Our server costs ~$56 per month to run. Please consider donating or becoming a Patron to help keep the site running. Help us gain new members by following us on Twitter and liking our page on Facebook!
Current time: January 21, 2025, 6:49 am

Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
I had a religious experience the other night
#28
RE: I had a religious experience the other night
(November 20, 2017 at 6:48 am)Mathilda Wrote: It occurred to me that in the same way that Carl Sagan came up with his Baloney Detection Kit, we could come up with list of questions that you should ask if you think that you have had a religious experience to determine whether it was just  a product of the mind.

  • Did anyone else experience it?
  • Was it indistinguishable from your own imagination?
  • Did you see, hear or feel it tactilely?
  • Did it occur when you were falling asleep, waking up or during your sleep or at a point of exhaustion?
  • Were you intoxicated at the time?
  • Were you taking drugs at that period of your life which alter your perception, whether recreational or medication, and which can stay in your system for a long time?
  • Have you had similar experiences in the past which were not religiously or spiritually themed?
  • Had you been thinking a lot at the time about religious or spiritual matters? e.g. considering converting? Watched a film etc
  • Is there a history of relevant mental illness in your family?
  • Would the experience have otherwise been a normal incident were it not for the fact that you challenged a deity to reveal itself?

Anything else to add?
To “did anyone else experience it” I would add “did anyone else not known to be suggestable or known to be skeptical experience it through more than one sense?”
Reply



Messages In This Thread
RE: I had a religious experience the other night - by brewer - November 18, 2017 at 8:51 am
RE: I had a religious experience the other night - by Brian37 - November 18, 2017 at 12:19 pm
RE: I had a religious experience the other night - by Brian37 - November 18, 2017 at 2:02 pm
RE: I had a religious experience the other night - by Brian37 - November 18, 2017 at 2:14 pm
RE: I had a religious experience the other night - by Anomalocaris - November 21, 2017 at 10:55 am
RE: I had a religious experience the other night - by Aroura - November 21, 2017 at 7:18 am
RE: I had a religious experience the other night - by ignoramus - November 21, 2017 at 10:59 pm
RE: I had a religious experience the other night - by Aroura - November 21, 2017 at 8:48 am
RE: I had a religious experience the other night - by chimp3 - November 21, 2017 at 11:02 pm

Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  A thing about religious (and other) people and the illusion of free will ShinyCrystals 265 25981 December 6, 2023 at 12:21 am
Last Post: Harry Haller
  What is a theist other then the basic definition? Quill01 4 910 August 1, 2022 at 11:16 am
Last Post: onlinebiker
  Temporal lobe epilepsy & religious experience. Jehanne 80 8388 March 20, 2022 at 5:38 pm
Last Post: Angrboda
  Funny video - Saturday Night Live - teen thanks god during thanksgiving Ferrocyanide 4 965 November 7, 2021 at 5:09 pm
Last Post: Oldandeasilyconfused
  Jesus had no parents Ferrocyanide 21 2815 October 7, 2021 at 8:42 pm
Last Post: Ferrocyanide
  forbidding people to love each other Fake Messiah 210 32008 September 16, 2021 at 1:23 am
Last Post: Fake Messiah
  So Noah had crab lice Fake Messiah 0 615 July 18, 2021 at 3:57 am
Last Post: Fake Messiah
  Flat Earther, and other conspiracy theories. Are they mostly atheists? Ferrocyanide 95 11264 April 26, 2021 at 3:56 am
Last Post: Tomatoshadow2
  "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me" ignoramus 121 25372 March 5, 2021 at 6:42 am
Last Post: arewethereyet
  Matt and Luke: Ships Passing in the Night YahwehIsTheWay 15 2343 December 1, 2018 at 11:40 am
Last Post: Cod



Users browsing this thread: 3 Guest(s)