Why can’t you let the dead rest in peace?

Recently while talking to an acquaintance, I mentioned being interested in paranormal investigation. Instantly the other person asked, “Why can’t you let the dead rest in peace?”
The comment caught me by surprise but I remained silent. I believe my friend responded from a theological paradigm. Some well-meaning people erroneously view paranormal investigation as new-age occult ritual or activity veiled in the guise of science. A mind-set that some paranormal investigators will eventually encounter and might benefit by preparing for the question, “Why can’t you let the dead rest in peace?”

World cultures and theologies have differing views about communicating with the spirit of the dead. Judeo-Christian theology condemns the practice of spiritualism, mediums, occult, and psychics (Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:10-13). Conversely both Zen and Tibetan Buddhism subscribe to the Bardo Thodol (Book of the Dead) which contains instructions the lamas chant to the dying or dead. These instructions are designed guide the spirit as it navigates an otherworldly maze for almost fifty days. A maze of tunnels filled with light and darkness, terrors and delights. A wrong turn or inappropriate response, the Bardo Thodol cautions, may trap the spirit in turmoil thereby preventing either the spirit’s reincarnation or enlightenment. Likewise in the Hindu faith, an eleven-day ritual called shraddha helps ensure the safe journey of the spirit during its passage to Yama's realm. Many people of Asian background cling to the idea of ancestor worship, where the living ask the departed for guidance and help.

Sometimes there may exist conflict between what people say in public and what they believe in private. Most western cultures practice the ritualistic ceremony of burying and erecting a monument to their dead. Up until the late 1920’s it was commonplace for families to picnic and play in the local cemetery along side the gravestones. Today such behavior would be shunned as an occult practice. Even today in the 21st Century people still place fresh flowers at the headstone of a departed loved one. Humans seem to possess an innate need for connection to the otherworldly. In the deep recess of our being some people do not believe that existence ends at the demise of our corporeal body. To ignore the signals or signs of an existence that resides along side our own, out of fear because the answer might make us reevaluate our paradigm only amplifies that fear. The universe did not come apart at the atomic level because of the discovery that the Earth was not at the center of the universe. Scientific exploration of the unknown leads to understanding. If I take a picture and in the photograph appears a redbird, does this mean that I somehow compelled the redbird to have its picture taken?

To assume something exists without benefit of evidence is the stuff of legends and folklore. If legends and folklore is your thing, then go for it, but this is not paranormal investigation, and here lies my argument’s proposition for the importance of paranormal investigation. Paranormal investigators do not disturb the dead or try to prove the existence of life after death. A paranormal investigator uses technology to investigate, document, and analyze events that appear paranormal. Just as Copernicus used his telescope and documents to show the earth orbiting around the sun, paranormal investigators use tools and documentation to expose those things that seem paranormal and then allow the evidence speak for itself.

“Why can’t you let the dead rest in peace?” We do not disturb the dead, we collect evidence on unexplained events as it presents itself to us.

XOOPS