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70 Monsters, Ghosts, Gods: Why We Believe

Monsters, Ghosts and

Gods: Why We Believe

Continued from Page 69

Religion vs. paranormal

Mencken, the Baylor sociologist, says sacrifice
and stigma (for holding ideas outside the group
norm) keep the paranormal at bay among the
highly religious. He has two papers forthcoming
that are based on a national survey of 1,700
people.
The first, to be published in the journal
Sociology of Religion in 2009, reveals this:
"Among Christians, those who attend
church very often (and are exposed to stigma
and sacrifice within their congregations) are
least likely to believe in the paranormal,"
Mencken told LiveScience. "Conversely, those
Christians who do not attend church very often
(maybe once or twice a year) are the most likely
to hold paranormal beliefs."
A third group, which he calls naturalists,
do not hold supernatural views, Christian or
paranormal. Media madness Ghost-Hunting Shrink
Another study to published in December
in the Review of Religious Research, shows that Today's ubiquitous and often one-sided, Turned Urban Explorer
those who go to church "are much less likely to promotional coverage of the paranormal, both Charged In Bizarre
consult horoscopes, visit psychics, purchase on the Internet and TV, perpetuate myths and
New Age items," and so on, Mencken said. folklore as well or better than any ancient Break-In of N.J.
"However, among those Christians who do not storyteller. Fiction and belief masquerade as fact
attend church, there is a much higher level of and news, feeding the 24/7 appetite of the easily Submarine
participation in these phenomena." swayed.
Scientists are left with an impossible by Noah Cohen
Educated to believe task: proving something does not exist. You can
prove a rock is there. You can't prove that
Profiling the typical Bigfoot believer turns out to Bigfoot or a ghost or the god of thunder is not
A woman charged in the bizarre water-borne
be as challenging as determining the scientific there. Bigfoot paraphernalia purveyors and
burglary of a World War II-era submarine stuck
methodology of a psychic, however. cash-cow psychics know this well.
in a murky Bergen County river is a
"Perhaps amazingly, [paranormal "Many paranormalists claim that their
beliefs] are not related at all to education," Stark powers only work sometimes, or that they don't psychologist and ghost hunter with an apparent
hobby of exploring abandoned buildings.
said. "Ph.D.s are as likely as high school work if there is a 'non-believer' in the room," Laura B. Palmese, 38, and Jon P.
dropouts to believe in Bigfoot, Loch Ness Cronk points out. Stevens, 48, both of Connecticut, swam to the
Monster, ghosts, etc." Or, in the case of the unsupportive DNA
USS Ling, which is moored in the Hackensack
The 2006 study of college students, done testing on Bigfoot last week, the top proponent,
River, after leaving their car at a nearby diner,
by Bryan Farha at Oklahoma City University Tom Biscardi (who recently produced a film
city police said in a statement Thursday.
and Gary Steward Jr. of the University of about Bigfoot and might be said to have an
The duo allegedly stole a lantern and a
Central Oklahoma, reached a similar interest in garnering press coverage), simply
medical corps lieutenant's shoulder lapel from
conclusion. Belief in the paranormal — from dodged the mythbusting bullet by claiming the the historic former Navy vessel on Aug. 11.
astrology to communicating with the dead — DNA samples might have been contaminated.
Palmese has worked as a member of
increases during college, rising from 23 percent
Thames Society of Paranormal Investigations, a
among freshmen to 31 percent in seniors and 34 Money motivates even the law to look
Connecticut-based team of ghost hunters who
percent among graduate students. the other way. seek out the supernatural around the region.
Bader, the sociologist at Baylor, and his
"Our mission is to research, investigate,
colleagues teamed up with the Gallup
Regarding the chupacabra "sighting" last week educate and provide assistance to those who are
organization to conduct a national survey of
in Cuero, Texas: "It's amazing," said Zavesky, experiencing the paranormal phenomenon," the
1,721 people in 2005 and found nearly 30
DeWitt County sheriff. "We still don't know group website says.
percent think it is possible to influence the what it is." The group's director, Shamus Denniston,
physical world through the mind alone (another Of course his county, specifically the insisted Palmese was not tracking down a spirit
30 percent were undecided on that point). More town of Cuero, has been dubbed the Chupacabra on the Ling for his team during the alleged
than 20 percent figure it's possible to Capital of the World and benefits by monster burglary.
communicate with the dead. Nearly 40 percent tourism. "I know she has a side hobby to do urban
believe in haunted houses. So while a sheriff might well be exploring," Denniston told NJ Advance Media,
Asked if "creatures such as Bigfoot and
concerned if he thinks there's a goat-sucking, referring to people who visit abandoned sites.
the Loch Ness Monster will one day be
menace in town, Zavesky is in no hurry to catch "She wasn't working with us," Denniston
discovered by science," 18.8 percent agreed
the beast and debunk the myth. "It has brought a added.
while 25.9 percent were undecided. lot of attention to us," he said. "We're not near Denniston said Palmese, a doctor of
In a remote Himalayan village, on the ready to put this one to bed yet." [] psychology, served as a "paranormal
other hand, belief in Bigfoot's cousin, the yeti, is
investigator" with his team. []
seen by some as a sign of ignorance.