Objects of faith and the supernatural

The drunken conversation with my roommates and spending a morning watching A Haunting let me to this point.

We've all read/watched fiction(or in some cases reality) where people use their faith to repel something; mainly vampires. Priest with a crucifix, women with a star of David, pagan with...OK, you've got me on that one.

Various works of fiction tend to alternate with the entity being repelled by the object itself; or the persons faith in said object. Take The Dresden Files for example; the main character is a wizard who uses a pentacle since he isn't exactly a man of faith. In that universe, it's your faith in something that gives you power/protection; I recall a scene where somebody put two fingers together to make a crucifix.

So lets assume that that works in reality.

What if you're not a part of an organized religion? Agnostics, and atheists mainly; what would they use? Would it even work?

Talking the Monster to Death? Try to induce Puff of Logic?

Actually that might be a neat twist. Undermine the monster's faith in its own existence through weaponized existential lecture.

edited 31st Jan '11 9:19:41 AM by Pykrete

I'm sure Diskworld has plenty examples of what you're looking for.

Of course it's rather vulnerable to the countertactic, "I eat your face therefore I am."

Wasn't there a semi-satirical movie where a yuppie used his wallet?

I guess whatever, to you, symbolizes the ultimate power in the Universe, would be the thing to use against vampires. For an atheist, a book on physics or biology could very well work, since according to the laws described therein, the undead vampire cannot exist.

(BTW, A Neopagan would use whatever the primary sacred symbol is in their tradition, be that a pentacle, a Triple Moon, a Thor's hammer, or whatever.)

Well, I would hope that you had some believe in science, of course! Do we have some official symbol? A book might suffice or a test tube.

What if it's like The Sorcerers Apprentice where magic is at least partially grounded in physics and acts as an extension of it? The vampire could actually be empowered by it, then he'd be all "here's book two, bitch."

edited 31st Jan '11 9:36:51 AM by Pykrete

^I believe in science; not sure if that would repel in anything. The only thing that that to spend a significant amount of time practicing/learning would be martial arts; so unless a katana can stand in for a crucifix....

Seriously though.

I would say anything with agiven amount of devotion would be okay, right? For me science(or maybe literature) would probably suffice. Harry's magic isn't exactly incompatible with Vampires etc. right? So I don't see why your katana shouldn't be good enough.

edited 31st Jan '11 9:41:39 AM by myrdschaem

A skeptic could always just say "whatever" and go for a beheading / stake in the heart / remove its left sock, put a mushroom in it, and throw it in a river on the grounds that the vampire will be destroyed by its own superstition.

I want to see a diehard Communist repel a vampire by quoting Marx at him.

Marxist: "By the laws of historical inevitability your very existence as an exploiter of the working class is a remnant of the outdated feudalistic system to be dealt with as the society progresses. Thesis - antithesis - synthesis. It's just dialectics."

Vampire: *poof*

Second guy: "Wow!"

Marxist: "Bah, that's nothing, really. Lenin had foreseen it all."

In other words, if the world were completely different than it actually is, what would it be like? Mu.

I'd personally go with humming the theme tune to Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Please tell me you'd air guitar. Killing vampires with an air guitar is about as awesome as it gets.

edited 31st Jan '11 10:14:19 AM by Pykrete

I guess whatever, to you, symbolizes the ultimate power in the Universe, would be the thing to use against vampires. For an atheist, a book on physics or biology could very well work, since according to the laws described therein, the undead vampire cannot exist.

This strikes me as rather backwards. If a vampire turns out to exist, then any set of rules that says they can't obviously must not be a true description of the universe.

But needing a new description in some places doesn't mean the whole system of scientific study is flawed. I mean, aknowledging you need a new definition is basically an expression of the foundations of science.

Which doesn't change the fact that your earlier description which denies vampires would be obviously wrong.

But you see, one wouldn't believe in a dogmatic set of definitions but into the general practice and exploring, right? So it would work.

Doesn't the crucifix work because it asserts that according to the laws of God, the vampire has no right to exist? Same basic principle.

No, it works because your faith in God(->God) protects you. And, you know, official stance of the Catholics is: Demons exist. (Which btw doesn't reflect what the individual Catholics believe]

edited 31st Jan '11 10:44:13 AM by myrdschaem

Unless the person was a Christian before they became a vampire.

But you see, one wouldn't believe in a dogmatic set of definitions but into the general practice and exploring, right? So it would work.

I think you'd be better off with a book on the philosophy of science by the belief tack, rather than an evidently completely wrong textbook not focussed on science itself.

edited 31st Jan '11 10:43:28 AM by Tzetze

My mom's physics textbook had a brief line about how every object will cast a reflected image in a mirror except vampires. Would this book count?

Point. On the other hand, that book is a gathering of the achievements up to one date so even if some assumptions are wrong, it kinda does represent the whole system. Maybe they would both work. Or we just meet at the test tube?

Your mom's textbook sounds kinda awesome.

edited 31st Jan '11 10:48:21 AM by myrdschaem

I dunno, it seems like trying to repel a vampire with CS Lewis or something.