Observations on the State of the Paranormal Community – Part 2: The Investigations

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

Continued from Observations on the State of the Paranormal Community - Part 1

With the New Year I feel compelled to ask: what is the state of the paranormal community?Before I respond, let me say that I consider myself part of the paranormal community (though I prefer to call it supernatural), and I care for these folks. I am not an outsider throwing rocks; rather I am inside trying, in my weak and stumbling way, to change people’s minds through reasoned persuasion. ..praying that honest seekers for truth will listen.

I whittled it down to two issues—what is happening to the investigators and what is happening regarding theinvestigations. In this section we will deal with the latter…my analysis of the investigators is in Part!

Are investigations yielding accurate identification of the underlying cause of the paranormal activity? With the currentmethodologies being used, are they able to identify spirit entities? Are they helping the client with their investigations and recommendations? (Note that Q.1 & 3 are inextricably bound together) Those are the main issues I wish to explore.

I have stated before that the paranormal community is a plausibility structure—a sociological term denoting a group which provides a safe environment to assume certain beliefs are plausible, which outsiders may consider implausible. For example, it is easy to believe in trapped human spirits when around those who are like-minded. However, it can also lead to an uncritical acceptance of basic assumptions deeply held within the paranormal community. In fact, within a plausibility structure, any questioning of basic assumptions may be met with resistance. May I suggest that there is nothing wrong, and everything right, about a particular group like the paranormal community (or a church) that makes people feel safe in their quest for truth? However, when basic assumptions regarding ghost theory become “off-limits” to scrutiny, then that discourages honest seeking of truth. That is when a plausibility structure becomes a hindrance, and not a help, in discovering the truth. It certainly is not scientific, inductive reasoning.

                                                                                                                                                                              

Recently, I read a thread on Facebook which was discussing Josh Gates and the Destination Truthcrew in which they were returning to a “haunted” forest where their camera man had been violently thrown during the first investigation. The main issue they were debating was what kind of spirit had tossed the camera man? After some discussion, the person who started the thread (who leads an investigative group) stated, “I think they were elementals (a form of nature spirit) which that group had provoked too harshly…but we will never know definitively until we die.” (Italics added)  

 

BINGO!  Identity agnosticism—not just with this situation, but we are UNABLE TO DEFINITIVELY IDENTIFY ANY SPIRIT BEINGS!  I applaud her honesty, but there are many who will disagree and say that they are able to definitively identify the spirit beings they encounter. As I hope to show, their optimism is inconsistent with their presuppositions. ;

Why? Because (and this is key) identification of supernatural entities is not a paranormal, intuitive, or scientific issue, but a theological issue. As a Christian, this should be a given, but let me buttress my point.

All the latest scientific instrumentation can only document/verify a supernatural presence, but it CANNOT classify them (more below).

This identity agnosticism is a consequence of choosing speculation as the intellectual starting point for studying the supernatural instead of revelation. SPECULATION VERSUS REVELATION   When it comes to studying the supernatural, there are only two options for our source of truth—the vain, autonomous (not subject to God’s law) speculation of man, or the humble reliance on revelation (the bible). The monolithic consensus in the paranormal community is speculation; man, along with instruments and subjective feelings, can determine whether a being is demonic or not, human or not, intelligent or not, benign or not, positive or not, and so on. In other words, man is the measure of all things paranormal…that is not a neutral mindset—it is a religion of pride in opposition to God’s revealed truth ( Prov.1:7)

Remember that the success or failure of all investigations, and whether we help or hurt people, hinges on accurate identification of the spirit beings causing the problems. Can a medical doctor help someone if they misdiagnose the identity of the disease?

Remember also what we have said over and over; all of the various means by which investigations seek spirit communication are actually making the condition worse for the client. Just from that one point, we can deduce that investigations are doing more harm than good.

Since demons can mimic virtually anything or anyone (angel of light principle, 2 Cor. 11:14), and rule the psychic airwaves, then it is impossible to construct a set of accurate criteria that will definitively classify these beings into certain categories; psychics and mediums are puppets in the hands of the dark psychic masters. This includes the ability to project into you a sense of positive energy and human goodness—which regularly fools the most sensitive of people. However, how many times have I heard a professing Christian say, “I sense that this entity is positive.” A thousand times NO! The angel of light principle includes the ability to project any ambiance they so desire, including the sensation that all evil has left, or that pure evil is sweet and holy; or project into the medium’s and psychic’s minds a whole string of false data and images. Why are Christians using psychics and mediums anyway, when we saw last time how strongly the bible condemns their activity?

We must subordinate our sensations—all of our subjective states, including claims of discernment-- to the word of God.  It seems to me that most Christians who believe in trapped spirits do so primarily on the persuasiveness and intensity of sensations they feel regarding particular entity/entities. Subjective feelings are just feelings, and are subject to demonic influence—subjective states are trumped by God’s explicit commands (Deut.18:9-14). We need to operate with the conviction of Sola Scriptura. Scripture alone has come under attack in a thousand different ways in the neo-gnostic milieu in which we live. When I was in seminary a woman was asked why she was pursuing the pastorate when she knew the bible forbade women from doing so. Her answer was instructive: she affirmed the authority of the bible, but said she had an inner call from God which trumped what the bible said! The Holy Spirit, who inspired the bible and also calls people to ministry, does not speak out of both sides of His mouth.

Consider my Christian Facebook friend who made the elemental observation, but added the proviso that we won’t know for sure until we die. Why was she admitting identity agnosticism? I am not sure, but my hunch is that she is well aware of the fact that there is no way to haul that entity into the lab and scientifically analyze it. However, that is true of all supernatural entities—even the most rigorous investigation is miles away from approximating the testing procedures used in scientific experiments in the natural realm. The scientific method is inadequate when it comes to definitively identifying entities in the supernatural realm. A moment’s communion with common sense should reveal that science is INCAPABLE of classifying supernatural spirits.

Our three questions were: 1.Are investigations accurately identifying the beings causing the problems? 2. Are they able to with current methodology? 3. And are the investigations helping people? We have demonstrated that the paranormal community is habitually misdiagnosing the spiritual disease, and that they are unable to correctly diagnose with current investigative assumptions. Therefore…Based on 1 & 2, then we must sadly conclude that the vast majority of investigations are not helping people. Furthermore, investigations generally hurt people—both temporally and eternally. Sincewe always misdiagnose when we introduce trapped spirits or residuals (or other unbiblical categories of beings), then how can we give wise counsel at the reveal? How can we give sound advice when we do not have a clue as to what is “haunting” the house? What?! Peacefully co-exist with pure evil that is bent on our destruction? At least before the investigation, the client felt a legitimate concern—but when given false assurance from us, the guard is let down, and the demonic is often unwittingly embraced.  In 2013, the current condition of both investigators and investigations is sobering, and it is getting worse every day. Paranormal investigations are probably the main vehicle through which the evil genius is releasing and amassing his infernal army for the final assault. Please do not retreat into the cozy confines of a plausibility structure—have the courage and compassion to think through these basic assumptions for yourself.  We owe it to God and to the client to let the truth prevail…or the lawsuits will begin in earnest because of our gross negligence. Sola scriptura and soli deo Gloria!

Culture Watch: Television & Demonaphobia

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

The deception began with a bang. The DT crew (Destination Truth) went to the Mayan ruins, which was the site of untold number of human sacrifices to idols—which as the bible tells us is participating in demons. In light of this, one would have thought they would have put demons at least on their possible suspect list for the accelerated paranormal activity there; they didn’t. Instead, team DT posited, before even went there, that the recent accelerated activity was either due to the sacrificial victims or the Mayan warriors. Even though scared to death at points, demons were not even an option.

I try to stay in touch with popular culture, so I watch as many of the haunted TV shows as I can. What I am sharing is based on what I witnessed over the last month of watching the following shows: Destination Truth, Ghost Adventures, Haunted Collector, A Haunting, The Dead Files, Paranormal Witness, Haunted Highway, and one more about hauntings at colleges but I can’t for the life of me remember the name.  Sheesh. That is eight shows on three nights of the week (Tues., Wed., Friday). People’s beliefs and worldviews are unconsciously shaped by exposure to this much haunted TV, but this is but a tip of the paranormal iceberg on TV. One list had about fifty shows, which in some form or fashion, focus on the assumed reality of ghosts. FIFTY!  Of course they are not all on the same season schedule, and a few on the list are now cancelled—but as with The Ghost Whisperer or Charmed, re-runs are current with a number of these. That is an incredible number of shows, which reveals how we are witnessing a paradigm shift in our understanding of spirituality (topic for another day). This phenomenon is both a shaper of culture as well as a reflection of it.

My purpose in watching all these shows was in part to answer this question: is TV phobic regarding demons? The undeniable answer is “yes”; the vast majority of these shows avoid fingering demons as the cause of supernatural activity in homes or businesses. Whether it is the individuals or the networks (or both) that are demonaphobic, the reality is that the phobia is ubiquitous. As with the opening scene with DT, it is astounding how hesitant folks are on these shows to assign the blame on demons for even the most despicable activity. For varying reasons, the almost monolithic consensus of investigators is that demonic encounters are rare. So, in that regard the TV shows are mirroring current beliefs in this field. One quick example. The much respected John Zaffis is called in to assuage the fears of a young mom. There has been verbal threats and physical violence, to the point she is terrified. During an EVP session (red flag!) John asks the spirit if it is angry with the family, and child’s voice answered, "no". Based almost entirely on this captured EVP, John interprets all of this scratching, pushing, and threats as an expression of trust that this child ghost feels with the young mom. A touching scene follows, and I am feeling nauseous. That is baloney sir. Do you always trust children’s voices? What would you think of a living child who scratched and pushed people and threatened them? I would have had my rear-end whipped good as a child if I did half of what that demon did to those people. That is calling wrong…. right-something the bible condemns. On another episode his tech, Brian, got a long triple scratch down his back, and demons were not mentioned at all—not amongst themselves (that we know of) or with the client. Does anybody else find that problematic? Two per show… that makes eight hair raising episodes in a month, in which a world famous, professing Christian demonologist does not even mention demons.

While watching Paranormal Witness tonight I thought that, finally, they will call a spade a spade. Two or three deputies are witness to some hair raising activity in an old theatre. After what he called demon like activity, one of them quit. It seemed that, given all the focus on the sheer evil of this entity, that a demon was going to be the culprit. Wrong. By the end, it was reported that a young man had died in a fire there and all the activity was then viewed through that prism. So, in all those shows I watched, I do not recall a demon being seen as the cause of the supernatural activity. Moreover, most of the time, demons were not even mentioned. We are talking several dozen episodes. THAT frequency and repetition is clearly influencing people’s views regarding both ghosts and the demonic.  It makes me weep.

I find this very troubling because it is only reinforcing in the audience’s minds that ghosts are the only plausible explanation for supernatural activity. It is shaping their view of supernatural reality…millions of people. “Yes demons are real, but rare”. Sound familiar?  It should, because demonic rarity is the majority view of investigators. Sure it happens but even the most “negative” (grown to really dislike that word) entities are almost always viewed as irregular humans or possibly some whacked out dimensional being (eg energy vampires—demons can mimic that). If it smells like sulfur, levitation is occurring, tables are flying across the room, apportation, extreme aversion to blessed objects, client speaking backwards in Latin, and people are being hurt, THEN folks will discuss the possibility of demonic presence. Sheeesh….(ok, a bit exaggerated) Once you introduce the concept of ghosts (including poltergeist and residual), then identifying demons is hopelessly subjective.

Stop! Everyone believes that demons are deceptive, so why the almost fervent hesitancy to label something demonic unless all the aforementioned is present? Even veteran, biblical demonologists fall prey to this faulty logic when they assume they will always feel heaviness in the air if there is a demonic infestation. If you have a strong gift of discernment (there are gradations of sensitivity), then that is a horse of a different color. But generally, demons can leave a palpable sense of peace and love. That is certainly an implicate of the angel of light principle, and there is a plethora of anecdotal evidence to support this. They can control the vibe of a house. How convincing is an angel-cloaked demon going to be if everyone has the heeby-jeebies around them or feel nauseous and so on? Back to the fervent hesitancy.

Satan is not omnipotent, but he is showing considerable power in how he has promoted this demonaphobia. The issue is not what you personally believe—the issue is, what is the message coming across the TV? This was an experiment to observe. The bottom line is that if the angel of light principle is real—and it is—then there is no way to make a list of criteria for demonic presence; they can and do break all the rules and all the stereotypes. And to rule out from the get-go the possibility of demonic activity is not science, it is ideological assumptions. (REPEAT) It is the opposite of true science…destination untruth. 

Demonaphobia….that is what is plastered all over TV these days. This is a call to all bible believing Christians to be salt and light for the glory of God.

Culture Watch: Television & Demonaphobia

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

The deception began with a bang. The DT crew (Destination Truth) went to the Mayan ruins, which was the site of untold number of human sacrifices to idols—which as the bible tells us is participating in demons. In light of this, one would have thought they would have put demons at least on their possible suspect list for the accelerated paranormal activity there; they didn’t. Instead, team DT posited, before even went there, that the recent accelerated activity was either due to the sacrificial victims or the Mayan warriors. Even though scared to death at points, demons were not even an option.

I try to stay in touch with popular culture, so I watch as many of the haunted TV shows as I can. What I am sharing is based on what I witnessed over the last month of watching the following shows: Destination Truth, Ghost Adventures, Haunted Collector, A Haunting, The Dead Files, Paranormal Witness, Haunted Highway, and one more about hauntings at colleges but I can’t for the life of me remember the name.  Sheesh. That is eight shows on three nights of the week (Tues., Wed., Friday). People’s beliefs and worldviews are unconsciously shaped by exposure to this much haunted TV, but this is but a tip of the paranormal iceberg on TV. One list had about fifty shows, which in some form or fashion, focus on the assumed reality of ghosts. FIFTY!  Of course they are not all on the same season schedule, and a few on the list are now cancelled—but as with The Ghost Whisperer or Charmed, re-runs are current with a number of these. That is an incredible number of shows, which reveals how we are witnessing a paradigm shift in our understanding of spirituality (topic for another day). This phenomenon is both a shaper of culture as well as a reflection of it.

My purpose in watching all these shows was in part to answer this question: is TV phobic regarding demons? The undeniable answer is “yes”; the vast majority of these shows avoid fingering demons as the cause of supernatural activity in homes or businesses. Whether it is the individuals or the networks (or both) that are demonaphobic, the reality is that the phobia is ubiquitous. As with the opening scene with DT, it is astounding how hesitant folks are on these shows to assign the blame on demons for even the most despicable activity. For varying reasons, the almost monolithic consensus of investigators is that demonic encounters are rare. So, in that regard the TV shows are mirroring current beliefs in this field. One quick example. The much respected John Zaffis is called in to assuage the fears of a young mom. There has been verbal threats and physical violence, to the point she is terrified. During an EVP session (red flag!) John asks the spirit if it is angry with the family, and child’s voice answered, "no". Based almost entirely on this captured EVP, John interprets all of this scratching, pushing, and threats as an expression of trust that this child ghost feels with the young mom. A touching scene follows, and I am feeling nauseous. That is baloney sir. Do you always trust children’s voices? What would you think of a living child who scratched and pushed people and threatened them? I would have had my rear-end whipped good as a child if I did half of what that demon did to those people. That is calling wrong…. right-something the bible condemns. On another episode his tech, Brian, got a long triple scratch down his back, and demons were not mentioned at all—not amongst themselves (that we know of) or with the client. Does anybody else find that problematic? Two per show… that makes eight hair raising episodes in a month, in which a world famous, professing Christian demonologist does not even mention demons.

While watching Paranormal Witness tonight I thought that, finally, they will call a spade a spade. Two or three deputies are witness to some hair raising activity in an old theatre. After what he called demon like activity, one of them quit. It seemed that, given all the focus on the sheer evil of this entity, that a demon was going to be the culprit. Wrong. By the end, it was reported that a young man had died in a fire there and all the activity was then viewed through that prism. So, in all those shows I watched, I do not recall a demon being seen as the cause of the supernatural activity. Moreover, most of the time, demons were not even mentioned. We are talking several dozen episodes. THAT frequency and repetition is clearly influencing people’s views regarding both ghosts and the demonic.  It makes me weep.

I find this very troubling because it is only reinforcing in the audience’s minds that ghosts are the only plausible explanation for supernatural activity. It is shaping their view of supernatural reality…millions of people. “Yes demons are real, but rare”. Sound familiar?  It should, because demonic rarity is the majority view of investigators. Sure it happens but even the most “negative” (grown to really dislike that word) entities are almost always viewed as irregular humans or possibly some whacked out dimensional being (eg energy vampires—demons can mimic that). If it smells like sulfur, levitation is occurring, tables are flying across the room, apportation, extreme aversion to blessed objects, client speaking backwards in Latin, and people are being hurt, THEN folks will discuss the possibility of demonic presence. Sheeesh….(ok, a bit exaggerated) Once you introduce the concept of ghosts (including poltergeist and residual), then identifying demons is hopelessly subjective.

Stop! Everyone believes that demons are deceptive, so why the almost fervent hesitancy to label something demonic unless all the aforementioned is present? Even veteran, biblical demonologists fall prey to this faulty logic when they assume they will always feel heaviness in the air if there is a demonic infestation. If you have a strong gift of discernment (there are gradations of sensitivity), then that is a horse of a different color. But generally, demons can leave a palpable sense of peace and love. That is certainly an implicate of the angel of light principle, and there is a plethora of anecdotal evidence to support this. They can control the vibe of a house. How convincing is an angel-cloaked demon going to be if everyone has the heeby-jeebies around them or feel nauseous and so on? Back to the fervent hesitancy.

Satan is not omnipotent, but he is showing considerable power in how he has promoted this demonaphobia. The issue is not what you personally believe—the issue is, what is the message coming across the TV? This was an experiment to observe. The bottom line is that if the angel of light principle is real—and it is—then there is no way to make a list of criteria for demonic presence; they can and do break all the rules and all the stereotypes. And to rule out from the get-go the possibility of demonic activity is not science, it is ideological assumptions. (REPEAT) It is the opposite of true science…destination untruth. 

Demonaphobia….that is what is plastered all over TV these days. This is a call to all bible believing Christians to be salt and light for the glory of God.