Day 703 (Tidbits)

I don't know what the bulk of readers think about things like exorcism but I, for one, find it a fascinating topic for discussion. Blake introduces an interesting article, "American Exorcists in Demand," about the Catholic Church seeking people to train and learn to perform the rites of exorcism!

The Day 703 post over on THE 800 DAYS blog is full of information on this matter, even though it's one of Blake's average-to-short length posts. ie: training in Baltimore, how many Bishops and Priests are set to be trained as Exorcists, recruitment of the clergy for said position/responsibility, WOW...

No Guf, eh?

Serious stuff - the Catholic Church is NOT treating demons and evil spirits as if they're metaphors, symbolic, archetypes, make-believe entities...

Perhaps we should all take another look at our own perceptions of the concepts of demonic possession, spirits, esoteric rites, spirituality, oh WAIT....

That's what we've been DOING (from time to time) on the blogs already!

MY BAD...

Haha...

But seriously... In my opinion, we do need to examine the topic of exorcism and also - Church authority on this matter, the beliefs surrounding demonic possession, a number of other (I was going to say "a host of other...but) related issues and topics.

Frankly - WE DO NOT KNOW with any scientific certainty WHAT EXISTS beyond our five senses, 'cos we're trained to rely on just five senses, now, aren't we?

No matter what you think of any particular denomination or sect of Christian or Pagan religion, there are thousands of years of stories, statements, papers, essays and such on topics that science often pooh-poohs. As well, there are scholars in almost every religion who are good scholars and I think we should at least perform some critical thinking and a little research, ourselves, to become familiar with as yet unexplained topics.

Are demons simply a product of unstable minds?
Or are they dimensional beings?
Fallen angels?
Ancient beings from this world - or another?
Tulpas?

Honestly, I had a few personal friends jest when I sent the link to Blake's article - Ad Hominem statements against Catholicism were their most marked "reasons" for pooh-pooh-ing an article which says that Church scholars are taking an in-depth, serious look into demon possession cases and information - and formulating some defenses against demons and evil entities, "just in case."

To the pooh-pooh-ers, I ask...

What are you going to do if something negative and paranormal happens to you? Particularly if that unexplained thing is harmful in an outright way?

The Day 703 post is associated with Monday January 17 2011.