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RE: Burn the Witch!
Darn it..did it again..thought I was logged in and wasn't...
'Where's my Game Fuel'?
RE: Burn the Witch!
As a Christian, I believe that it does exist and comes from Satan.
There's that wacky dualism again. I swear, you're about three hairs breadths from Marcionism.
Actually, most Christians don't believe in sorcery.
But, I'm going to stay off of that point and say that you and I differ in opinion there.
To call this merely "opinion" is a bit of an understatement. Since neither of us are relativists, it's clear we differ in realities here.
However, taken outside religious faith, studies have shown that a deep-rooted belief in magic will cause the spells to have the intended effect on the victim.
Mere psychology. And the degree to which it's effective is way overestimated. Such deep-rooted beliefs are quite uncommon. And it's clearly another reason why "faith" (an example of such a deep-rooted belief) is bad for you.
So, to answer your question-- even to a non-relgious person sorcery can indeed 'exist'. You don't have to be 'religious' to believe in Magic either.
Um, that doesn't follow, logically. Perhaps "religious" people are the only ones who can hold sufficient belief in magic for it to work, in which case you do have to be religious to believe in magic.
I'd even argue that's the case. People who are generally non-religious don't believe that nonsense. Note: I consider "new age" silliness like aromatherapy and crystals and such to be a religious belief.
Although, Anton Lavey says the opposite is true--that one who doesn't believe is more like to be affected because those who do believe will take precautions to guard against them.
That's a testable hypothesis. And almost certainly false, since the belief is critically necessary for the psychological effects to occur. In the absence of belief, LaVey's theory requires a non-psychological mechanism, which doesn't exist.
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RE: Burn the Witch!
Uh... you know there's no such thing as sorcery, right?
As a Christian, I believe that it does exist and comes from Satan. But, I'm going to stay off of that point and say that you and I differ in opinion there.
However, taken outside religious faith, studies have shown that a deep-rooted belief in magic will cause the spells to have the intended effect on the victim. This psychological belief is often used to explain why things like curses, voodoo dolls, etc. actually do work--and in many cases I believe it is the truth. So, to answer your question-- even to a non-relgious person sorcery can indeed 'exist'. You don't have to be 'religious' to believe in Magic either.
Although, Anton Lavey says the opposite is true--that one who doesn't believe is more like to be affected because those who do believe will take precautions to guard against them.
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