Busted for [Demonic] Possesion

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2004-07-31 11:04pm

The fantastic delusions of some people never cease to amaze me

Quick everybody! Grab your sword of demon-slaying +2, Mephisto is back for more!

dworkin · Post by **dworkin** » 2004-07-31 11:32pm

If it is Mephisto we'll all need amulats of Lightning resistance

Of course if it wasn't for the tin-foil hatters no-one would have a clue how to act when they exorcise you.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-08-01 12:31am

Mock, but I've seen things I cannot explain with "hysteria" and "suggestion".

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2004-08-01 01:07am

Mock, but I've seen things I cannot explain with "hysteria" and "suggestion".

Such as?

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-08-01 01:09am

CaptainChewbacca wrote:Mock, but I've seen things I cannot explain with "hysteria" and "suggestion".

So what? Just because you can't explain it doesn't mean there isn't a reason that doesn't require resorting to superstition.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-08-01 01:10am

HemlockGrey wrote:
Mock, but I've seen things I cannot explain with "hysteria" and "suggestion".
Such as?

I saw a woman I knew from childhood as deaf in one ear suddenly have her hearing restored during prayer.

I saw a homeless man in San Fransisco stop a seizure when told "In the name of Christ you are free" by a minister.

That's all I've seen, havn't been looking, not sure I want to.

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2004-08-01 01:23am

The former, dunno, the latter, I'd bet $20 it was staged.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-08-01 01:25am

HemlockGrey wrote:The former, dunno, the latter, I'd bet $20 it was staged.

It wasn't a "faith healing", it was while I was doing volunteer work at a homeless shelter.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-08-01 01:32am

CaptainChewbacca wrote:
HemlockGrey wrote:The former, dunno, the latter, I'd bet $20 it was staged.
It wasn't a "faith healing", it was while I was doing volunteer work at a homeless shelter.

And that precludes it from being staged how?

Shroom Man 777 · Post by **Shroom Man 777** » 2004-08-01 01:36am

the staff want him to come and pray for them - he spots a small statue of Buddha and hastily smashes it)

When the proprietor reveals that her suspected adversary is Muslim, the penny drops for Lottering. He's got a fight with the devil on his hands.

It is a painstaking process but Lottering says he is "making major structural damage to the kingdom of Satan" and has no doubt that in time this evil will crumble at his feet.

Wow...

I bet this nutcase, aside from having some psychotic delusions of grandeur and perhaps some persecution complexes, subscribes to the notion that all religions aside from Christianity and Judaism are the works of Satan...

This shit is just like the bullshit my old school fed me about Harry Potter being demonic and witches actually flying in broomsticks and learning spells and shit through Harry Potter books...

How moronic.

Enigma · Post by **Enigma** » 2004-08-01 02:17am

HemlockGrey wrote:
Mock, but I've seen things I cannot explain with "hysteria" and "suggestion".
Such as?

Almost twenty years ago, at a family picnic (with another family) my father saw the father from the other family slither up to the picnic table like a snake. No jerking around, just a smooth slither right up to the table and then hissed with a literal forked tongue.

Mmm... My uncle in Portugal once dabbled in the occult. He even said he wanted to see the devil. He had furniture moved around while the family slept (no one came into their house at night to rearrange the furniture). They even heard footsteps when everyone was in their beds. He was able to stop a clock from ticking just by saying so (he did it once to a couple that was having a bible study with him). He renounced the occult and at the day of his baptism to become a JW he got a stroke. It may have been just a coincidence that he got a stroke for rejecting the devil but I doubt it.

There are supernatural occurances but they do not occur so wide spread to necessitate a dedicated police division to combat it.

Lonestar · Post by **Lonestar** » 2004-08-01 02:23am

Enigma wrote: Almost twenty years ago, at a family picnic (with another family) my father saw the father from the other family slither up to the picnic table like a snake. No jerking around, just a smooth slither right up to the table and then hissed with a literal forked tongue.

Mmm... My uncle in Portugal once dabbled in the occult. He even said he wanted to see the devil. He had furniture moved around while the family slept (no one came into their house at night to rearrange the furniture). They even heard footsteps when everyone was in their beds. He was able to stop a clock from ticking just by saying so (he did it once to a couple that was having a bible study with him). He renounced the occult and at the day of his baptism to become a JW he got a stroke. It may have been just a coincidence that he got a stroke for rejecting the devil but I doubt it.

There are supernatural occurances but they do not occur so wide spread to necessitate a dedicated police division to combat it.

Sounds like a Job for Penn and Teller/and/or James Randi.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-08-01 03:10am

Enigma wrote: Almost twenty years ago, at a family picnic (with another family) my father saw the father from the other family slither up to the picnic table like a snake. No jerking around, just a smooth slither right up to the table and then hissed with a literal forked tongue.

History of mental illness in your family? Your dad suffer a bump on the head? Something in the brownies at that picnic?

He had furniture moved around while the family slept (no one came into their house at night to rearrange the furniture). They even heard footsteps when everyone was in their beds.

Oh sure, they heard footsteps, but no one was in the house.

He was able to stop a clock from ticking just by saying so (he did it once to a couple that was having a bible study with him).

Easily rigged.

He renounced the occult and at the day of his baptism to become a JW he got a stroke. It may have been just a coincidence that he got a stroke for rejecting the devil but I doubt it.

Doubt all you like, the stuff you're saying you believe is pretty far-fetched.

There are supernatural occurances but they do not occur so wide spread to necessitate a dedicated police division to combat it.

Yup, John Constantine's enough.

You're starting to sound like a tinfoil hat wearer now.

Enigma · Post by **Enigma** » 2004-08-01 03:19am

DPDarkPrimus wrote:
Enigma wrote: Almost twenty years ago, at a family picnic (with another family) my father saw the father from the other family slither up to the picnic table like a snake. No jerking around, just a smooth slither right up to the table and then hissed with a literal forked tongue.
History of mental illness in your family? Your dad suffer a bump on the head? Something in the brownies at that picnic?

No. When it comes to spiritual matters, my family and relatives do not joke about it.

He had furniture moved around while the family slept (no one came into their house at night to rearrange the furniture). They even heard footsteps when everyone was in their beds.
Oh sure, they heard footsteps, but no one was in the house.

They were in bed. Other than my uncle and his family (in their beds) no one else was around when it occured.

He was able to stop a clock from ticking just by saying so (he did it once to a couple that was having a bible study with him).
Easily rigged.

How? A remote? On an old fashion clock?

He renounced the occult and at the day of his baptism to become a JW he got a stroke. It may have been just a coincidence that he got a stroke for rejecting the devil but I doubt it.
Doubt all you like, the stuff you're saying you believe is pretty far-fetched.

You may not believe but I do.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-08-01 03:30am

Enigma wrote:When it comes to spiritual matters, my family and relatives do not joke about it.

When it comes to spiritual matters that someone brings up, I say prove it or stuff it.

They were in bed. Other than my uncle and his family (in their beds) no one else was around when it occured.

This is an anecdotal account, of course. Your uncle's Satanist buddies could have done it or something. If they were all in bed, and didn't get up, then they certainly can't claim for certain that no one else was in the house.

How? A remote? On an old fashion clock?

It doesn't matter what style of clock, you could rig a gear-driven one to stop too, with the proper mechanism.

You may not believe but I do.

And that's perfectly fine. Don't act all offended when I don't believe it though, and I expect you to back it up if you come into a thread waving it around as evidence of spirits and such.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-08-01 04:22am

Enigma wrote:Almost twenty years ago, at a family picnic (with another family) my father saw the father from the other family slither up to the picnic table like a snake. No jerking around, just a smooth slither right up to the table and then hissed with a literal forked tongue.

Mmm... My uncle in Portugal once dabbled in the occult. He even said he wanted to see the devil. He had furniture moved around while the family slept (no one came into their house at night to rearrange the furniture). They even heard footsteps when everyone was in their beds. He was able to stop a clock from ticking just by saying so (he did it once to a couple that was having a bible study with him). He renounced the occult and at the day of his baptism to become a JW he got a stroke. It may have been just a coincidence that he got a stroke for rejecting the devil but I doubt it.

There are supernatural occurances but they do not occur so wide spread to necessitate a dedicated police division to combat it.

By your own account, your immediate family has experienced no less than three supernatural occurances. What are the chances that every family has experienced such things the world over and it just so happens that not a single one has had a camera?

I guess you're just lucky.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2004-08-01 05:13am

The thing with a lot of this stuff is that we're supposed to accept that the events in question even happened at all. People's power to trick themselves or invent memories later is strong. Maybe the woman really believed that she could suddenly hear in that ear, but could she? How do you know?

When I was into religion, I convinced myself that I was cured of Attention Deficit Disorder after some Baptist preacher said some words and put his hand on my forehead. Was I? No.

When I was out boating as a kid, I saw a truck go by on a bridge, hovering above the ground. I knew because I could see the wheels above the stone guard-rail. Did I really see the wheels? Of course not.

One time I looked out the window and saw that the bushes across the canal looked like faces of demonic creatures. So I prayed and when I opened my eyes, they looked like normal bushes. What does this signify? Nothing.

People can convince themselves of anything, they can even alter their memories. They're not liars, they're just self-delusional. With the supposed frequency of these types of events, the total lack of proof is damning. Not to mention the way that all of of them are debunked when someone like James Randi seriously investigates them.

Funnily enough, since I stopped believing, nothing like that has ever happened to me. These things never happen to any skeptic. Only to those who are pre-disposed to want them to happen.

Axis Kast · Post by **Axis Kast** » 2004-08-01 08:43am

I think the oddest thing here is that South Africa's Withcraft Suppresion law was dated 1957.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2004-08-01 02:40pm

Enigma wrote:
HemlockGrey wrote:
Mock, but I've seen things I cannot explain with "hysteria" and "suggestion".
Such as?
Almost twenty years ago, at a family picnic (with another family) my father saw the father from the other family slither up to the picnic table like a snake. No jerking around, just a smooth slither right up to the table and then hissed with a literal forked tongue.

If the event happened, you do know that the other father could have been a whack job or just playing a joke. And that forked tongues aren't unheard of. It's like extreme body art.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2004-08-01 10:14pm

Axis Kast wrote:I think the oddest thing here is that South Africa's Withcraft Suppresion law was dated 1957.

Nine years after the first apartheid laws began being passed, and right in the middle of the beginnings of anti-apartheid activism, is it unreasonable to think that the Witchcraft Suppression law was meant to suppress native customs in some way?

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2004-08-01 11:38pm

Frank Hipper wrote:
Axis Kast wrote:I think the oddest thing here is that South Africa's Withcraft Suppresion law was dated 1957.
Nine years after the first apartheid laws began being passed, and right in the middle of the beginnings of anti-apartheid activism, is it unreasonable to think that the Witchcraft Suppression law was meant to suppress native customs in some way?

From what I understand that was the original purpose. However, the act is worded so loosely that it makes it illegal to claim you're a witch, or have associated stuff.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2004-08-01 11:53pm

CaptainChewbacca wrote:
HemlockGrey wrote:
Mock, but I've seen things I cannot explain with "hysteria" and "suggestion".
Such as?
I saw a woman I knew from childhood as deaf in one ear suddenly have her hearing restored during prayer.

And how did you verify that her hearing was restored in that ear? Did you conduct a scientific test of her hearing in that ear? Did it ever occur to you that she could hear out of her other ear, making it extremely easy to fake such a miracle?

I saw a homeless man in San Fransisco stop a seizure when told "In the name of Christ you are free" by a minister.

Then I'm sure this minister would be more than willing to demonstrate his power on a randomly selected epileptic patient in a controlled, laboratory environment.

What about all those times that prayers did absolutely jack-shit? We don't hear too much about those, now do we? Ghosts, spirits and god are convenient explanations because they have wills of their own. Whenever these mystical invocations fail, the spirits were having a bad day or pissed off because they lost money at the track, so they decided not to help out. But keep praying and chanting! You might catch them on a good day!

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-08-02 12:09am

Durandal wrote:
CaptainChewbacca wrote:
HemlockGrey wrote: Such as?
I saw a woman I knew from childhood as deaf in one ear suddenly have her hearing restored during prayer.
And how did you verify that her hearing was restored in that ear? Did you conduct a scientific test of her hearing in that ear? Did it ever occur to you that she could hear out of her other ear, making it extremely easy to fake such a miracle?

No, I verified it because I was there when her brother accidentally stuck a pencil in her ear during rough-housing when they were six. I figured she didn't fake that.

I saw a homeless man in San Fransisco stop a seizure when told "In the name of Christ you are free" by a minister.
Then I'm sure this minister would be more than willing to demonstrate his power on a randomly selected epileptic patient in a controlled, laboratory environment.

You don't quantify God. It isn't the minister's power.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-08-02 12:54am

CaptainChewbacca wrote: You don't quantify God. It isn't the minister's power.

Ah yes, the good old "if it doesn't happen, it's because God didn't want it to" excuse. Way to hide behind it.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-08-02 01:32am

DPDarkPrimus wrote:
CaptainChewbacca wrote: You don't quantify God. It isn't the minister's power.
Ah yes, the good old "if it doesn't happen, it's because God didn't want it to" excuse. Way to hide behind it.

Not hiding, but ok.