A third of Americans say they believe in ghosts, a pre-Halloween poll found.
The same proportion, 34 percent, say they believe in unidentified flying objects, according to the poll by the Associated Press and Ipsos, and 23 percent say they have actually seen a ghost or believe they have been in one's presence.
Those most likely to have experienced that are single people, Catholics and those who never attend religious services. Three in 10 have awakened sensing a strange presence in the room.
Nearly half (48 percent) believe in extrasensory perception, a drop from the 66 percent who said they accept ESP in a similar question asked by Newsweek in 1996. Those with a higher education were found to be more likely to accept ESP – 51 percent of college graduates compared to 37 percent with a high school diploma or less.
Nineteen percent believe that spells or witchcraft exists. Urban dwellers, minorities and lower-earning people are more likely to believe in spells and witchcraft.
A 2006 Barna Group poll found that the supernatural world is more readily believed by teens. In the midst of the Harry Potter phenomenon, the Barna report revealed that 73 percent of America's youth have engaged in at least one type of psychic or witchcraft-related activity beyond media exposure or horoscope usage. Moreover, 30 percent of all teens claimed they had supernatural encounters. Non-evangelical teens were nearly three times more likely (69 percent) than evangelical teens (26 percent) to have engaged in witchcraft or psychic activities.
More than 10 percent of youth claimed they communicated with the dead.
As Americans bring out ghosts and the Grim Reaper and homes stock up on candy for Halloween on Oct. 31, a ministry leader is urging Christians to take up the opportunity to talk to their peers about topics of death and whether we should be afraid of dying.
"Ask your friends if they think people have a soul? Do they believe in an afterlife? Use the opportunity to share about God's free gift of eternal life through Jesus gift of salvation," suggests Jane Dratz of Dare 2 Share Ministries.
Other findings by the latest AP-Ipsos poll include the one in five people who say they are at least somewhat superstitious and the most likely admitted superstition – finding a four-leaf clover, according to 17 percent of the people. Also, 13 percent dread walking under a ladder or the groom seeing his bride before their wedding, while slightly smaller numbers named black cats, breaking mirrors, opening umbrellas indoors, Friday the 13th or the number 13.
The poll was conducted Oct. 16-18 on 1,013 adults.
Comments
Hello!
I am writing my dissertation on the paranormal and am looking for quality research material. If you have seen what you might describe as a ghost, an orb, or some other kind of apparition, I would greatly appreciate hearing from you. If you choose to include data such as your age, your religious beliefs, etc. that would be all the better!
I realize this is a sensitive topic. I have no intentions of ridiculing anyone. I am gathering research material--nothing more.
My email is as follows: rmblunk@aol.com
Thanks!
Michael
The Bible is very clear on the subject of "ghosts" and uses that term (from the original Greek) as referring to the spiritual world. God Himself tells us that he is "spirit" and not flesh. In the Bible, God reveals that there is a spiritual realm where He and His angels reside, including where Satan and the fallen angels reside. This spiritual realm is not a place where man lives (at the present), although since man (and woman) are decendants of Adam (a Son of God), we all posess an enternal spirit. In essance, we are spiritial creatures living in physical bodies in a physical world. The spiritual world is not observable to us, and we cannot get there nor easily interact with it. Christ was very clear when he discouraged people from seeking others who claimed to have contact with the spiritual realm. Why? Doing so puts a person in direct access or possible contact to the fallen angels or "demons". People who claim to have contact with spiritual beings, including space aliens, space gods, angels, ghosts of dead relatives, etc., are in fact contacting and interacting with fallen angels. Christ is very clear on this point as are the Apostles, who declare and remind us that Satan often disguises himself as an "angel of light" and is the "father of all lies and a murderer" who seeks to "decieve the entire world, including the elect (Christians)". According to Old Testiment scripture, fallen angels have the ability to "polymorph" into anything they wish (like a snake in the Garden of Eden), and can possess physical bodies (or produce them) when they choose to interact with our known physical world. God's angels, those who have not sinned or fallen, can dalso o this but only when God commands it. As has been told in both New and Old Testiment readings, Holy angels appear most often as physical men (as when Mary went to Jesus' grave only to be told that he had risen). Its important therefore to recognize that ghosts do exist, but the one's people claim to have interacted with are in fact nothing more than false images created by demons seeking to disrupt a person's faith or thoughts regarding the truth concerning the afterlife - and of course the reality of Christ as savior. The devil himself would have you believe that God allows people to drift between this world and the next with no clear hope of being rescued. However God's Word proves otherwise.
Luke 24:36-37:
Jesus Appears to the Disciples
36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."
37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."
So, when Jesus appeared to the Apostles after his death, how did they know the difference? How is anyone to know the difference between a vision and a demon?
(and for those on the thumbs-down happy trigger, no, I'm not calling Jesus a demon. I'm asking how you would advise laypeople to tell the difference, since so many believe that they have visions of Jesus, saints etc).
Let's get it straight....Ghosts are not the entity - it's DEMONS!!!!!! That's what they're called!!! If you believe in ghosts, you believe in DEMONS. But I guess it's more polite and cute to call them ghosts. RUBBISH!! They are DEMONS. Plain and simple. Got it??!!??