Will a ghost possess my body? Should I fear demons? Is it possible that a poltergeist is trying to kill my family? All of these questions and so many more are a direct result of people watching televised ghost hunting programs and Hollywood film portrayals of paranormal investigations. And the unfortunate reality is that it is doing much more harm than good.
The most popular of the televised programs is Sci Fi Channel's "Ghost Hunters." Led by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson of T.A.P.S, they are portrayed.as plumbers by day and ghost investigators by night. If you are a regular viewer of the show, you will know that, within the past couple of seasons particularly, they are finding more evidence than ever. But, is any of it real?
During their last live Halloween special at Fort Delaware, Mr. Wilson had his jacket tugged several times, seemingly by unseen hands. Also, an angry disembodied voice told the duo that they were "not supposed to be here." Unfortunately for them, a great many of their fans; die hards who had never doubted the sincerity of the show or the investigations portrayed, were flabbergasted. They believed what they witnessed was an out and out fake. The jacket tug could be easily recreated by sewing a piece of fishing line through the jacket and having Mr. Wilson tug on it. Repeated viewings of the incident show that the entire time the jacket incident is occurring, Mr. Wilson's right hand never leaves his side. And the disembodied voice? Well, that just didn't sound right.
Still, though thousands cried foul, many more saw what they felt was legitimate proof of a haunting, and something of an aggressive one at that. Tugging on a person's coat collar? Telling them they aren't supposed to be there in an mean voice? Ghosts aren't just a little scary for some people now; they're angry!
In subsequent episodes, more disembodied voices have been heard and wire hangars have been thrown across a room by an unseen force. Ghosts could be dangerous!
And what about shows like "Paranormal State" on A&E and "Ghost Adventures" on the Travel Channel? Demonic entities who cause legitimate physical harm to people are nearly a regular occurrence. It seems like no more than a week or two can go by before one of the investigators on these shows are burned, scratched, or yes, even possessed!
So what is the truth? Are we to fear ghosts? Most serious paranormal investigators and researchers would say no.
What is a ghost, after all? They are believed by most to be the consciousness of a once living person. Without vocal cords, their ability to communicate is difficult, so they do other things to let you know of their presence. Perhaps they make themselves physically noticeable, or they touch your shoulder or move an object. However, what very few legitimate case reports have them doing is harming people. The ghost, demon, or other unknown presence almost never throws someone against a wall or scratches and burns them outside of a televised investigation. And the heads of children don't spin around on their necks without the aid of camera tricks and special effects on a movie set.
What do you think? Are paranormal television shows causing more harm than good? Are they causing people who are not knowledgeable about the field of paranormal studies to fear ghosts unnecessarily? Share your thoughts.
Thanks for reading.
Comments
the way i've understood it, ghosts are generally harmless, in they can scare you pretty badly by manifesting or moving small things around, but being simply the left-over consciousnesses of the living, they can't really do anything in the physical realm substantial enough that could cause injury to a human. where you get into trouble, in my understanding, is with so-called demons, or inhuman, preternatural spirits, who have a greater ability to interact with the physical world that do ghosts. i believe the reasoning is that demons, never having been human and limited to the physical sphere, have a greater command over the physical realm through their demonic nature (i.e. something far older and more powerful than just the imprint of a dead human consciousness), and, therefore, can actually harm people (biting, scratching, pushing, etc.). of course, there've been 'reports' (i've seen a few on "a haunting"), where its a ghost scratching somebody, or what have you. so...there you go.
No. We shouldn't fear the paranormal. Granted, there are some scary things out there, but folks should leave that to the folks who know how to handle it.
The trouble with paranormal investigation is that folks have no clue what they're doing. Hawes and his group are only out to record. They've said repeatedly both of them are out there to prove something to themselves. They offer no means to help. They say they have evidence, don't be afraid, and they go off on their merry way.
To not help a lost soul go home is like agreeing that homeless people should just be left on the streets.
As for more violent hauntings, there is a factual escalation. Largely, as Fr. Crotty puts it, because as faith wanes, superstition waxes. As we become a more "secular" nation - divesting ourselves of religion - superstition goes on the rise. Hence the popularity of monster based TV shows. Vampires abound. People dabble in the occult and let things loose that they can't control.
I'm out of room.
Should we "fear" ghosts? No. Most evidence shows simple residual noises or visions that could be compared to a video being played over and over. There is no real interaction, no intent of any sort and the activity would go on whether we are there or not. Even the "intelligent" haunts that do apparantly interact with the living are rarely menacing. Most people fear what they don't understand so they fear the paranormal. Not every ghost is lost or stuck and condemming the GH crew for not releasing them is narrow minded. They offer help to the homeowners to find any further resources they feel they need for a blessing or such...they do NOT just leave them hanging and "go on their merry way." There are some things beyond our current understanding that could be dangerous and it is only human arrogance to believe otherwise. An open mind that neither believes or dismisses every claim of activity without calm, intelligent empiricle research is the key to this question.
Great points Jason. I have observed everything you outlined in your article here.
I think anytime you mix TV (ie: money) with paranormal, you open up a grand opportunity for good intentions to go bad.
There is now more competition than ever in the TV ghost hunting business and thus more pressure to find "great" evidence stay afloat in the market. If one show starts repeatedly obtaining shadow people, objects moving, knocking sounds, etc...you better believe the other shows are going to take notice and feel the "need" to up the ante & scary sells.
Worse yet are the pressures of running the live shows (I'll be very interested to see Ghost Adventure's upcomming show this year). Networks give these shows a large chunk of broadcast time and the producers are definately feeling the heat to get some "good evidence". Keep in mind that shows like Ghost Hunters often spend 4-14 days at a lot of these locations to get their footage for a 1 hour show (they just wear the same clothes).
These shows are just getting carried away...Of course they are faking these hauntings. What person of reasonable common sense can't see that there is money to be made by creating an impression of some sort of haunting, ghostly presence, demonic voices. "You can fool some of the people some of the time" etc. has never been truer. So, until people start to get wise to the carnival atmosphere of these shows, they will continue to boost their ratings by creating bigger and better "special effects". Nuff Said.
Good points all around. I really appreciate you all stopping by, not only to read my articles, but to leave your thoughts. It is my favorite part of being an Examiner.
Should we fear Ghosts??
HECK YES, lol..... *sorry guys*....I'll eat crow here if need be. Although, that crow tastes just absolutely awful....blech.
Anyway...I lived with a Ghost for almost a year. It was the SCARIEST thing I have EVER been thru. It not only attacked my health, but it took the peace away from our home. Our family had volatile fights for the 1st time and I developed Insomnia for WEEKS at a time, eventually leading into months at a time.
It would whisper my childrens names IN their ears, and would sit on my daughters bed at night. She would wake up, seeing it there, and immediately hide under her covers.
I think all FIVE of our children will need counseling since living in that house.
We had a Shadow Person running freely thruout the house, it was BEYOND anything I have ever seen, and I saw earth bound spirits as a child, but didn't fear them.
Thats when I called Jason here....
No you should not fear the paranormal. You should fear people more than spirits, they can do more damage. You need to educate yourself on what is actually going on in your home. Sometimes it's not a ghost at all. A lot of older homes have very bad wiring and can lead to high EMF zone. The higher the EMF the most symptoms you can have that lead people to claim paranormal phenomena. Uneasiness, skin rashes, paranoia, and feeling of being watched.
Simply, educate yourself :D
Cassiopia DeMars
Premiere Paranormal Research
www.pprkc.org
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