demon possesion in the americas went up 300% when the europeans came to the new world.
one can conclude any of the following:
europeans brought demons over on ships (this is silly).
no one knew what demons were til they europeans got here to set everyone straight. this one is dubious because that’s like saying sightings of american mountain lions went up 300% upon the geo/political creation of ‘america.’ clearly there’d be a name for it. also, there are various native american terms for spirts and entities comparable to demons (as exist in nearly all cultures).
europeans brought an ideological view of what certain behavoirs could or should be interpreted as, and inflicted their religious ideologies on already naturally occuring instances of various social behaviors, immoralities or even mental disabilities.
methinks we have a winner.
the principle is the same in law: meth abuse went up many hundreds of % the second meth was outlawed.
Shouldn’t the OP be encouraged to consult the laws of his or her state first? AFAIK, where the OP lives demon possession could be completely de-criminalized.
Granted, using cheap zip-lock baggies may piss them off…
That’s when you put on your shortie baby-doll nightie, pick up a malfunctioning flashlight, and go into the cellar (or the attic) and ask in a quavery voice, “Hello? Is someone there?”
An on-the-fence person has a better chance than either the believer or non-beliver of developing a delusional belief that he is ‘posessed’, and here’s why.
The skeptic is completely safe because, by definition, he knows there is nothing to be afraid of, and is forearmed with a perspective and set of facts that will enable him to form rational explanations for seemingly supernatural phenomena.
The believer may or may not have fanciful defenses against demons, such as magic words or items. Being that the supernatural threat is imaginary, the equally imaginary defenses may “work” and give the believer a feeling of security.
The undecided person is unlikely to know of any magical defenses and, therefore, if they develop the delusional belief that they are under demonic attack, may succumb to it because they are unlikely to have the mental safety blanket that some believrs have.
On the other hand, if we consider the potential for infection with supernatural beiefs to be the real danger posed by Ouija boards, then the skeptic is immune, and the believer is already screwed.
dead on. the only “demonic” experiences occured in our church parsonage when i was in 4th grade. i overheard a decon tell my father “there were loose demons in this place” and after that, every time it got dark i remembered that quote. i was “tormented” by “demons” in that house until we moved out. no other parsonage has been 1. said to contain demons nor 2. had any “demons” that bothered me.
another example: my girlfriend’s house had mice that made noises in the night. until the night-of-and-first-week-after she watched Paranormal Activity 3. THEN she had GHOSTS.
