Astrology, homeopathy, dowsing, faith healing, psychics, mediums, creationism/Intelligent Design, feng shui, Ouija boards...

I've gotten into arguments about almost all of these. Do you pick and choose which to consider valid, or do you reject them all?

well excuse me but if you look at my profile then you would know what im am.....

astrology i would say is not always the same just like tarot, as they change all the time in readings

im not a meduim, but i can at times feel the spirits of loved ones that have pass on as well i hear them at times as well, try my world, and you just might understand.... i use the ouija board only when needed as its not a game to play with

...yeah we have a lot of multidimensional belief systems on this site..it would not be a good place to go getin pissy on peoples belief systems...I am a witch does that tell you anything...some of what you mentioned is part of the pagan belief system...most of us are here to make friends not enemies....


~wicked~

balls

I believe in the ones that believe in me. Trust me thats more than you wanna know.

I wouldn't say that any of those things are inherent parts of Paganism.

But regardless, I didn't specify which side of the arguments I was on. I'm just curious about whether people reject them all equally or discriminate among them.

...belief systems are like buffets in on line sites..lotsa different things picked by lotsa different people......when you put validity and rejection in a post about belief systems you should be ready for people to wonder what your motives.....


~wicked~

What do my motives appear to be?

I reject them but take from them what I see fit in order to come up with my own ideas, this way if something comes up later I can change my idea...not so easy with beliefs.

Who am I to place a value on what is or isnt legitimate? I dont argue any point, I respect others people's beliefs and only ask that others do the same with me. If people did that we could all live harmoniously.

If nobody distinguished between legitimacy and everything else, then how would we prescribe medicine, sentence criminals, or teach children in school? If all beliefs are equal and deserving of respect, then why do we put people in mental hospitals?

If nobody distinguished between legitimacy and everything else, then how would we prescribe medicine, sentence criminals, or teach children in school? If all beliefs are equal and deserving of respect, then why do we put people in mental hospitals?

A belief is far different from a diagnosis or a judicial sentence...one is diagnosed by a professional who is trained to seek out specific pathologies, judicial sentences come when one is judged by a jury of one's peers for breaking certain socially adopted laws
Beliefs are personal, based on individual creedences..

You are comparing apples to oranges in your statement

What if a doctor has a personal belief that sawdust cures cancer? It might not be generally accepted by the medical community, but should it still be respected?

no different than eating dark green leafy vegetables can help you avoid bowl cancer...
Im having a difficult time understanding where you are coming from. or what is your point here..
pseudo-science and "new-agism" are totally different..that you might not agree with the latter has nothing to do, IMO, with pseudo-science, unless you throw in meditation, chakras, ear-waxing, macrobiotics, biorythim, etc...in which case those are designed to create biological changes in the human body...
spirituality is still a personal belief which no one really has a right to judge as valid or not.

My point is that no belief should be accepted without scientific evidence, regardless of what the belief happens to be. No claim gets special privileges simply because it hides behind the veil of spirituality.

There are plenty of New Age beliefs that fall into the pseudoscience category. The existence of chakras, for example, is not supported by empirical evidence, and should thus be considered invalid.

well you are entitled to your belief..however, if you belong to any conventional religion, I would point out that there is no scientific proof that god exists...yet millions of people would stand up and say "so what?"....

Id love to continue this discussion with you, I find it very interesting but where I live it 3am...and this gal is hitting the hay..thanks for the great debate...
Cheers...

done neally all of those. i wouldnt fo a quiji board again though, and i dont do any witchcraft anymore, (and i never did black majic)

Dowsing for water is real. That is how my dad found good well sites on all three pieces of property he had. Our neighbors each time had to sink several wells and didn't get the best water pressure. My dad hired someone to come 'witch for water' as he put it, and we had great wells each time, no problem.

Which is really weird. My dad is normally a huge skeptic. I never thought he would take anything like that seriously. I never knew that's how he found our wells until he was discussing it one night with one of the neighbors who had bought one of the homes with a horrible well on it.

It's a free country and we each have our own beliefs...all fine and dandy. But I draw the line when one begins to push those beliefs on others to attempt to create a following. We must be respectful of other's beliefs and let it be at that.

Actually, if you talk a look at the direction physics is going, things like chaos theories, M-theory, String theory, and such, you will see the direction science is taking. We are talking the earlier stages of these things, but it is gaining ground.

To me it indicates that science and spirituality and the things that couldn't be measured and tested before are starting to bridge that gap and find a common point.

To me, it seems to indicate that a link is finally being made between science and things that were considered supernatural. Especially things that might be considered "old-fashioned, folk-lore, or primitive spirituality". That stuff most of us paganish people are looking back to as having a role in our lives again.

What the Bleep do we know? is a great introduction to this concept and so is a Nova special from a few years ago on the Theory of everything. Or was it on string theory. I'm not sure the title.