Possesions

[Maku]

Some of you may know about the movie coming out about Emily Rose. I don't get it... How can an innocent little girl become possessed?

 

[Quath]

Check out Movies Online for a pretty good synopsis of the "real" story.

It is basically let up to you to decide if she had epilepsy which caused brain problems that made her think she had demons or if she was possessed.

Personally, I think she had brain trauma and her religious upbringing made her believe it was demons. She died as a result of people performing exorcisms instead of sending her to a mental institute.

So even if you velieve in demon possession, this would be a case where it didn't work. So it would seem to indicate that people can't drive out demons in Jesus's name.

I think it is an attempt to put fear back into people so they go back to Catholic church like the Exorcism movie did.

Quath

 

[Tobael]

Try reading "An Exorcist Tells His Story" by Gabriele Amorth if you don't believe in them.

Here is a good site on Possession and Exorcism:

http://www.fortea.us/english/index.htm

In Jesus' time possession wasn't seen as something that occurred as a result of sin, so theoretically an innocent child could become possessed. I have heard people say that spirits can be "inherited", i.e. passed down the ancestral line, which could account for a child's infestation, and there are special prayers dealing with such.

 

[Maku]

How do people get killed in exorcisms?

 

[Quath]

How do people get killed in exorcisms?

Usually they are restrained and die from lack of food or water. Sometimes they are not given medical attention for minor stuff that grows major. Some home grown exorcisms can turn violent. I remember reading that one mother stabbed out the eyes of her daughter to help get rid of the demon.

Try reading "An Exorcist Tells His Story" by Gabriele Amorth if you don't believe in them.

I think people see what they want to see. There use to be a medical diagnosis called "hysteria" for women. Basically, if a woman acted up or unsual, she was diagnosed with "hysteria." The funny side of this led to the invention of the vibrator, but that is another story. But now we have dropped this because we recognize that the women were acting normally in their situation.

The same is for "passive aggressive." It was defined for people that procrastinated, lay, did their work halfway, etc. However, it was defined for people in a war, where being lazy or halfway doing your job could keep you out of harm's way. So they later dropped this as well.

I think it is the same for exorcism. It relies upon people trying to understand what looks like weird behavior. I think ultimately exorcism can be explained with epilepsy, schitzophrenia, dissociative identity disorder, bad judgement and attention seeking.

Quath

 

[Maku]

So what was the actual case of Emily Rose? Is she alive today? Was she suffering from an illness? Did the catholic people try to just make more money and are benefitting from a movie?

 

[Muad'Dib]

I think people see what they want to see.

And I think people don't see what they don't want to believe. Not that I'm saying that's what happened here. In fact, it sounds to me like this was a case of jumping to conclusions instead of seeking medical attention. It's unfortunate how commonly that can happen. People want to see real life examples of God or Satan to prove God exists. But it's not supposed to be that easy. Nothing worth anything ever is. But back to what I said above. Just like people seeing what they want to, people who don't want to believe, aren't going to, even if they see something that can't be explained.

 

[Jane Doe]

I have heard people say that spirits can be "inherited", i.e. passed down the ancestral line, which could account for a child's infestation, and there are special prayers dealing with such.

I have also heard that. And I have heard of people raising their children to embrace worshiping family demons, and beg the demon to posess them.