Why Exorcisms Are On the Rise in America

a reply to: sooth

I don't think many people believe they are possessed by a demon. Really, it's all those other people that are the problem.

Next time you're thinking about doing an intervention, maybe try an exorcism instead. Whatever works, right? It's certainly cheaper than the traditional psychiatric therapy. And a lot more fun, too.

Maybe when you were a child and the adults tried to deal with a mistake by scaring the hell out of you, this was actually a form of exorcism. "That's how kids get killed!" etc

if you believe in god, you must believe in the devil as well. they go hand in hand. if there is good, than there is evil. though as someone else mentioned i do believe true demonic possession to be rare, i do believe it happens. but, some won't believe till they experience evil themselves first hand. until than it seems laughable, i know. i myself was a staunch atheist and laughed at all things religious till i had my own experiences. it changed my whole perspective on reality. and i don't laugh or scoff at peoples beliefs anymore, it's childish and to assume that what you know is all there is to know is arrogant and foolhardy.

"the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

a reply to: CallmeRaskolnikov
No! The greatest trick in the world ever pulled is convincing the world that there is a god and a devil.

"Next time you're thinking about doing an intervention, maybe try an exorcism instead. Whatever works, right? It's certainly cheaper than the traditional psychiatric therapy. And a lot more fun, too."

This opens a door briefly where evil looks in to see who is doing this exorcism dangerous business altogether and a very powerful rite and it is similar to some occult practices summoning and banishing real entities .......

Don't mess .

en.wikipedia.org...

originally posted by: CallmeRaskolnikov
if you believe in god, you must believe in the devil as well. they go hand in hand. if there is good, than there is evil. though as someone else mentioned i do believe true demonic possession to be rare, i do believe it happens. but, some won't believe till they experience evil themselves first hand. until than it seems laughable, i know. i myself was a staunch atheist and laughed at all things religious till i had my own experiences. it changed my whole perspective on reality. and i don't laugh or scoff at peoples beliefs anymore, it's childish and to assume that what you know is all there is to know is arrogant and foolhardy.

"the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

I believe there is a god. One god. I don't believe there is a good god and and evil god. I don't believe you are in any position to tell me what I must believe.

originally posted by: TheJesuit
"Next time you're thinking about doing an intervention, maybe try an exorcism instead. Whatever works, right? It's certainly cheaper than the traditional psychiatric therapy. And a lot more fun, too."

This opens a door briefly where evil looks in to see who is doing this exorcism dangerous business altogether and a very powerful rite and it is similar to some occult practices summoning and banishing real entities .......

Don't mess .

en.wikipedia.org...

Good grief.
What's next? Burning witches?

originally posted by: toms54

originally posted by: CallmeRaskolnikov
if you believe in god, you must believe in the devil as well. they go hand in hand. if there is good, than there is evil. though as someone else mentioned i do believe true demonic possession to be rare, i do believe it happens. but, some don't laugh or scoff at peoples beliefs anymore, it's childish and to assume that what you know is all there is to know is arrogant and foolhardy. won't believe till they experience evil themselves first hand. until than it seems laughable, i know. i myself was a staunch atheist and laughed at all things religious till i had my own experiences. it changed my whole perspective on reality. and i

"the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

I believe there is a god. One god. I don't believe there is a good god and and evil god. I don't believe you are in any position to tell me what I must believe.

you're right, i can't tell you what you must believe, incorrect choice of wording on my part. l don't believe that the devil/Satan/Lucifer is a god, but everything has balance and opposition. there exists good and there exists evil in matching extremes.

originally posted by: CallmeRaskolnikov

originally posted by: toms54

originally posted by: CallmeRaskolnikov
if you believe in god, you must believe in the devil as well. they go hand in hand. if there is good, than there is evil. though as someone else mentioned i do believe true demonic possession to be rare, i do believe it happens. but, some don't laugh or scoff at peoples beliefs anymore, it's childish and to assume that what you know is all there is to know is arrogant and foolhardy. won't believe till they experience evil themselves first hand. until than it seems laughable, i know. i myself was a staunch atheist and laughed at all things religious till i had my own experiences. it changed my whole perspective on reality. and i

"the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

I believe there is a god. One god. I don't believe there is a good god and and evil god. I don't believe you are in any position to tell me what I must believe.

you're right, i can't tell you what you must believe, incorrect choice of wording on my part. l don't believe that the devil/Satan/Lucifer is a god, but everything has balance and opposition. there exists good and there exists evil in matching extremes.

everything has balance and opposition. there exists good and there exists evil in matching extremes.

Sounds kind of Zoroastrian to me. Good must outweigh the evil. If they were equal, everything would be annihilated. They would cancel each other out. Destroy the world.

Nothing in nature is equal. The world is changing, dynamic. If everything was equal, it would be dead frozen with no movement, just balance.

a reply to: CallmeRaskolnikov

I was never a staunch atheist, but was more or less not entirely convinced of the God thing. Then one day, I encountered a person so obviously entirely possessed of the evil that it scared me half to death and I immediately returned to my birth faith and whole heartedly embraced it. So, I guess, in my case it was the reverse.....I encountered and came to believe in the evil and realized that there must be a God, a force wholly of goodness. That experience was soon after reinforced after watching an activist atheist in an interview on CSpan and it made me realize I don't want to live in a world without a God in it.

Not long after returning to and reconciling my self with my birth faith Church, I again encountered the evil and this time, was actually called out by it in mocking tone and terms. I departed without response.

The scoffer's scoff, exposing their ignorance concerning the totality of what it means to be a human being. If one understands even a small part of what it does mean to be a human being then the rise in the need for exorcism's becomes rather obvious.

We live in a time of much transition and many will indeed be entirely lost.

originally posted by: toms54

originally posted by: CallmeRaskolnikov

originally posted by: toms54

originally posted by: CallmeRaskolnikov
if you believe in god, you must believe in the devil as well. they go hand in hand. if there is good, than there is evil. though as someone else mentioned i do believe true demonic possession to be rare, i do believe it happens. but, some don't laugh or scoff at peoples beliefs anymore, it's childish and to assume that what you know is all there is to know is arrogant and foolhardy. won't believe till they experience evil themselves first hand. until than it seems laughable, i know. i myself was a staunch atheist and laughed at all things religious till i had my own experiences. it changed my whole perspective on reality. and i

"the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

I believe there is a god. One god. I don't believe there is a good god and and evil god. I don't believe you are in any position to tell me what I must believe.

you're right, i can't tell you what you must believe, incorrect choice of wording on my part. l don't believe that the devil/Satan/Lucifer is a god, but everything has balance and opposition. there exists good and there exists evil in matching extremes.

everything has balance and opposition. there exists good and there exists evil in matching extremes.

Sounds kind of Zoroastrian to me. Good must outweigh the evil. If they were equal, everything would be annihilated. They would cancel each other out. Destroy the world.

Nothing in nature is equal. The world is changing, dynamic. If everything was equal, it would be dead frozen with no movement, just balance.

i agree, the good will always outweigh the evil. the light will always shine through the darkness. good will prevail in the end.

originally posted by: TonyS
a reply to: CallmeRaskolnikov

I was never a staunch atheist, but was more or less not entirely convinced of the God thing. Then one day, I encountered a person so obviously entirely possessed of the evil that it scared me half to death and I immediately returned to my birth faith and whole heartedly embraced it. So, I guess, in my case it was the reverse.....I encountered and came to believe in the evil and realized that there must be a God, a force wholly of goodness. That experience was soon after reinforced after watching an activist atheist in an interview on CSpan and it made me realize I don't want to live in a world without a God in it.

Not long after returning to and reconciling my self with my birth faith Church, I again encountered the evil and this time, was actually called out by it in mocking tone and terms. I departed without response.

The scoffer's scoff, exposing their ignorance concerning the totality of what it means to be a human being. If one understands even a small part of what it does mean to be a human being then the rise in the need for exorcism's becomes rather obvious.

We live in a time of much transition and many will indeed be entirely lost.

wow, thank you for sharing that awesome little story. it's similar in a lot of ways to mine actually. i had a similar experience. i experienced evil first hand after straight up denying the existence of anything out there after i lost my father at a young age. however it was in my late 20's after being in a really low state mentally and physically where i was left open to demonic oppression...

and it was after experiencing this real, true evil, demonic in nature first hand that i realized there must be a god out there if there are truly demonic entities out there. i was raised as a jew, but i certainly went to jesus after my experience, which is so crazy for me, even now i can hardly believe it after being such a hardcore hater and denier for almost my entire life.

More exorcisms because there is more fear based propaganda and pseudo-science being spread around. Forget medicine and psychological help for mental illness, send em to your local exorcist.

Honestly, it's extremely sad to think more mentally ill people are being abused by religious zealots than in the past when we have so much medical knowledge available to provide real help for these folks. Fundies need to grow up and let it go already.

a reply to: Barcs

considering that every culture in Man's history has had some sort of religion it is hard to deny that man is a spiritual entity as well as a physical / mental / emotional one. it is not healthy to deny this aspect of humanity.

no one denies that organized religion often does more harm than good (9/11) but that is not God's fault.

a reply to: rollanotherone


"The demons" who "control" us are trying to dilute "our intelligence" with "67 genders."


SMGDH

originally posted by: crayzeed
a reply to: ElGoobero
This comes down to solely education, or better still the lack of education. When people start believing in demons to be exorcised the next step is witch trials. Only the extremely stupid and gullible people go down that road.

It's something you have to see to believe for many, so in that you are not alone. I have seen demons so I know for an absolute fact they exist.
There have been a TON of exorcisms in the last 100 years, but no witch trials, and no witch trials on any court docket, so it is safe to say there isn't any "road" leading in the direction. Witches exist still, but they no longer have trials for them.

Count yourself extremely lucky that you have never experienced the existence of demons. You do not want to discover that they are real.
It really isn't a joke.

originally posted by: ElGoobero
considering that every culture in Man's history has had some sort of religion it is hard to deny that man is a spiritual entity as well as a physical / mental / emotional one. it is not healthy to deny this aspect of humanity.

Who cares what ancient cultures believed? What does that have to do with reality? Ancient cultures believed all kinds of ridiculous nonsense, even things not even related to god/spirituality. If you really think about it, most major religions require the indoctrination of children, which psychologically damages them and makes them emotionally predisposed to whatever they program the kids with. It's a major problem and it's the main reason religion is still around in the capacity that it is and why people are so quick to try to deny real answers in favor of pseudo-science.

I get that humans are inquisitive and want answers for questions, even when they don't have them, but that doesn't make spirituality or god real.

no one denies that organized religion often does more harm than good (9/11) but that is not God's fault.

If god exists and cares what people believe, then it absolutely IS god's fault for not being clear with his message and having so many conflicting religious views that have led to war and conflict for the past 10,000 years.

originally posted by: Barcs

originally posted by: ElGoobero
considering that every culture in Man's history has had some sort of religion it is hard to deny that man is a spiritual entity as well as a physical / mental / emotional one. it is not healthy to deny this aspect of humanity.

Who cares what ancient cultures believed? What does that have to do with reality? Ancient cultures believed all kinds of ridiculous nonsense, even things not even related to god/spirituality.

so everybody that existed before 1600 or so was an ignorant dufus and only now are we figuring things out? let's give the old ones some credit.
considering the lack of scientific instruments etc they did an amazing job of figuring out the universe and the world around them.

I get that humans are inquisitive and want answers for questions, even when they don't have them, but that doesn't make spirituality or god real.

you give no credence to 4000 years of tradition, testimonies and scholarship? all those people were all wrong all the time?

If god exists and cares what people believe, then it absolutely IS god's fault for not being clear with his message and having so many conflicting religious views that have led to war and conflict for the past 10,000 years.

'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' can't get much clearer than that. not God's fault that deniers and scoffers want to do their own thing.

there's still time for you to reconsider

a reply to: ElGoobero

because people need scapegoats and " enemies "

originally posted by: Barcs
If god exists and cares what people believe, then it absolutely IS god's fault for not being clear with his message and having so many conflicting religious views that have led to war and conflict for the past 10,000 years.

That is exactly the reason why I dont think God even care about what people believe. If He cares, He would have make all of us His faithful angels, and we would all be living in paradise. We are created just the way He wanted. Automated free will intelligent creation, unlike animals and angels.

I just couldnt understand why God change His attitude, from furious judgmental God of Old Testament/Quran/Torah to passive inactive God of New Testament.

a reply to: ElGoobero

I think it's funny that humans have come pretty far technologically yet emotionally are children that still have the need to blame their faults on some evil unseen force. "The devil made me do it." - which starts out with the assumption that humans are inherently good.

How about owning up to the fact that YOU are evil and allow yourself to do evil things because you WANT to. We are our own devils. Most people who do bad things know they are wrong, yet choose to do things that humans tend to gravitate to, selfishness, greed, hunger for power - all very human traits. The other folks who are unaware that they are doing bad things are damaged from the start - I call it bad wiring. There's no fixing those broken toys.

All of the traits we classify as good - altruism, humbleness, kindness, etc all the things that make sense for the furthering of our society are treated as things that are not the norm but to strive for as if we subconsciously know from the very start we are NOT inherently good.

originally posted by: ElGoobero
so everybody that existed before 1600 or so was an ignorant dufus and only now are we figuring things out? let's give the old ones some credit.
considering the lack of scientific instruments etc they did an amazing job of figuring out the universe and the world around them.

I'm not saying they were all dumb, there were plenty of smart people including many brilliant philosophers throughout the ages. They just didn't have the knowledge and understanding of the world that we have today, so it's a bit flawed to use what older cultures believed as evidence to suggest we are spiritual beings. They were ignorant, yes, but that's not necessarily a bad thing or a indicator of poor intelligence. We are all ignorant of some things. My issue was with your reasoning to say humans are spiritual.

you give no credence to 4000 years of tradition, testimonies and scholarship? all those people were all wrong all the time?

I didn't say they were always wrong. I was saying that it is logically flawed to use tradition or beliefs from ancient cultures to indicate truth (your claim that we are spiritual beings). I think that if anything, it is indicative of humans WANTING answers and substituting conjecture for reality when they do not have them. All cultures have done this.

Tradition is a very poor reason to agree with anything. Slavery was tradition for 4000+ years, that doesn't make it valid.

'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' can't get much clearer than that. not God's fault that deniers and scoffers want to do their own thing.

That's just ONE quote from ONE religious text, out of hundreds. Muslims will say the laws of Allah are clear. Buddhists will say karma is clear, etc etc. You are appealing to old texts, not objective truth. How would a Muslim be able to determine and know that the bible is correct while the religion they were indoctrinated into is wrong? Likewise, how would a Christian be able to determine the inverse when a Muslim tells them they are denying and scoffing at Allah's word? It's all subjective because most people just believe the system they were raised in.

There is really no means to determine truth when it comes to old beliefs. So if god is real and cares what we believe, it is absolutely on him for not even telling us which religion (or which sect within said religion) is the right interpretation or valid belief. That wouldn't make sense for a creator god being because he would be expecting his creation to essentially guess which texts are accurate based on nothing but gut feeling. It's pretty obvious to me that if god exists, he's not concerned with our personal views or beliefs. Why would a god require faith, yet have no way to even determine which faith is true?