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posted by mrpg on Thursday December 06 2018, @04:11AM   Printer-friendly
from the the-power-of-god-compels-you-to-read-it dept.

The conviction that demons exist—and that they exist to harass, derange, and smite human beings—stretches back as far as religion itself. In ancient Mesopotamia, Babylonian priests performed exorcisms by casting wax figurines of demons into a fire. The Hindu Vedas, thought to have been written between 1500 and 500 b.c., refer to supernatural beings—known as asuras, but largely understood today as demons—that challenge the gods and sabotage human affairs. For the ancient Greeks, too, demonlike creatures lurked on the shadowy fringes of the human world.

But far from being confined to a past of Demiurges and evil eyes, 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.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/12/catholic-exorcisms-on-the-rise/573943/


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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 06 2018, @08:58PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 06 2018, @08:58PM (#770843)

    In fact, best to exorcise all Christians, and it is easy to do: You just as them to pledge loyalty to the God-Emperor Trump!

    I am a Christian and I would never pledge loyalty to Trump. I despise just about everything he stands for. In fact, I would never vote for him; I voted for Hillary in 2016. I would sooner turn in a blank ballot than vote for him (if I didn't think there were any other viable candidates on the ballot). I think you need to get out more. Just sayin'.

    But where this logic is suspect during the witch trials of the 16th century, it surprisingly makes sense right now.

    Ummm...yeah. What's old is new again, right? How about we leave Mueller to do the investigation while trolls like you STFU. That would work for me. See, I actually like things like due process; while it ain't perfect it's a hell of a lot better than what you are proposing.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @05:42PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @05:42PM (#771233)

    I voted for Hillary in 2016

    Virtue waver noted. Except, it's more of an anti-virtue. If everyone who thinks like you would have voted third party, it may have done some good. But, that's alright - waving your virtues anonymously doesn't count anyway.