Many of my colleagues believe there are no spirits or demons. They seem to know a priori that everything that exists is physical. This writer does not know any such thing. The topic of exorcism is best known in popular culture through William Blatty’s 1971 novel The Exorcist and the subsequent film of the same name in 1974. What is generally unknown is that the novel and movie are based on an actual 1949 case in Georgetown, which had been reported at the time in The Parapsychological Bulletin of Duke University. Whether demons exist and can possess a person is an empirical question, which should turn on actual evidence. D. Scott Rogo’s book The Poltergeist Experience (Penguin, 1979)(Chapter 6) describes a case of an allegedly possessed child who levitates and speaks Latin to which he has never been exposed. The author claims this was testified to by forty-one witnesses.
Kenneth
Essays by Month
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Recent Essays
- Polygamy versus Polyandry
- The Essences of Prayer
- Questioning Salvation
- A Minority View
- Most Assuredly a Curse
- All Are Okay
- It Depends
- Policies Should Evolve
- Reincarnation
- Too Much Money
- Both Are Vital
- Godless Items
- My Heresies
- A Gift
- The Defenseless Theist
- Nothing is Unforgivable
- Contemporary Prophets
- Enhance Social Involvement
- Learn From It!
- A Truly Nasty Person
- A Bird in the Hand …
- A Dark Vision
- Life’s Intrinsic Values
- Imminent Death
- The Argument From Design
- The Young Jesus
- Self-Knowledge
- No More War
- No Single Role
- God’s Pick
- A Mistaken Assumption
- Two Queries
- Fear Not Death
- The Cult of the Market
- Variable Religious Responsibility
- Inappropriate Gratitude
- A Thirst For Religious Knowledge
- Try Something New
- Secular Meditation
- Consider the Evidence
- The Sources of Life Satisfaction
- Prayer & Meditation
- God Talk
- Some Religions Promotes Wealth
- Harry Confronts Evil
- A Phony Choice
- A False Dichotomy
- Joyful Engagement
- No Love & No Hate
- No Taxes = No Politics
- “God will provide”
- The Occult Reported
- Multiple Possible Causes
- It Depends …
- God Is Both
- Lost Serenity
- The Religious Poor
- Violent Sects
- Secular Virtues?
- Unmarried Sex
- Blessed Silence
- False Religions
- Language Askew
- A Dubious Generality
- A Faulty Assumption
- Holy Foods
- Secular Trends
- Absolutely Not!
- Religious Flux
- Rules Rule
- Tough Choices
- Justified Fear
- Tears of Joy?
- Yes & No
- Conditions on Friendship?
- The Stillness of Meditation
- Parsing Piety
- Hell Yes
- Spiritual Alzheimers
- A Vexed Issue
- Deist or Theist
- It Is Neither
- An Open Question
- Parental Influence
- Mercy: No Cure All
- Confusions About Neutrality
- The Eye of the Needle
- The Relativity of Kindness
- Distinct Divinities
- Why We Err
- An Agnostic’s Position
- A Ban Achieves Little
- Approaching Death
- Pro Education about Religion
- An Open Question
- Avoid the Doctrinaire
- Conflicting Beliefs
- Goodbye, Joe
- Hell Denied
- Time’s Puzzle
- Veiled Liberty
- Literal Texts
- My Unhappiness
- Sin Requires a Deity
- Spiritual Irritants
- Religion Not a Panacea
- Who Knows?
- A Middling Sin
- Divine Law in Flux
- Views of Jesus
- No Necessary Standards
- Universal Liberty
- Complicated Desires
- Denying Evil
- Assuredly Imperfect
- Divine Dress Codes
- Naked Is Good
- Spiritual Alzheimers
- The Perplexity of Death
- Religion Won’t Matter
- Elusive Truth
- Parsing Pornography
- A Religious Dilemma
- No Programmed Belief
- A Scary Prospect
- Intellectual Sloth
- Religion In Flux
- The Puzzle of Miracles
- Water Rites
- Names & Their Power
- Is God Listening?
- Don’t do it!
- It Depends
- Parental Challenges
- Time’s Perplexities
- Religion, Gender & Surveys
- Unfree Speech
- Religious Fanaticism
- “Dukkha” & the Grim Reaper
- A Philosopher’s Resolution
- The Blame for Ebola
- Critiques of the Curia
- A Cultural Lag
- Unethical Bankers?
- A God Beyond Belief
- Not God’s Doing
- Evil Is Real
- A Vexing Question
- An Uncaring God
- Dropouts