scrambler Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 (edited) What are the odds you'll ever have to experience the devil entering your body and running amok? In his new book, Life: The Odds, Gregory Baer estimates there are 750 exorcists active in the United States. He calculates that if each performs one exorcism a week, with two weeks of vacation, the number of exorcisms per year is 37,500. Assuming that a victim previously possessed will not be inhabited again, and taking into account the most-recent population figures, your odds of being possessed by the devil are 7,000-to-1 for each year. If those odds frighten you, do not lose heart. Baer gives tips to improve your chances if possessed. His advice: Seek a Catholic exorcist because they have a manual and experience, and try to avoid possession in the first place. source Oddities From the World of Exorcists It widely is reported that Pope John Paul II has dueled with the devil more than once. The Italian newspaper La Stampa reported in September 2001 that during a regular papal audience in St. Peter's Square a young woman cursed and insulted the pontiff in a strange and otherworldly voice. Several large men who subdued her reported the strange girl had "superhuman" strength. The pope personally prayed over the young woman and, according to Amorth, performed an exorcism. This is a good read. Who, after all, is performing these ceremonies? Have we not learned from modern psychiatry that mental illness is not caused by demonic possession? Or was C.S. Lewis correct in saying, "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was in convincing the world he didn't exist"? Most of what the popular culture knows about exorcism and demonic possession is gleaned from The Exorcist, a film classic that celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Since its release this imaginative horror picture, based on the novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty, has whetted an appetite and widespread interest in exorcism that in turn has produced other films, books and broadcasts that have tended to encourage the practice. Biblical literalists point to exorcisms performed by Jesus, citing Luke 8:26-40 and Mark 1:23-36. These accounts, as well as Ephesians 6:10-18, which are seen as a charter for spiritual warfare, gave rise to the practice of exorcism among early Christians. As a functionary of the Christian Church, the role of exorcist as an official office is mentioned in a letter by Pope Cornelius in 253, reports John L. Allen Jr. in the National Catholic Reporter. The practice continued within the church but became less popular following the Enlightenment, which brought with it Western rationalism and a bias toward science. The minor order of exorcism nonetheless remained a part of the regular training of priests for ordination. This wasn't changed until 1972, when Pope Paul VI removed the order of exorcism from the training of every priest and left it to the bishop of each diocese to appoint an exorcist. The rite and rule of exorcism stayed the same until 1998, when the Vatican released a revision. The new rule acknowledges that many of the conditions that once were thought to result from demonic possession now are recognized as mental disorders. On the other hand the Vatican stated quite clearly that the devil is at work in the world and Christians must beware. Edited November 23, 2003 by scrambler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratboy Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 That might actually be frightening if devils existed and exorcisms weren't a crock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrambler Posted November 23, 2003 Author Share Posted November 23, 2003 Maybe demon is another word for something inexplicable that affects your life negatively but is beyond your control. Your inner life includes such things as fantasies and dreams. These things do not have material reality but they sure can affect your life. Same with beliefs. If you believe in the literal existence of demons or other supernatural powers, then I'd say that they exist in as much as they affect your experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 Whether you believe in demons or not, there must be something to exorcism for it to persist as a rite. It must work in a few cases. My admittedly weak understanding of psychiatry has it that there are two sorts of mental illnesses as first described by Freud, neuroses and pychoses. The neuroses are best treated by the "talking" cure, whereas the pychoses are treated by a combination of drug therapy and behavioral modification. It may be that some percentage of apparent demonic possessions are actually an extreme form of neurosis that is nonetheless treatable by a "talking" therapy such as exorcism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EWolfe Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 Scott Peck on evil: "First, I have come to the conclusion that evil is real." "Evil people hate the light because it reveals themselves to themselves. They hate goodness because it reveals their badness; they hate love because it reveals their laziness. They will destroy the light, the goodness, the love in order to avoid the pain of self-awareness. My second conclusion, then is that evil is laziness carried to it's ultimate, extraordinary extreme. As I have defined it, love is the antithesis of laziness." "Truly evil people actively rather than passively avoid extending themselves. They will take any action in their power to protect their own laziness, to preserve the integrity of their own sick selves. Rather than nurturing others, they will actually destroy others in this cause. If necessary, they will even kill to avoid the pain of their own spiritual growth. As the integrity of their sick self is threatened by the spiritual health of those around them, they will seek by all manner of means to crush and demolish the spiritual health that may exist near them." "I define evil, then, as the exercise of political power-that is, the imposition of one's will by overt or covert coercion- in order to avoid extending one's self for the purpose of nurturing spiritual growth. Ordinary laziness is nonlove; evil is antilove." -from "The Road Less Travelled" pp 277-78 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracked Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 My computer needs to be exorcised. Any takers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 Dude, that's beyond the ability of mere mortals. You don't need an exorcist. You need a geek. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracked Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 catbirdseat said: Dude, that's beyond the ability of mere mortals. You don't need an exorcist. You need a geek. LMAO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minx Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 cracked said: catbirdseat said: Dude, that's beyond the ability of mere mortals. You don't need an exorcist. You need a geek. LMAO! he is a geek...now what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrambler Posted November 23, 2003 Author Share Posted November 23, 2003 does he bite the heads off of live chickens or what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 Okay, a computer geek, dammit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracked Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 catbirdseat said: Okay, a computer geek, dammit! Sorry, Catbird, a geek is a geek. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lummox Posted November 24, 2003 Share Posted November 24, 2003 i been possessed by the devil. motherfuker dint do much for me so i cast the bitch out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off_White Posted November 24, 2003 Share Posted November 24, 2003 catbirdseat said: Dude, that's beyond the ability of mere mortals. You don't need an exorcist. You need a geek. You don't need a geek, you need a hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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