‘about love’? Kind of like capitalism is about money!

I can only give you my perspective. My focus has been on understanding the dynamics of the related concepts. Concepts such as love would rest "on" those more fundamental concepts. 

My answer would be yes, but I would frame it more in terms of compassion. For instance, "Behaving As If the God in All Life Matters" is the title of Machaelle Small Wright's book, but also a phrase that sets the tone for the way I feel we should actually behave. Seth told Jane Roberts that the one sin is to violate others. Whatever one feels about Seth, the advice is sound. I use it as the foundation principle for my personal code of ethics.

All of this is to say that love is irrelevant to the Source concept. It is how we understand the concept and apply it in daily living that matters. Participation in cooperative communities is one of the most important means we have for personal progression. That dynamic tends to make anti-social behavior degenerative for the individual. As such, I think not love is self-limiting.
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(2019-01-04, 11:56 AM)Stan Woolley Wrote: My 17 year old daughter has a deep interest in astrology, and is attending weekly night classes in London.

Astrology is one of those whipping boy systems of thought skeptics love to hate. While I prefer suspended judgment, I have tried to integrate it into other systems to see how it fit. Here is one diagram which I think is interesting but not definitive.

[Image: 12-Signs-22-Keys.gif]

Something your daughter might be interested in is a study conducted by a team of parapsychologists that identified a relationship between relatively higher-performance psi functioning and sidereal time. For meta-analysis, they normalized time of day of psi functioning (ESP) studies. (Sidereal Time and Psychic Phenomena) If the relationship holds up, the implication is that there is something in deep space that influences people to the effect that their psi functioning is increased when they are in line with that part of space.

I think the study has been confirmed, but it seems no one knows what to do with it. I attempted to set up a study using EVP practitioners but did so at a time that my access to competent EVP practitioners was diminishing and the study never got off the ground. Astronomers need a sidereal time clock, so I expect there is an app for one that would make it pretty convenient to get a group of people together to keep diaries about such activities and gambling or psi scoring.

[Image: techniques_evp6.gif]

Perhaps Tim can get Malf to participate.
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(2019-01-04, 09:02 PM)Stan Woolley Wrote: I was being respectful to Tom, as Source is the word he used. Actually, I quite like it too.  Smile

Personally I dislike it. To me it seems (a) a random word which appealed to someone, somewhere. I'd go with a different random word such as "cabbage" or "blue". (b) Insofar as it does actually mean something, I find it as flawed as the use of the term "the creator". It is too specific, thus limiting. I'd prefer a term which did not have any such baggage or trappings attached.
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(2019-01-04, 08:18 PM)tim Wrote: Does anyone know where (in which country) Malf lives ? I find Malf to be a pleasant but at times rather annoying character (particularly with his absurd "explanations" for various phenomena) and I'm curious to know if there is any influence from where he hales from. ( New Zealand ?). To be fair to Malf of course, he probably thinks the same about me.

Could have just sent the guy a DM to get the answer if he really cared, but instead publicly calls him annoying, put quotes around the word "explanations", and then calls those explanations absurd, all under the guise of harmless fact-finding.
(This post was last modified: 2019-01-05, 01:23 PM by berkelon.)
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  • Steve001
(2019-01-04, 08:18 PM)tim Wrote: Does anyone know where (in which country) Malf lives ? I find Malf to be a pleasant but at times rather annoying character (particularly with his absurd "explanations" for various phenomena) and I'm curious to know if there is any influence from where he hales from. ( New Zealand ?). To be fair to Malf of course, he probably thinks the same about me.

Please, let's not indulge ourselves in prejudice based on which country people live in.
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(2019-01-05, 06:22 AM)Typoz Wrote: Personally I dislike it. To me it seems (a) a random word which appealed to someone, somewhere. I'd go with a different random word such as "cabbage" or "blue". (b) Insofar as it does actually mean something, I find it as flawed as the use of the term "the creator". It is too specific, thus limiting. I'd prefer a term which did not have any such baggage or trappings attached.

Maybe you’d prefer something like this:

(StealthGodStealth)Covered by a Klingon Cloak ?  Wink 

I think that whatever It’s called, it’ll come with baggage & trappings unless you keep it to yourself. I don’t think God’s affected or diminished by any man made trappings.
Oh my God, I hate all this.   Surprise
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  • Sciborg_S_Patel
(2019-01-05, 01:22 PM)berkelon Wrote: Could have just sent the guy a DM to get the answer if he really cared, but instead publicly calls him annoying, put quotes around the word "explanations", and then calls those explanations absurd, all under the guise of harmless fact-finding.

Can't you just mind your own business, you interfering busy body ?
(2019-01-05, 01:39 PM)Chris Wrote: Please, let's not indulge ourselves in prejudice based on which country people live in.

That's a joke, right ?
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