I think that the "paranormal activity" is any strange event which can't be proved or understood at the present time. There are lots of phenomenon which can't be proven, monitored or scientifically formulated- simply because we don't know how and we do not have any technological method to do so.
I don't believe that anything is paranormal. Just different.
The encouraged or even the enforced cognitive illusions are mainly connected to the various cults, not the religion institutions. The people are in the fact entitled to believe
whatever they want to. Do I believe that Adam (a Man, read humankind) was created by God (read, Sumerian, Gods, as plural)? Yes. Why? Because the concentration of the mutations crucially needed for a creation of the mankind, in the certain given time span, was increased to the unbelievable density. In the normal conditions caused only by the involvement of an evolution, this would not lead to anything but the extinction.
This was a little bit of a poetry.
In one context I am not skeptical, but in the context of Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Pope in the Rome- yeah, I am a huge skeptic, I am then also a freaking atheist- it doesn't matter if I "believe" in the God- I don't believe in a thing called Catholic dogma.
That is enough to be proclaimed an atheist right?
Am I skeptical about some other, the partially inexplicable border line systems, like Astrology? Yes. Why? The astrology is a numerical and symbolical attempt to explore the depths of the human nature and an improvement of the same, so in the big amount, it is susceptible to the errors and highly subjective. But, it doesn't mean I don't find it to be an interesting fun thing. Something like the quiz games and card games...
Astrology is much different that any belief system or the religion. It is a contagious persuasion of the humans to act and behave in the way that it is prescribed by some astrologically explainable formula.
Eeks!
Now, any of us acting on the base of a mathematical presumption would be little nuts, right? Yes, well - the same thing can be said about the art, poetry even cooking. Why should it taste good; it is food anyway? I mean , all nutrients are still there even if it doesn't have any taste or smell.