FAITH AND PHANTOMS

Bradley Guire

Oct. 31, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Grainy footage of translucent figures and static-filled recordings of bodiless voices or the Sunday-morning sermon delivered to pews full of folks and a Bible: some people are choosing to explore both options when it comes to the question of what happens to us after we die.

Dena Montoya is such a person. She is the Twin Falls director of International Paranormal Reporting Group, formerly known as Idaho Spirit Seekers. As a "family member" of The Atlantic Paranormal Society, the focus of the SyFy channel's reality-show "Ghost Hunters," the organization takes a scientific approach in its attempt to document concrete evidence of unexplained phenomena.

Montoya was baptized as a Lutheran and faith in God plays a part in her life and the lives of her family. Her venture into the paranormal field doesn't put her at odds with her beliefs. It reaffirms them.

"It's written in the Bible that when Jesus comes back and we all get taken up, we'll be up there with Him in spirit," she said. "The possibility of if I die tomorrow, why wouldn't I hang out and wait? Or check in on my kids or my grandkids? Friends and family? There's a possibility that it could happen, and we're here to try to prove that possibility."

IPRG founder Marie Cuff said that the group features investigators and other team members from all walks of faith, from Catholic to Pagan to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"It's always been a subject that depends on personal beliefs," she said.

As reality-TV programs such as "Ghost Hunters" or Discovery Channel's "Ghost Lab" continue to grow in popularity, concepts of the afterlife are moving into the realm of tangible documentation and other scientific theories, and there are those who find a balance. For them, the venture into the dark of night with a video camera and a flashlight could stand to reaffirm their faith that there is life after death.

Brian Vriesman, pastor at Twin Falls Reformed Church, falls on the other end of the spectrum.

"I would advise against it," he said. "As long as the reference is Scripture, you have to use that as a guideline."

For example, Heb. 9:27 says, "And it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." In other words, there is no room for spirits that were formerly human to languish behind on earth, so if something paranormal is going on inside the house, it's not "Cousin Eddie."

Vriesman said he has no recollection, through his three decades of service, of a church member broaching the topic with him.

Of interest on a broader level, "American Piety in the 21st Century," a two-part survey conducted by Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion.

One of the topics: the paranormal.

According to the survey's findings, 37.7 percent of those surveyed believe that a locale can be haunted, 21.5 percent claim to have visited or lived in a haunted location, and 19.9 percent believe that it's possible to communicate with the dead. (Elsewhere, the survey notes that 7.5 percent have used an Ouija board to contact a spirit.)

The Gallup Organization interviewed more than 1,700 people for the survey. The first part was published in 2006.

Perhaps the most interesting figure is ISR's find that "belief in the paranormal declines with increasing church attendance." However, it should be noted that the ISR's definition of "paranormal" also spans topics such as UFOs, astrology, mental telepathy, telekinesis, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis, just to name a few.

For now, faith and phantoms are coexisting notions with those who want to know what comes next. The only people in a position to give a rock-solid answer aren't coming back in person to tell us.

Bradley Guire may be reached at bguire@magicvalley.com or 208-735-3229.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0206-39338978