# Is a belief in ghosts compatible with atheism? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 18, 2011, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-belief-in-ghosts-compatible-with-atheism/589417 "2011-07-18T06:29:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-belief-in-ghosts-compatible-with-atheism/589417/61 "2011-07-22T00:39:59Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > “Supernatural beings” are nonexistent by definition. If God exists, God is part of nature, part of the way things are. And so is a ghost, whatever a ghost might actually be. But, once again, **there is no contradiction, because either could exist without the other.** Hmm. To me, being atheist simply means you are supernatural free: no gods, ghosts, souls, auras, etc. But I agree with you in that if a ghost existed, it doesn’t need a god to go with it and vice versa. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-belief-in-ghosts-compatible-with-atheism/589417/62 "2011-07-25T08:29:51Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > Yep. It’s not like seeing things that at least seem to be ghosts is a particularly unusual experience…if I was the only person I know who had had such an experience, I’d be more likely to think I was hallucinating. But I’m not. I know lots of people who have compelling, first person experience ghost stories. > > I don’t personally know anyone who claims to have spoken to God, seen the Madonna, or raised the dead (really?). Those few I’ve read about seem to be either crazy or interested in making money on the experience, so I don’t take them particularly seriously. > > That said, while I do believe, sort of, in ghosts (but not in God), it’s not something that is important in my life. They’re just a fun little thing to me, nothing like religion usually is to those who believe in it. If I’m wrong, oh, well, nothing lost. I’m not sure I understand the last part. It seems to me that if ghosts exist, it would be extremely important and life changing. I suppose it depends on what you think ghosts most likely are. If you think they are like recordings that get embedded in a physical place, then they might be “just a fun little thing,” but if you think there is any real possibility at all that your (and everyone else’s) departed loved ones may still be conscious and aware, may have messages for us, or may even in fact be trapped and suffering in this plane until they can impart those messages to us, that would seem to be something that would be of utmost importance and urgency. Even if all that ghosts can do is confirm the existence (or even the possibility) of an afterlife, that would have a profound impact on how I see myself and how I live my life. I can’t imagine being blase about it. I suspect you’re the same way, and in fact what this means is that you _don’t_ really believe, but that you get some enjoyment out of pretending to. But that’s just an assumption on my part. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-belief-in-ghosts-compatible-with-atheism/589417/63 "2011-07-25T12:15:48Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Let us bear in mind one obvious but often-overlooked point before we proceed: > > There is **no necessarily logical connection whatsoever** between the existence of God or gods, and the existence of some form of personal spiritual survival after death. Either could exist without the other. Agreed But There\* can be\* a logical connection between disbelief in god/s and ghosts. If the stated reason for disbelief in god/s is the impossibility of anything supernatural/nonmaterial, then one must carry that through to disbelief in ghosts or break the logic somewhere. Of course, this isn’t the case if the disbelief in god/s comes from somewhere else exclusively, like theodicy or lack of evidence or somesuch. Then there’s no logical connection. ---
**Author:** ![Sablicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Sablicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sablicious)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-belief-in-ghosts-compatible-with-atheism/589417/64 "2011-07-25T13:26:45Z")
> [@Indygrrl](#): > > Is a belief in ghosts compatible with atheism? As long as your an open-minded atheist, who does not dismiss anything ‘metaphysical’ seeming that we do not understand right now out of hand, then yes. I’ve heard it postulated that extreme build-ups of negative or positive energies could be attributable to what some say they see as ‘ghosts’ or apparitions. I think it’s meant to somehow play into the ‘multiverse’ theory, if memory serves… ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-belief-in-ghosts-compatible-with-atheism/589417/65 "2011-07-25T16:08:53Z")
I really enjoyed this article by Theodore Dalrymple titled, “What the New Atheists Don’t See”. I’m an Atheist myself and his views on this matter refreshing. [http://www.city-journal.org/html/17\_4\_oh\_to\_be.html](http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_4_oh_to_be.html) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-belief-in-ghosts-compatible-with-atheism/589417/66 "2011-07-25T16:16:33Z")
> [@Sablicious](#): > > As long as your an open-minded atheist, who does not dismiss anything ‘metaphysical’ seeming that we do not understand right now out of hand, then yes. > > I’ve heard it postulated that extreme build-ups of negative or positive energies could be attributable to what some say they see as ‘ghosts’ or apparitions. I think it’s meant to somehow play into the ‘multiverse’ theory, if memory serves… Negative and positive energies? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-belief-in-ghosts-compatible-with-atheism/589417/67 "2011-07-28T18:11:16Z")
I once knew a pretty staunch atheist who would frequently ridicule talking heads on religious radio, then go home and enjoy watching Ghost Hunters on TV. I don’t think this is rational, but people rarely are. Those goddamn ghost-hunting shows are worse than Jersey Shore. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-belief-in-ghosts-compatible-with-atheism/589417/68 "2011-07-28T18:48:48Z")
Well, my atheism was cemented by the movie _Ghost_, if that means anything. ---
**Author:** ![Scot\_Dutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Scot\_Dutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scot_Dutch)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-belief-in-ghosts-compatible-with-atheism/589417/69 "2011-07-28T20:57:05Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > “Supernatural beings” are nonexistent by definition. If God exists, God is part of nature, part of the way things are. And so is a ghost, whatever a ghost might actually be. But, once again, **there is no contradiction, because either could exist without the other.** This is exactly right. Not sure why its assumed that nature can’t explain God, or explain ghosts, or why they would inexorably linked. The OP’s friend sounds none-to-bright is just being selective about what she wants to believe, for seemingly emotional reasons, but it doesn’t mean someone else couldn’t arrive at the same set of beliefs through logical analysis. Personally i believe in neither. ---
**Author:** ![Sablicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Sablicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sablicious)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-belief-in-ghosts-compatible-with-atheism/589417/70 "2011-07-29T16:02:16Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Negative and positive energies? Either / or. (Bad ghosts / good ghosts 😛 ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-belief-in-ghosts-compatible-with-atheism/589417.md?page=3)