To be blunt, this thread will probably look into matters way more than Capcom intended. Also, as this thread will discuss real-world religions, I advise everyone posting in it to tread lightly.

At its core, this thread is about the hypothetical scenario of the Kurain Channeling Technique existing (and working) in the real world and what the discovery of that fact would mean for the various religions of the world. Some religions, to my knowledge, don't allow for the existence of such things, so I'm left wondering how a follower of such religions would deal with, say, witnessing Maya channeling a spirit. If the power to channel spirits were proven to the world, I suspect it would have significant implications for many religions. At the very least, any religion that denies the possibility of spirit channeling would be proven to be wrong about that particular detail, though that would not necessarily prove the religion as a whole to be wrong. Still, the religion's followers would be in the uncomfortable position of dealing with a proven fact that their religion says is impossible. As an atheist, I don't feel qualified to guess how people would react in that scenario; I can only guess at how I'd react.

Speaking for myself, I'd probably be unconvinced until witnessing a channeling myself in a situation in which I can be certain the medium cannot employ any sort of illusion or trick. Considering that many fake psychics charge money for their services, I'd probably either insist on the channeling being done for free or let someone who already believes spirit channeling is real pay for it. I want to believe that witnessing a channeling under those circumstances would be sufficient to convince me that it's real. Once convinced that it's real, I'd probably inevitably be curious about many more aspects of spirits and any possible afterlife, in which case I'd advocate scientific study of such things. It would probably be dismissed as pseudoscience by those who hadn't witnessed it for themselves, so proof would be important. Essentially, I believe that I'd end up trying to spread the word about spirit channeling so that more could be learned about it. From a scientific standpoint, proof of spirits would be a potentially world-changing discovery.

I'd only ever thought about how an atheist would presumably react, though. I never stopped to think about what this kind of discovery would mean for the various religions of the world, which is largely why I made this thread. I'm curious what other people think the religious implications of spirit channeling being real would be.

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I imagine after the DL-6 incident every religion that wasn't comfortable with Spirit Channelling would denounce it, then with it thoroughly disgraced they wouldn't have to worry about it.

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Not to mention, proving that spirit channeling exists is especially difficult, if not impossible, on a greater scale than among some individuals. And regarding scientific testing, it's not practical for either party. I suspect that a spirit medium during a channeling doesn't actually physically change form - it'd be a physical impossibility for bodies to shape-shift that quickly without risk of distortion and/or damage - but is simply an illusion that can be perceived by anyone. If that's the case, exactly how could someone perform tests on either spirit medium or observer? It's more likely dismissed as a "parlor trick" or an act of hypnotism. Regardless of the DL-6 Incident's occurrence, I doubt such a concept as "spirit channeling" would have spread very far out of their locality anyway.

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Several interpretations spring to mind. Could be that the spirit-channeler is actually a shapeshifter, pretending to call upon the spirits of the dead.

Looking at the situation from a Christian perspective on the other hand, spirit mediums cannot actually contact the spirits of the dead, but rather familiar spirits that spy on people every hour of every day. These familiar spirits impersonate the spirits of the dead using their acquired knowledge to provide a reasonable facsimile to the original. There is actually a test to see whether or not this spirit is evil, and that's asking whether Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. An evil spirit refuses to admit that it's true, because that is basically admitting its inevitable defeat, so any spirit that won't admit that is not of God, and therefore evil. Of course, you aren't likely to hear a positive response from a familiar spirit, simply because spirits sent from God (e.g. angels) aren't the deceptive types, and therefore wouldn't be likely to impersonate the dead in the first place. The test is more used on spirits in general as opposed to ones impersonating the dead.

The spirits of the dead themselves cannot return unless God sends them back, and even then it's only to their original bodies (along with whatever repairs are necessary for their original bodies to function).

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