Three Girls, One Brain Cell.
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We need more young people like this to leave the country and never come back.
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The power of MONEY compels you!
Huh. Getting old, canāt keep up with the jive you youngsters talk any moreā¦
This is what many evangelical Christians believe. Itās not something they talk about outside of church and church friends. They believe there is a for real spiritual war going on between God and the Devil every day, everywhere. They believe that most people are possessed by demons and that those demons need to be cast out. They donāt know that ācasting out demonsā is rather occult in itself.
Because these believers trust the all-to-human leaders of organized religion, they do not question what they are taught and told, which is why organized religion has so much sway in politics. Itās about controlling people.
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Iād insert the word āsomeā in that. Iāve known some evangelicals well enough to know that their particular church didnāt take it that literally. Iāve also run into some that did. I know that I donāt know enough to have any valid opinion about the relative percentages.
āAbsolute statements are always inherently false.ā
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Ugh - Evangelicals are like the drunk Uncle at a reunion that everyone else wishes would sit down and shut up.
The idea that magic is real is absurd. If it was, never mind the fact you could prove it, but those with that sort of power would be the ones ruling us.
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It means ābetween child and teenā
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Whereās Pazuzu when we really need him?
hurray!!! weāve finally figured out how to export stupid!
america is back in the game baby.
about time we had another export we were good at producing.
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Most were too busy hiding their pointy hats.
emotionally and intellectually, perhaps
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Gotta quote Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality here:
A hundred questions fought for priority over Harryās lips and the winner poured out: āAnd, and what kind of incantation is Wingardium Leviosa? Who invents the words to these spells, nursery schoolers?ā
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I think itās students who failed Latin, possibly.
They havenāt actually READ any books except the Bible, of course, but they have been told the Truth by Good People, and thatās all they need to know. Ever.
The teenage exorcists are skilled in martial arts and black belts in karate.
Kickinā demonic ass for JuYEEzus!
ā¦thereās this idea that spirituality needs to be for free.
Yeah, that whole bit about following Jesusā example is overrated.
As a former member of that now dead religion (vague Star Wars reference, couldnāt help it, sorry), Iād say that it comes down along Charismatic lines. If your church practices intercessory prayer and has some element of āgifts of the spirit,ā you almost certainly believe in widespread possession. Also probably that Harry Potter spells are, if not actually āreal,ā meant to entice you into witchcraft.
While I was one of the āgifts of the spiritā types, I was far to curious and non-judgmental to avoid being a heretic. I read and loved the Harry Potter books.
At any rate, on either side of the divide it can be easy to get the idea that the other side barely exists. Iād estimate that somewhere around 50% of evangelicals fall into my old category. I donāt really find the term evangelical very useful for reasons like this. I think fundamentalist and charismatic are far better descriptors. Though if youāre talking about religious āconservatismā in the U.S., evangelical almost always does apply.
Hail Eris.
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While I agree with @technogeekagain that this only represents a proportion of a very large and diverse group, it is far more than a small percentage of evangelicals who would believe this. I would say in practice the majority believe more in demonic action on peopleās lives rather than widespread possession. In my experience, those of a more Pentecostal or Charismatic persuasion are more open and theatrical about it, while more conservative evangelicals are fairly subdued in their actions, despite believing in fairly similar things.
Evangelicalism in general has a strong emphasis on the literal accuracy of the Bible, so those who deny spiritual forces acting on everyday lives tend to suggest that there were earlier times of especially strong activity (such as during the gospels) that you donāt see today rather than completely denying their existence. I have heard the claim a number of times that Harry Potter/D&D/Ouija boards literally involve inviting evil spirits to influence people. Similarly, the āsinnerās prayerā is treated by some as a sort of incantation that has real effects on the spiritual realm (although it wouldnāt necessarily be described in that way). Prayer walks are seen by some people as just a way to bless an area, while for others it is an actual method of banishing evil spirits. I think casting out spirits wouldnāt be seen as an occult practice because people are not claiming that demons are imaginary. Occult practices are seen as spiritual acts that are against God, and casting out demons would be seen as asserting Godās authority over the spiritual and physical world (in the same way that engaging with criminals does not make a police officer into a criminal).
One thing that surprises me is the kind of attitude that Bob Larson shows in the video that was posted earlier. I guess itās kind of like the privacy letter people were posting on Facebook a while ago (āYou are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from disclosing, copying, distributing, disseminating, or taking any other action against me with regard to this profile and the contents herein.ā), i.e. thinking that declaring something to be true makes it so, or that giving orders to spirits actually works. Itās probably just an attempt to gain a reputation as experts on a topic when they are making it up as they go along, but itās hardly new. Part of [St. Patrickās Breastplate][1] (a prayer from 433 CE) has similar ideas:
I summon today
All these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel and merciless power
that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts manās body and soul;
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me an abundance of reward.
[1]: St. Patrick's Breastplate: A Shield for Divine Protection[quote=āIgnatius, post:97, topic:9678ā]
I read and loved the Harry Potter books.
[/quote]
Interestingā¦ I had a collection of HP books that was shared around a largeish group of Christians and kept secret from those who claimed it was demonic. My sister-in-law almost boycotted our wedding because I told her that I doubted their demonic credentials.
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I read them first in my family but didnāt let on. Then my other siblings started reading them as I moved out and so on. My mom found out about them and once she found out about them, if she knew they were in the house, sheād start complaining about demons and dark spirits. My brother told her he put them in the trunk of his car and that kept the spirits at bay until she figured out they werenāt in his trunk.
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Friggin demons brought them back inside!
