What is Religious Freedom?

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As an agnostic (or maybe just a person going through the "Dark Night of the Soul") I do not believe in evil sprits and the like. But if people wish to deal with them using holy water or other things then I say they should be free to do so, as they are making a choice to practise their religion.

As long as they do not compel others to join in, or harm the interests of others then I saw that they should be left to get on with it. While I find some aspects of some religions to be odd, I think it is wrong for me to mock a sincere decent member of any faith.

However bigots and hypocrites are far game.

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Health is a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity I am not a jigsaw, I am a free man !

Diagnosed under the DSM5 rules with autism spectrum disorder, under DSM4 psychologist said would have been AS (299.80) but I suspect that I am somewhere between 299.80 and 299.00 (Autism) under DSM4.

Sinsboldly, I will take less offense. I know that there is a sleep disorder called sleep paralysis, which can cause people to hallucinate, and I know that that is not what my family and I have been dealing with.

It appeared to me that what the OP was talking about was not sleep paralysis, but the real deal, such as my family and I have gone through, and I was basing my advice on that. You're right, though, I didn't know for sure if that was the case for the OP.

I do see a definite danger in presuming something just a sleep disorder, and therefore no big deal, when in fact it does have the potential to harm you. I'm just sorry I apparently expressed myself so badly. I will have to be more careful.

I am so tired of all thew anti religon on this board, there seem to be alot of non-religious on this board, thats why I stay away from the religion forum. All the advice that Philothea said is all good advice, holy water, crucifixs, praying to St.Michael the Arch Angel, the Blessed Virgin Mary and God. The most important thing to do with spirits is to never contact them or try to communicate with them, that can make it worse and possibly harm you. Also, don't use spells or anything else. That Native American thing is placebo, it probably was in your head. When I was little, I was scared of a light that would go acress the wall at night from outside. As for you being agnostic, let me ask you this, we know cell phones exist, our voice is carried through waves or whatever that we cant see, smell,hear, touch or anything. Yet we accept that they exist. Think about it. But I would really recommend praying to all those things, it might take a while but eventually it will work, God is outside time and he can take however long he wants to answer your prayers but he will answer it. But this is probably all in your head right now. I'm not clergy nor an expert, so I may be wrong, but This is my understanding. And yes, Im Catholic.

Because it's not real, its a false religion, spells and such do not work. I tolerate though I have my beleifs, I won't put anyone down for their beleifs but I don't agree that all religions are equal. Tolerance is not the same as acceptance.

Saying something that someone does is not real is putting others down.

"AS is not real, it's just your imagination"

I see how that puts a lot of people down.

Or stuff like,

"I am convinced that you're not mentally all-right"

It drives about every person up the wall if you tell them they're bonkers, no matter how much you believe that.

Discrimination doesn't end with leaving out insults, although most people truly and sincerely believe that without meaning ill and without being aware of how severe their actions and words can discriminate against others.

But I have beleifs just as i'm sure you do. (at least to some extent) I think it's right and thats why I beleive it obviously, people will always disagree with something, this is one of those times, I'm not trying to offend anyone, i'm merely expressing my beleifs. At the same time, I'm not going to bend over backward and claim all religions are equal to mine or equalize things I beleive to be false. I tolerate others beleifs while defending my own, I'm not going to tear down others religious beleifs, but I beleive what I beleive and thats that. I'm not trying to strat and argument, im not trying to offend anyone, im just stating my beleifs. And I don't think you can compare a proven neurological disorder with something people take on faith. Like I said im not trying to offend anyone though I do have my beleifs. Now I can see that this is going to go nowhere so I'll leave it at this. I probably never should have never even posted that if i was going to get called intolerant for merely stating my beliefs. people have different beleifs and opinions. One could make the argument your being intolerant of my beliefs. I don't know how to state any simpler or how to shugarcoat my beleif that Native American spells and such are false practices. I beleive that because they conflict with my beliefs as a Catholic. I'm not going to tear them down for beleiving that but at the same time, I dont know how to say it nicer. Another point is why are we arguing about this when there apparently were no spirits in the first place, Gina says problem solved, we arn't sure what it was, some have stated it was stress or sleep paralaysis. Based the evidence I have, I'm inclined to beleive that.

Well Jacob12,

Tolerance is a two way street, I am not Roman Catholic and I have quite a few things which I disagree strongly with the Roman Catholic church on. But I would not view it is correct to rubbish some of the teachings and core ideas of the Roman Catholic church here on WP.

I know the details of the Jewish law (Torah) which outlaws a vast number of occult activities. While I can not recall the chapters and verses I know the details of some of the banned activities and other legal commands relating to occult and rival religions in that part of the Bible. So I know that the idea of contacting the dead, spells or contact with sprits is an idea which is repugnant to a Roman Catholic. The Torah forms the basis of much of the moral code which the Roman Catholic church adopted how many years ago, and I am sure that you would feel quite happy with that system.

At the same time I am sure that some of the wrong planet people include Neopagans or people who do Wicca. The teachings in the Torah would be highly offensive to a Neopagan, so out of respect for any Neopagan WPers I will not describe them in detail. What we need here is for people to "live and let live".

If you view it as wrong for someone here to say that Wicca is better than Roman Catholic, you must understand that someone else might find the the suggestion that Praying to Mary Mother of God is better than American protection spell equally hurtful.

Living and let live is not bending over backwards, it is just about getting alone peacefully with others.

PS. I do not view all religions as equally good, and I have a strongly formed religious identity but in the interests of WP peace I will not shout it from on high in this thread.

_________________
Health is a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity I am not a jigsaw, I am a free man !

Diagnosed under the DSM5 rules with autism spectrum disorder, under DSM4 psychologist said would have been AS (299.80) but I suspect that I am somewhere between 299.80 and 299.00 (Autism) under DSM4.

". . . still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest, hmmmm"

Paul Simon "The Boxer"