A Kinder, gentler Purgatory

**Skeptical** · Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 11:15 am Post subject: A Kinder, gentler Purgatory

I know we have our share of atheists, agnostics, and mystics among our posters. My own beliefs tend to be pretty far afield from my traditional Catholic upbringing but I will admit that I still find myself periodically drawn to some of my earliest learnings.

To that end, I found this interesting article about purgatory. Seems that it is no longer the spiritual no-man's land it once was:

http://ncronline3.org/drupal/?q=node/1280

I find it somewhat surprising that anyone is willing to mention the Catholic religion in the same article with mediums. The idea that anyone holds communications with the dead seems to be pretty alien to traditional Catholic teachings. Seems to me, the Vatican always assumed such communication was the work of the devil.

S
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"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." -- Thomas Jefferson

**TheScamDetective** · Joined: 15 Jun 2007 Posts: 1334 Location: California

Skep
The problem with mediums is that you have to believe in THEM to be actually telling the truth.
I could call myself a medium and spout off all kinds of things...no proof though!!
Hmmmmm, I wonder if an any Atheists ever "come through". Lol, I doubt it, dead is just dead to an Atheist!!
Concepts like heaven, hell and purgatory come from the bible....again no proof.
Now, IF reincarnation is true, the dead have moved on to new lives, so how could they be speaking through a medium???
Imo, the bible creates many more questions than it answers!!
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"It's our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
Dumbledore
to Harry Potter

**dr wu23** · Joined: 24 Jun 2007 Posts: 2158 Location: Indiana

IMHO, Purgatory does not exist and is just another model/term for religious ideology and doctrine.
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"Some say the valley has always been haunted ever since River ran.
The rippling waters fast as the colors conceal the Green Man."
Roy Harpur from The Green Man

roadghost · Joined: 08 Aug 2007 Posts: 146

If there is any sort of afterlife I believe places such as purgatory and hell etc, are as much states of mind as real places. They may be where we cleanse the negative before we can move on to whatever else awaits. I don't really believe in any kind of permanent static hHeaven or Hell, just a series of environments that reflect our own state of mind at the time.
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Now we must praise the keeper of the heavenly kingdom
The power of the Measurer and his mind-thoughts,
The work of the glory-father; as he, each of wonders,
the eternal Lord, established from the beginning.

Caedmons Hymn