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Do you believe in demons?

Beau Vine

By Beau Vine
in Daily Texan

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 54193

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Posted

Article in the Atlantic about the increasing number of exorcisms performed: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/12/catholic-exorcisms-on-the-rise/573943/

 

This blew my mind:

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...belief in demonic possession is widespread in the United States today. Polls conducted in recent decades by Gallup and the data firm YouGov suggest that roughly half of Americans believe demonic possession is real. The percentage who believe in the devil is even higher, and in fact has been growing: Gallup polls show that the number rose from 55 percent in 1990 to 70 percent in 2007.

 

Also this:

Quote

Father Vincent Lampert, the official exorcist for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, told me in early October that he’d received 1,700 phone or email requests for exorcisms in 2018, by far the most he’s ever gotten in one year. Father Gary Thomas—a priest whose training as an exorcist in Rome was documented in The Rite, a book published in 2009 and made into a movie in 2011—said that he gets at least a dozen requests a week. Several other priests reported that without support from church staff and volunteers, their exorcism ministries would quickly swallow up their entire weekly schedules.

The Church has been training new exorcists in Chicago, Rome, and Manila. Thomas told me that in 2011 the U.S. had fewer than 15 known Catholic exorcists. Today, he said, there are well over 100. Other exorcists I spoke with put the number between 70 and 100. (Again, no official statistics exist, and most dioceses conceal the identity of their appointed exorcist, to avoid unwanted attention.)

 

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bolverk

bolverk 29638

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Kinda interesting to put these findings in the context of polls showing the general rise in atheism/agnosticism/no religion in this country. Would that also imply that those who remain religious are becoming even more so?

To the question in the title: No, I don't believe in demons.

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bolverk

bolverk 29638

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1 minute ago, slorch said:

Do you believe in Dumas?

Having driven through it a couple dozen times, I can affirmatively state it exists. Ain't no "belief" to it...and, yes, there is a Ding Dong Daddy there, whom I'd wish to forget.

Oooooh, you're talking about their football team...forget I said anything.

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RPM

RPM 26312

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Posted (edited)
20 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

Dumas >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Dalhart

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Texline

Edited by RPM
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austingirl

austingirl 2191

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I think there's about as much a chance of there being demons as there is a chance of a god(s) existing. (I'm agnostic and I'm not being snarky - I really have no idea. It's a big universe out there.)

Have y'all read anything on autoimmune encephalitis? There's a pretty good memoir about it from a woman who was diagnosed in her early 20s, and because it's so rare, doctors are now starting to think that some people accused of demonic possession in the past actually had the disease because the symptoms align with what people thought possession looked like. It's a quick read: Brain on Fire.

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Helobious

Helobious 9515

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I don't but know several who legitimately do. 

Belief in the devil, and "Santa Muerte" (who isn't really a demon) is huge among hispanic drug cartels. They pray to Santa Muerte for protection while they carry out evil deeds. Many say they want the devil or a demon to possess them to give them extra strength to do fucked up shit. The gang that kidnapped Mark Kilroy believed his sacrifice would please the devil and help their drug business. That poor 15 year old girl in Houston got brutally murdered because she disrespected the satanic shrine of two MS-13 members. And while not really drug related, in the 90's a teenager in Laredo broke into a house and killed 3 people because he felt that the Devil would award him immortality for doing it. Of course you can't leave out Richard Ramirez either, in a league of his own.

Put differently: In Austin (Hispanic community), the Longhorns (Catholicism) are extremely popular, but you'll always have that super small number of people (criminals/mentally ill/satanists) who really crazily love the aggies (devil) just to go against the grain and stand out in an extreme way. And maybe a town not so in love with a team doesn't quite have that same dynamic, if that makes sense. 

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cactusflinthead

cactusflinthead 27597

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41 minutes ago, Helobious said:

I don't but know several who legitimately do. 

Belief in the devil, and "Santa Muerte" (who isn't really a demon) is huge among hispanic drug cartels. They pray to Santa Muerte for protection while they carry out evil deeds. Many say they want the devil or a demon to possess them to give them extra strength to do fucked up shit. The gang that kidnapped Mark Kilroy believed his sacrifice would please the devil and help their drug business. That poor 15 year old girl in Houston got brutally murdered because she disrespected the satanic shrine of two MS-13 members. And while not really drug related, in the 90's a teenager in Laredo broke into a house and killed 3 people because he felt that the Devil would award him immortality for doing it. Of course you can't leave out Richard Ramirez either, in a league of his own.

Put differently: In Austin (Hispanic community), the Longhorns (Catholicism) are extremely popular, but you'll always have that super small number of people (criminals/mentally ill/satanists) who really crazily love the aggies (devil) just to go against the grain and stand out in an extreme way. And maybe a town not so in love with a team doesn't quite have that same dynamic, if that makes sense. 

Jeremiah could have told her about going through the graveyard. I don't have to believe what someone else does but it sure helps to know that they do.

I don't know much about Santa Muerte, but what I have heard is enough to make me want to steer clear. I have enough debts.

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bolverk

bolverk 29638

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56 minutes ago, Helobious said:

I don't but know several who legitimately do. 

Belief in the devil, and "Santa Muerte" (who isn't really a demon) is huge among hispanic drug cartels. They pray to Santa Muerte for protection while they carry out evil deeds. Many say they want the devil or a demon to possess them to give them extra strength to do fucked up shit. The gang that kidnapped Mark Kilroy believed his sacrifice would please the devil and help their drug business. That poor 15 year old girl in Houston got brutally murdered because she disrespected the satanic shrine of two MS-13 members. And while not really drug related, in the 90's a teenager in Laredo broke into a house and killed 3 people because he felt that the Devil would award him immortality for doing it. Of course you can't leave out Richard Ramirez either, in a league of his own.

Put differently: In Austin (Hispanic community), the Longhorns (Catholicism) are extremely popular, but you'll always have that super small number of people (criminals/mentally ill/satanists) who really crazily love the aggies (devil) just to go against the grain and stand out in an extreme way. And maybe a town not so in love with a team doesn't quite have that same dynamic, if that makes sense. 

Do any of those include the dude with cloven hooves, who keeps showing up at quinceaneras around the state?

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hayden_horn

hayden_horn 11362

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i think that like most anything, demons fill the gaps of the great "i don't know."

why did johnny jump off the bridge? maybe he was possessed.

why is janie having a seizure? maybe it's demons.

why did larry kill james? demons.

why is this epileptic having a seizure? must be demons.

as humans we have a great need to have answers for why. why do ships that sail past the horizon sometimes not make it back? here there be monsters. why is this person stark raving mad? must be demons, definitely not schizophrenia or some other mental illness or drug addiction or alcoholism. why is this woman thinking independently? she must be a witch! burn her!

when faced with the unfamiliar or unknown, we often turn to the supernatural. it's human nature.

that said, i hate high places, because i'm worried something will possess me to jump. 

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