>When I wrote "Coincedence" I specifically asked nicely,"please no slams."
>It could not be put any more clearly, or written in any other way that
>would ask," Pleasse No Slams"  And yet, there are people on this list
>who appear to me,.(and many many other fml writers) to seem to get thier
>jollies out of tearing apart people's (not just mine") mode of comfort.
>I was feeling very down after reading your slams.
 
I guess I am one of the people you are referring to you since I did send
you a brief reply to your fml message (as did others).  My reason for
writing you was NOT to slam or belittle you in any way.  As I said, I
do understand the grief process and wanting something so bad that "we"
sometimes take any little thing as a "sign".
 
Contrary to what you (and some others) have concluded I am not an evil
hearted person.  I feel a lot of compassion for people.  My views may
strongly differ from the expressed views of many people on the FML and
that is perfectly ok with me.  Though some of you mistake us "skeptics"
as heartless people "without faith" that isn't neccesarily true.  We just
have different beliefs; that's all.  I actually have a lot of faith in
God which is what keeps me a bit more grounded.
 
I am not judging anyone's heart because it's not my place.  I just think
it's good and beneficial to show a different viewpoint.  One of the "AC"
supporters made the comment that the non-believers (such as myself) are
in the minority on the FML list, but I think that is assuming an awful
lot.
 
The fact is when it comes to most "touchy" subjects a lot of people
prefer to steer clear of it knowing that many will either take it the
wrong way or attack their views, which is why more often than not "we"
avoid voicing our opinions on these types of subjects.  But that doesn't
mean we're in the minority.  Fact is MANY of us have emailed eachother
back and forth discussing various topics.  When I got flamed one time
before and got some rather ugly emails from people, I also received just
as many positive emails from others who felt the same way I did and
totally got the point of everything I was trying to convey.  As one
person just pointed out on the fml..it's very easy to take something too
personally or misunderstand it when we can't hear a person's tone of
voice, see the facial expression and body language, etc...
Misunderstanings happen all too easy over the internet.  It's just
something we all have to be aware of so that we don't take every little
thing to heart or see other's views as an attack.
 
I do respect that we are all different and have our own views and that
is totally fine.  It's just that some of us felt another viewpoint was
needed because for several weeks or more we saw a lot of posts advocating
animal psychics, (AC), but there was nothing really to show the other
side.  So some of us began speaking out to show why we don't believe in
it.  Nothing wrong with that.  We just felt the fml was starting to get a
little one sided with the topic and needed something to balance it out.
 
Any time "you" pass something unsubstantiated off as FACT or make
comments to the effect that all non-believers are simply not "gifted"
enough or "not open minded" enough to understand it, of course that's
going to get a response from people.
 
Being open minded doesn't mean that we all have to agree with eachother.
There were a lot of people who believed in Ms. Cleo too and gave her a
lot of money.  Did that mean she was right?  Turned out later she was a
scam artist who made up a fake accent!  She wasn't even really Jamaican.
But many people really thought she had these psychic abilities because
she somehow convinced them, or they simply wanted to believe that it was
real.  The mind can be a funny thing the way it sometimes tricks people.
 
It's also common for people to say they see or hear things or had some
strange phenomenom like a "visit" from a dead loved one when they are
experiencing something traumatic or stressful in their lives.  When I was
a small child I walked in a room and heard my aunt sobbing and talking to
someone who wasn't there.  It really scared me.  She believed that her
deceased mother (who had died years before) was in the room with her.
Later, of course, we realized that it probably had a lot to do with the
fact that her husband had recently died and she was on medication for
depression.  If anything it would scare me if I started seeing or hearing
things that weren't there.  It sure as heck wouldn't comfort me.  <--
Again, this is my opinion.
 
I do believe in God and angels, but that makes sense to me because we
all had to be created by someone.  The earth, people, animals, plants,
universe, etc.. did not just magically appear one day.  Things are far
too complex for me to ever believe otherwise.  But that is far different
from believing that imperfect humans can talk to the dead or that only
certain people have these "gifts" and other people don't.  There is just
no proof of it... and as a christian I know what the bible says on this
subject, which is another reason I don't believe in psychics.  Besides,
from what I've seen most psychics are very eccentric and even fanatical
and say such general things that could mean anything or nothing at all.
Many things truly are just coincidence in life.
 
If people need comfort and want to believe something badly enough it
doesn't take much convincing.  Ordinary events such as seeing a turtle
in one's backyard can be seen as a "sign" that a ferret whose name was
"turtle" was trying to somehow communicate with them...Or normal animal
behavior like ferrets looking at a spot where the deceased ferret used to
sleep and sniffing the area can all the sudden mean that they must have
seen the spirit of the dead ferret.
 
But most people realize that this is just normal behavior, something
that most animals do after a death.  The fact is most animals do grieve
and they will often sniff the scent that is left behind on bedding and
so forth after another animal has died.  They will search for their
companion because they do have some awareness that the animal was there
for a long time and is suddenly no longer.  There is nothing supernatural
about those behaviors.  I guess that's the point I was trying to make.
Those behaviors can be explained very easily.
 
Many things can suddenly have signifigant meaning to someone who is in
the grieving process or having some other trauma in their life, and a lot
of these psychics will play on that vulnerability.  Remember, they are
getting paid for a service and have much to gain.  <-- (My opinion of
course.  I know many don't share it and that's fine.)
 
The reason that some of us emailed you privately was out of respect.
"We" were trying to show sensitivity towards you by keeping it private,
instead of posting replies on the fml where anyone could read it.  I
think perhaps you are just feeling especially sensitive right now because
of your recent loss, which is understandable.  I am sorry if you took
anything "we" said as personal attacks.  I truly do have compassion for
you and anyone who loses someone.  Been there; done that.  Please just
know that people aren't judging you.  I just wanted to give you some
logical reasons for your "encounters"; that's all.
 
Take care. :)
 
[Moderator's note: I think it's time to close the topic since it's no
longer "productive."  There have been some very good posts but now it's
coming down to an argument of faith, which won't have a resolution.  Any
last comments or info about Animal Communication for now?  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 4106]