If you believe that someone you know is an actual demon, does that mean you are no longer obligated to treat them humanely?
If I were the Ether Psychologist I sometimes pretend to be, I would have long ago done a paper on how internet communities reinforce delusions. Think the government put a mind control chip in your brain? There’s a group for that. Therianthrope? Otherkin? There’s a group for that. It’s fascinating stuff.
I would like to point out that any decent ‘are you delusional?’ questionairre specifies whether your beliefs are normal for your culture. If you were a Christian during the time of the Inquisition, it was abnormal not to believe in witches and demons.
A demonized person is still a person and worth of human treatment, as I was in that position at that time as I described above. It was human kindness that was very helpful to me overcoming my demons, though I did feel treated like a demon at times by others at that time, which I think it’s more common and part of what holds one in their position of misery.
A spiritual demon in another dimension outside of normal spacetime, that’s a different case.
Though the actual, official Inquisition rejected the belief in witches most of its existence. Goes to show how people have always believed what they want.
Yes, they exist. There is evil, and there is good (angels). I have sensed them.
I know if you own occult artifacts, that can attract them.
I cannot find either my copy of Beasts Within- A History Of The Werewolf or Cows, Pigs, War And Witches The Riddles Of Culture at the momen. IIRC The Church’s official position was never ‘there are no witches’. It always said that Satan and demons were real and could enter into pacts with humans. The only question was whether witches really had power or if that was a delusion given them by Satan and his demons.
And if you think someone is possessed, what steps should be taken.
I’m not sure that belief is more widespread than it used to be. I had some involvement with the Pentecostal church in the 90s and we definitely believed in demons. My mother once dragged us out of a BBQ Wings restaurant because the little trifold centerpiece featured hot sauce with a little devil figure. I used to think demons were everywhere and I had to speak in tongues to protect myself from them. It’s a messed up way to be a kid.
I was just watching The Reason I Jump on Netflix, a documentary about what it’s like to be autistic. One of the children they spotlighted lived in Sierra Leone and holy hell do those poor folks have a lot to deal with. So many autistic children are shunned by their communities for being “devil children.” The parents are accused of practicing witchcraft and asked to move out of the neighborhood. It’s awful. They have had to do a lot of work to educate the public about autism.
I could see that attitude taking hold in the US very easily. When I was a child I saw many adults blame demons for their children’s mental health problems. I got caught up in some disturbing stuff. It’s a short leap from “my suicidal child is demon possessed” to “parents of autistic children are practicing witchcraft.”
The thing that makes me wonder is some previous posts saying that a form of Pentecostalism is spreading. That belief system definitely believes in demons and such. That said, it’s likely that the people so convinced by Pentecostalism already believed in demonic powers before.
Don’t know but I’m pretty sure they’d be off your Christmas card list, at the very least.
And don’t ask them to be your childs Godfather.
I have no research to back this up, but my general feeling is that the current tendency toward conspiracy theories and hysteria feels very reminiscent of that part of my childhood. It’s like the crazy people I grew up with started making policy.
I used to work in a print shop with a fellow named Arthur who kept the gospel station blaring all day. There’d be sermons from some real wackadoos who would scream about how Satan was trying to ruin everybody’s lives. I changed stations whenever he wasn’t at work, of course.
One time one of the presses caught fire, because it’s a machine with moving parts, and heat buildup can cause the accumulated paper dust to ignite. I asked Arthur what caused the fire. He said the devil got in it.
One radio program had some preacher from Texas who told (actually screamed) a story about how there was a fortune teller in town, and how she corrupted all these poor innocent Christians, who afterward came to him begging to be saved. He said he must have saved 70 or 80 people that day. Then the fortune teller herself came to him and said she was going to put poison in his pie at the church bake sale. He said “Do me a favor, woman. Make mine lemon meringue.”
There was one show I particularly despised called Talkback with Bob Larson. He’d constantly plead for his audience to send money because the forces of Satan were trying to end his program. He said he got a letter from the Prince of Darkness embroidered with occult symbols and pentagrams. He quoted Milton’s “Tis better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven,” knowing his audience was ignorant of Paradise Lost. Another time a caller phoned in with a growly voice and said his name was Legion. I yelled “How can you believe this shit?”
I can tell you however, that for all the people who were afraid something with a supernatural element would corrupt their children to become devil worshippers, I listened to that drivel for 8 hours a day and didn’t become a nice upstanding Christian. It solidified my atheism big time.
Well said. I think it’s one more aspect of the increased belief in conspiracy theories, which in turn goes with a decline in trust of established academic / intellectual authorities.
ETA. But I suppose that just restates the problem. I have no idea why those two things started to happen.
I remember Bob Larson.
I think I know how I would feel if I was intimate with someone and they accused me of being a demon, or even demon possessed.
Demons and the devil make a convenient and easy “explanation” for some parts of human behavior that are difficult to think about for many people, and for some natural phenomena that are difficult to understand. There are always other, real explanations, but they can often be bewilderingly complex or unpleasant. Some people settle for demons as an explanation because they can then close the book on it and not have to think about it any more. Some people are might gullible. The Venn diagram intersection between those two groups is probably pretty large.
In general terms don’t feed their demon and guard your heart.
Don’t let this person gain power or authority over you. Don’t let them set the terms in your dealings with them, generally best not to involve yourself in their dealings at all. Don’t do a favor for them, but if you do set limits and be the one who decides how the favor is to be done on your terms. Dhe saem on’t be afraid to say no to them. Be aware any dealings or entanglement you get with them will also involve their demon.
Generally the same thing when one is cautions about a person they feel may have bad/untrue intents, because it’s 2 ways of describing the same thing.
What would the existence of the devil and literal demons tell you about the nature of god, then, and how does it cohere to your vision of god? Because I frankly cannot fathom how one can simultaneously believe in the christian god as traditionally understood and demons capable of possessing humans.
Then who was that guy that tempted Christ? Or the one who tempted Eve? A belief in a Christian God means you follow the New Testimont, and yes, they are characters in the story.