Atheists and Evil Spirit Possesion

[braymoore]

So I was thinking to myself the following question. If atheists don't believe in God which in turn makes them not believe in the devil, what is their opinion about people who are "possesed" by evil spirits or devils???

 

[spud_meister]

Psychosis.

 

[shlunka]

Psychosis, delusions, fallacy, attention-craver. Though, I did still find The Exorcist to scare the hell out of me.

 

[head of joaquin]

Boy, that was hard.

 

[the_recruit]

I believe in evil spirits. Montezuma tequila, for example. A most foul spirit.

 

[Surtr]

So I was thinking to myself the following question. If atheists don't believe in God which in turn makes them not believe in the devil, what is their opinion about people who are "possesed" by evil spirits or devils???

Mental illness, physical deformities of the brain, head trauma, fraud, etc.

 

[Sarcogito]

Fairies.

 

[Dragonfly]

So I was thinking to myself the following question. If atheists don't believe in God which in turn makes them not believe in the devil, what is their opinion about people who are "possesed" by evil spirits or devils???

So when you were thinking these things to yourself, what did you think the answers to that question might be?

Are your days normally that slow that these are the questions you come up with?

 

[braymoore]

So when you were thinking these things to yourself, what did you think the answers to that question might be?

Are your days normally that slow that these are the questions you come up with?

Actually I thought people would answer with what I have seen so far. Just wanted to see the gnereal opinion of people.

 

[captainawesome]

So I was thinking to myself the following question. If atheists don't believe in God which in turn makes them not believe in the devil, what is their opinion about people who are "possesed" by evil spirits or devils???

They are mentally ill.

 

[HonestJoe]

Actually I thought people would answer with what I have seen so far. Just wanted to see the gnereal opinion of people.

You appreciate this is the general opinion of many people who do believe in God too? The idea of literal demonic possession is something of a minority view (certainly in the West anyway).

 

[braymoore]

You appreciate this is the general opinion of many people who do believe in God too? The idea of literal demonic possession is something of a minority view (certainly in the West anyway).

Perhaps, but I sure do believe in God and demonic possession. Anyone who has read and believes in the bible should know that when Jesus was on the earth people were possessed. Why would that have stopped in todays world??

 

[GottaGo]

So I was thinking to myself the following question. If atheists don't believe in God which in turn makes them not believe in the devil, what is their opinion about people who are "possesed" by evil spirits or devils???

Actually, lack of belief in one does not preclude belief in the other. Nor are evil spirits necessarily creations of the devil, they may be entities in and of themselves.

If one has any belief in the Old Gods, just about anything is possible. :wink:

 

[DDD]

Perhaps, but I sure do believe in God and demonic possession. Anyone who has read and believes in the bible should know that when Jesus was on the earth people were possessed. Why would that have stopped in todays world??

Other ways to crave for attention, mentally ill are treated more effectively, more competent people treating those ill today while we do not even know it.

 

[HonestJoe]

Perhaps, but I sure do believe in God and demonic possession. Anyone who has read and believes in the bible should know that when Jesus was on the earth people were possessed. Why would that have stopped in todays world??

Rationalising the logical inconsistencies of various faith positions isn't really my problem. That said, I know of no rational evidence that any people are possessed today so maybe that means they weren't in the past either and the Bible (or your interpretation of it) is the source of the error?

 

[rathi]

Perhaps, but I sure do believe in God and demonic possession. Anyone who has read and believes in the bible should know that when Jesus was on the earth people were possessed. Why would that have stopped in todays world??

Possession is logically inconsistent with the Christianity. God is supposed to be all-powerful and all-benevolent. Why does he allow devils to possess people when he has the power to stop them? He doesn't prevent human beings from doing evil because of our free will, but that reasoning doesn't work with devils. They are supposed to be supernatural evil creatures who have no business on earth, why would god turn a blind eye while they commit horrible acts unchallenged? Exorcism also doesn't make any sense, God wouldn't need a chanting priest to cast out a spirit, he could do it alone and in an instant.

 

[soot]

You remember the Star Trek film where Kahn put that worm in Chekov's ear?

That:

 

[Djoop]

God and demonic possession?

I have met all sorts of Christians without opinions about demonic possession. Somehow it never comes up.

 

[Dragonfly]

Perhaps, but I sure do believe in God and demonic possession. Anyone who has read and believes in the bible should know that when Jesus was on the earth people were possessed. Why would that have stopped in todays world??

So you believe there is an actual Hell, and an actual Devil, and that the Devil can invade/inhabit the minds/bodies of humans and force them to do things against their will?

 

[head of joaquin]

Perhaps, but I sure do believe in God and demonic possession. Anyone who has read and believes in the bible should know that when Jesus was on the earth people were possessed. Why would that have stopped in todays world??

Because the gospel story was written in the ancient world when people believed in spirits? What was Jesus supposed to do, talk about MRIs and brain chemistry?

What you are really asking is whether we should take these texts literally to find their significance, or metaphorically in the context of our lives. I choose the latter. As to the former, you might want to read some Rudolf Bultmann and his important works on the the demythologizing of the bible. Basically, if Christianity requires modern people to believe is spirits and miracles, it results in an inauthenticity, since in fact modern people don't really believe in these things (even if they say they do as a way of asserting their putative fundamental Christianity). It's like insisting you believe in the Trinity, a doctrine that can't be understood much less believed.

Inauthentic proclamations are not an auspicious way to be a Christian.

 

[Paschendale]

In my understanding, demonic possession tends to manifest with the same symptoms as epilepsy. "Possessed" people need a hospital, not an exorcism.

 

[German guy]

So I was thinking to myself the following question. If atheists don't believe in God which in turn makes them not believe in the devil, what is their opinion about people who are "possesed" by evil spirits or devils???

Are you saying that there are still people who actually believe in "possession" and "evil spirit" today? In the 21st century? Although this is pre-modern superstition right out of the Dark Ages?! WTF?!

I think people believing that should be locked away, for that they don't pose a threat to the healthy population.

 

[Visbek]

Perhaps, but I sure do believe in God and demonic possession. Anyone who has read and believes in the bible should know that when Jesus was on the earth people were possessed. Why would that have stopped in todays world??

Because it never happened in the first place. Both then and now, the "possessed" individuals were mentally ill.

I also do not treat the Old or New Testaments as literal reports of fact, any more than the Iliad, Hesiod's Works and Days, Ovid's Metamorphosis, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Epic of Gilgamesh....

 

[German guy]

Because it never happened in the first place. Both then and now, the "possessed" individuals were mentally ill.

I also do not treat the Old or New Testaments as literal reports of fact, any more than the Iliad, Hesiod's Works and Days, Ovid's Metamorphosis, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Epic of Gilgamesh....

At best, "demonic possession" is a poetic description of mental illness.

But science tells us what this "demonic possession" is, what causes it, what the consequences are and how it must be treated.

I hope nobody will ever believe in a "demonic possession" that's in contradiction to scientific explanations of mental illness. That would be so incredibly backwards, superstitious and outright dangerous and inhumane, that I don't even know where to start. I really think people actually believing that are a threat to society.

 

[braymoore]

Are you saying that there are still people who actually believe in "possession" and "evil spirit" today? In the 21st century? Although this is pre-modern superstition right out of the Dark Ages?! WTF?!

I think people believing that should be locked away, for that they don't pose a threat to the healthy population.

I know plenty of people who still believe in possession. It's just a matter of if you you believe and have knowledge of the devil and his angels. Not if you don't believe then there is no point with me arguing with all of you because it will get us nowhere. You all have your opinions and I have mine. I have never been possesed nor would I like to be but I have seen how these people act and have talked with many who have already been possessed. So I'm not going to sit here and try to convince all of those who don't believe to believe because it will just be a waste of my time.