Atheists do you believe in Ghosts?

I know this question has been answered before, but I feel the answers to be below par, and uninformative.

As an atheist, have you ever experienced the presence of a ghost or spirt?

My best friend that I have known since we were kids has had numerous experiences where she has seen ghosts, and even been in a ghost's "body" as he was murdered. She has seen these types of thigs since she was 5 years of age, (not all so violent).

One specific instance was she was at a sleep over at her friends house. She saw a man cut up and bleeding on her friend's balcony. When she told her friend, her freind had told her that her neighbor had died when he fell into a wood chipper.

My mother has also seen an instance of a ghost at the hospital that she works at. My mom had faited while at work and a nurse, dressed in all white came to her aid. Also in this hospital, numerous patients have seen a nurse of a similar description.

I personally haven't seen a ghost, but I believe in them.

As an atheist, how do you explain these experiences if you do not believe in any form of spirituality? If you do believe it, do you know of a scientific explination?

I'm probably the only Atheist here who can say honestly, yes, I DO believe in ghosts and spirits...but maybe not as the way religious people do....see, an Atheist can be spiritual, to clear up that misunderstanding you seem to have, sprituality does not come from religion...now, I believe in energy, and that energy is our emotions, like how you can tell when someone's pi55ed off all of a sudden...and when you get a bad feeling about a place...that's your senses telling you that there is negative energy going around...So, when someone dies, they leave behind their emotion "shockwaves" again like when you can tell someone is happy, sad, or angry without even looking, but just be sensing it. And sometimes if that person has extreme emotions, such as hate, love, saddness, etc. it manifests into stuff...either noise, apparitions, or whatever...I've had one or two experiences of that nature, me and my friends went inside a derelict house once where this one person was killed defending herself, she killed her murderer as well...I got a really bad vibe comming from it, and when I was leaving the others, I heard a table crashing downstairs, and we were all upstairs....and the table just didn't break or fall, but was pushed really hard into the wall. Another was a haunted lighthouse and once again I got a weird vibe and I heard footsteps from above, no one was above me or my dad and we were both stationary for some time, so it couldn't be echoes...does this accont for ghosts? Maybe, maybe not...but all that I said, I believe...once again probably the only Atheist who says yes to your question...hope I helped! ^_^

show me the solid evidence and I'll believe in the them

i did when i was an atheist,and still do

no i dont

I do not.

No.

I don't see how atheists could possibly believe in ghosts since they keep saying they have no soul or spirit. I'm pretty sure a soul/spirit is needed in order to have a ghost.

Id tell them to stop drinking the bong water

most do not. as an agnostic satanist, I'm open to the possibility.

im not sure what to think about ghosts

As an Atheist, I have never experienced the presence of a ghost or spirit.

Nopes.

No, there's no evidence. All you put out can be explained by dreams & hallucinations.

You are asking a yes or no question. The answer is no.

Sorry, but as an atheist, I can't take second-hand accounts as evidence.

alot of them are annoyingly sarcastic, so be prepared...

no

This is one for Penn & Teller

How can you not believe in our Lord, but believe in a $)%*$% ghost?

And your friend, is a liar.

I have a scientific Swedenborgian view on that. When we die our energy is absorbed by the earth, since it is energy we are talking about and the earth is a big capacitor, and our life forces are still here. some people can tap into that and can see ghosts or the life force of people who have died. It makes more sense than god as explained by most of the people on this forum.

First - only the Pac-Man ones

Second - your friend is insane

NO, because I don't believe in second hand stories and I certainly know that people conveniently connect imagination, superstition, and real events into a schizophrenic adaptation to make an attempt to make sense out of illogical clap trap.

Bottom line? Its like all reason has left you because you heard some stories from some friends! I've even seen some things in my imagination and had it explained away from hysterical Catholic friends in high school. It was all so "convenient."

Recently, I listened to my mother's tape recording of her session with a psychic. It really angered me that my mother couldn't even figure out that this fraud who took her for her money was able to pull general statements out of thin air and my mother filled in the details because she "wanted" to believe it was real. - It was like listening to verbal improve!

How convenient!

What I love about ghost myths is when people report them wearing clothes - if they're spirits, what are their clothes? Is there a ghost GAP store or similar where spirits can get their clothes? Rubbish.

A very witty and intelligent guy I knew at work said that a ghost lived in his house. I sometimes never knew if he was serious about things because he had a dark sense of humor. However, he was an atheist, and said that the was an actual ghost living in his house. He didn't know exactly how this was, but said that maybe it was some sort of left over energy from someone. WHo knows?

I don't BELIEVE in anything. I thought once I had seen my dead friend after his car accident, but later, I understood that grief is a powerful mental state that can cause you to hallucinate things. If I really saw a ghost and had proof that they existed, then I would definitely consider it. Same as god.

Be a bit careful here - you can be an atheist and still see ghosts. (That doesn't make them any more real.)

Remember that atheism is a base philosophy, and that it is possible to have a "spiritual" side that does not invoke a god or gods.

The better question may be to ask scientists why they are not atheists.

I believe that there are things that we do not yet have an explanation for. To believe otherwise, in my opinion, is arrogant. However, I have never experienced a ghost or apparition personally so on this subject I am agnostic.

and to Malak above: While many atheists may not believe in a soul/spirit it is not a defining characteristic of atheism to not believe in such things. Atheism simply is defined as a belief in the nonexistence of God.

your mom has what is called a "gift". your friend has it as well. you don't have it. not all atheists believe in ghosts. my best friend is an atheist and doesn't believe in ghosts.

there are people who are "religious" and also claim to believe in ghosts/spirits.....

a claim is a claim. nothing more nothing less

I do not believe in anything supernatural - that includes deities, ghosts, demons, ecetera....

no but the christians get conned with it all the time what is the holy ghost and his friend me i just get the ghostbusters in

i have seen a ghost so yes i believe in them. it came up and bit me right on the balls. it hurt alot.