possessed

[exploreyourmind]

i am very confused and will never find the answer but I would like to hear some discussion about it. for all you people (mostly athiests), what are your thoughts about people becoming possessed by "demons"? This is broad so if you need me to elaborate say so.

[Genjyo]

Originally posted by exploreyourmind i am very confused and will never find the answer but I would like to hear some discussion about it. for all you people (mostly athiests), what are your thoughts about people becoming possessed by "demons"? This is broad so if you need me to elaborate say so. Hi exploreyourmind, maybe you will find answers. I certainly believe in demons capable of inflicting human injury. While reports of demon possessions are not unheard of in this day, I tend to think of the majority of these cases as misdiagnoses for mental illnesses. When the Bible speaks of demonization, the effects are considerably unusual. For example in Acts 16, a young girl under demonic possession had divination talents. Others display inexplicably astonishing strength. Nonetheless, people in biblical times knew the difference between true possessions and abnormal human behaviour. 1 Sam 21:10 That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, "Isn't this David, the king of the land? Isn't he the one they sing about in their dances: " 'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands'?" 12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. 14 Achish said to his servants, "Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?" In my opinion demon possession does exist, but is uncommon. At least we're sure not to eliminate natural or supernatural causes right away.

[Gwendolyn]

All of the things people attribute to 'being possessed by demons' are usually symptoms of physical, mental, or emotional illnesses.

[wombing]

perhaps in the same way people are 'filled' with the divine, they are 'possessed' by demons. to me they are both just symbolisms. my maternal grandmother thought herself possessed at various points. my brother had a 'demon cast out of him' at a protestant rally, after picking up a heavy wooden chair and throwing it so hard it stuck into the wall some distance away. *shrugs* as long as our mind is divided we are all possessed by 'legion". i have had entities speak with my own mouth , while 'i' was powerless, and seemingly was not controlling it at all. once, two distinct entities besides myself (one telling me to kill myself, and one playing the role of compassionate saviour). they each literally spoke with my physical mouth as 'i' watched on torturously. the angel on one shoulder, devil on the other is a common archetype. it certainly need not presuppose external entities. if someone is unsure whether to buy chocolate ice cream or vanilla, are they possessed? no, but they have two opposing facets of their mind/will existing simultaneously. a singularity is a rare form of human IMO.

[Raz]

You create your own deamons... No fear...

[exploreyourmind]

what i was trying to get at was...the fact that demons can possess you obviously contradicts the beliefs of all athiests

[Neruo]

Possesion is just a rare case when a tapeworm crawls out of your anus at night and crawls into your ears into your brain. Then it controls your mind.

[Leo Volont]

Oh, I read about one exorcism in America, back in about the middle of the last century. This one young lady, who was a 3rd generation illegitimate child decided to join the Catholic Church. Well, in the spiritual world, a 3rd generation illegitimate person is ordinarily considered to be the property of Satan. the girls father heard that his bastard daughter was joining the church and felt it only appropriate to curse her soul to Satan, and Satan took him up on the offer and possessed the poor girl. The parents brought in a simple priest who was unprepared for the possessed girls ability to psycho-kinetically spin flying knives around the room. The priest was almost killed and had to be hospitalized. Well the girl and her mother moved to another state and reapplied to the Church for exorcism, without notifying the Diocese of the dangers already encountered. But this time the Bishop got personally involved. Even then, one of the assistant priests had to be hospitalized for injuries incurred. The Bishop himself drove into a 'black fog' and only the immediate prayer for Divine Intervention kept the damage there to a minimum. Interestingly, the Demons in the girl would taunt all present with all of their embarrassing sins and deep dark secrets. But it was found that the Demon knew nothing that was officially 'confessed' to a priest. So it became a rule that before entering the Exorcision Room, one would have to make a complete general confession. The Bishop found the going difficult and finally decided to do a complete fast, and he summoned the entire diocese to pray the Rosary and fast if they could in order to save the soul of this poor girl. On the 21st day, the demons were expelled. The exorcism was conducted in the Convent of this one Sisterhood of Nuns. Well, after a year they could not get rid of the smell and had to burn down the entire building, and rebuild on a new spot. The Sisters never did forgive the Bishop for ruining their house. They supposed the Bishop should have conducted the Exorcism in his own quarters. It seems that everyday the poor girl was able to vomit and defecate many more times her what her actual body weight was. It seems she was able to supernatually produce foul smelling substances; the way Christ had been able to multiply Food, she was able to multiply excrements... or rather her demon was able to. Anyway, this case received so much publicity that the Devil became advised that possession was counterproductive -- that a verified Possession was too close to being a Proof of the Spiritual World. Proving the Devil would be too close to the same thing as proving there was a God. And so the devil had the cunning sense to go 'underground' for a bit. But still, possession probably occurs quite often where the devil can use the cover of psychiatric illness, where materialistic Atheist Doctors are more than willing to cooperate with the Devil in keeping the nasty Truth of Demonic Possession a deep dark secret.