Studies have found that most Americans, including people of faith, embrace some paranormal beliefs.
BY JOE RODRIGUEZ
The Wichita Eagle
Does believing in paranormal activity conflict with a person’s religious beliefs? Two recent surveys indicate that more Americans are trying to find ways to balance the two.
In part of its extensive religion survey, released last month, the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion found a “surprising level of paranormal belief and experience in the United States.”
The paranormal includes: telekinesis, haunted houses, astrology and communicating with the dead.
According to a 2005 Gallup Poll, about 75 percent of Americans hold some form of paranormal belief in at least one of the following: extrasensory perception, haunted houses, ghosts, mental telepathy, clairvoyance, astrology, communicating with the dead, witches, reincarnation and channeling.
William Dinges, professor of religious studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., said one explanation for such findings is the growing “spiritual, but not religious” mind-set among people.
“That’s become a fairly pervasive kind of mind-set in our society,” he said.
Additionally, he said, some forms of paranormal activity have become popular in recent years because of television shows such as “The X-Files.”