The Truth About Ghosts, Spiritism, and the Danger of Magical Religion
In a world filled with ghost stories, fantasy novels, and near-spiritual experiences, our culture is increasingly drawn to the idea that the dead linger among us, offering guidance or comfort. Popular media—from Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings to The Spiderwick Chronicles and Goosebumps—normalizes communication with spirits, ghostly visitations, and magical knowledge of the unseen world. But while these stories are fiction, a deeper concern arises when such spiritual ideas form the foundation of a real-world religion. This is precisely what we find in the origins of Mormonism. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) was founded by Joseph Smith, a man deeply involved in folk magic, divination, and the use of seer stones. Smith practiced “glass-looking”—placing a stone in a hat and peering into it to find buried treasure. Historical documents show that he was charged in court for fraudulent activities related to this practice (Vogel 2004, Quinn 1998). He used the sam...