7 year old girl dies/ suspect exorcism gone bad

[Lanakila]

This article is extremely disturbing: http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/01/19/child.death.ap/

Even if you believe in such things as demon possession something is amiss, in Denmark, or should I say Georgia.

 

[Blessed75]

I live in Georgia and heard about this - it literally made my stomach turn. I cannot take hearing this kind of stuff. I just don't get it. I really just don't get it. This is so horrible that I just don't even have anything to say - all I can do is just grieve for that child/children...........

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Geesh. I hear about this kind of stuff often. What's the deal with that?

 

[msjones21]

I read about this earlier, since I live in Atlanta and all. It's disgusting. This isn't an example of religious zeal. This is a clear-cut case of a mental disorder. Sickening. So sad.

 

[Silent Enigma]

I read the article. Sounded more like some freaky cult than an exorcism (not to say that exorsisms are ordinary... oh never mind).

But what does un-demonizing kids have to do with sticking them out in the cold?

Maybe they were just making up some lame excuse for their child abuse.

 

[praying]

I read the article. Sounded more like some freaky cult than an exorcism (not to say that exorsisms are ordinary... oh never mind).

But what does un-demonizing kids have to do with sticking them out in the cold?

Maybe they were just making up some lame excuse for their child abuse.

sounds to me like they are just plain nuts!

 

[msjones21]

sounds to me like they are just plain nuts!

Yes, I agree.

 

[SirKenin]

Psychiatric ward may not be a bad place for him. That's terrible news

 

[HazyRigby]

This isn't an example of religious zeal. This is a clear-cut case of a mental disorder. Sickening. So sad.

Where does one draw the line? Hearing voices in one's head?

 

[Lillithspeak]

I read about this earlier, since I live in Atlanta and all. It's disgusting. This isn't an example of religious zeal. This is a clear-cut case of a mental disorder. Sickening. So sad.

First of all, it was a 6 year old child, not a 7 year old. That being said...why do you want to say it was mental illness and not religious zeal? It doesn't sound anything like a mental disorder and I work in the field of mental health.

It sounds entirely like someone who has been taught that there is a creature called "Satan" that can corrupt and lure you into sinful behaviors. You are instructed that you must protect yourself from this demon and that sinful behavior will cause you to spend all eternity in a fiery hell, so this is your basic Christian religion/belief system isn't it?

 

[kdet]

First of all, it was a 6 year old child, not a 7 year old. That being said...why do you want to say it was mental illness and not religious zeal? It doesn't sound anything like a mental disorder and I work in the field of mental health.

It sounds entirely like someone who has been taught that there is a creature called "Satan" that can corrupt and lure you into sinful behaviors. You are instructed that you must protect yourself from this demon and that sinful behavior will cause you to spend all eternity in a fiery hell, so this is your basic Christian religion/belief system isn't it?

Because Lillith only somone mentally ill would do such a thing to their child.
Plenty of people believe in the concept of Satan but they don't do things like this to "help" their child.

 

[Blessed75]

Because Lillith only somone mentally ill would do such a thing to their child.
Plenty of people believe in the concept of Satan but they don't do things like this to "help" their child.

I cannot believe I'm saying this but I agree with Sweetkitty on this one. Yes, I know kitty, please pick yourself up off the floor.

 

[SqueezetheShaman]

The problem is that fundamentalism leads many to behavior that is certifiably insane. There are many on here who I think are nuts, and yet they think they are just good christians. Disturbing really. I didn't even read the article I can not handle these stories. If you can't be a decent parent, abort it for christ's sake. That would be more humane.

 

[SirKenin]

Because Lillith only somone mentally ill would do such a thing to their child.
Plenty of people believe in the concept of Satan but they don't do things like this to "help" their child.

I'm with the kitty on this one too. I can see, though, how an unbeliever looking in may have lillith's viewpoint however. That's entirely fair. However, I think it would be unreasonable to think that this does not happen to mentally ill people that do not profess religious motives.

The press got a hold of a story they thought would sell and put a little bit of zip into it

 

[Firscherscherling]

Day after day we see post after post about the evil and sin being spread in our society. We hear about TV, movies and video games corrupting our kids and triggering them to go to school and start shooting. We hear about homosexual agendas and how all the gays want to do is try to get the age of consent lowered so they can have sex with our children. Someone who looks at playboy will become a woman-objectifying rapist. A pot smoker is going to go crazy and kill you for your TV. Everything bad that happens is about choice and sin and our own moral decay.

This seems to be true, but only when it isn't a Christian-specific atrocity. Time to wake up and smell the coffee folks. There are a lot of reasons these terrible things happen. Sometimes it is because of mental illness. Sometimes because of outside influences. Usually it is both. A thousand shades of gray. But don't forget...

Teach your kids, and spread the word, that homosexuals are evil sinners, beat the subject to death, and some crazy ******* might just tie someone to a post and beat them to death.

Spew venom about moral decay, demonic posession, Satan and evil spirits, and some parents-on-the-edge might just sacrifice their child on an alter in a motel room or drown their kids in the bathtub.

Messages of hatred breed such atrocities.

 

[Paula]

First of all, it was a 6 year old child, not a 7 year old. That being said...why do you want to say it was mental illness and not religious zeal? It doesn't sound anything like a mental disorder and I work in the field of mental health.

It sounds entirely like someone who has been taught that there is a creature called "Satan" that can corrupt and lure you into sinful behaviors. You are instructed that you must protect yourself from this demon and that sinful behavior will cause you to spend all eternity in a fiery hell, so this is your basic Christian religion/belief system isn't it?

Ms. Turnspeak,

I think you and some others missed a very important detail here. As a mental health "professional", would you consider someone "sane" who walks through the streets naked in the bitter cold after midnight with two children? May I suggest you go back and carefully re-read the original article and the news link provided. I'd say your conclusion is rather rash, not to mention judgmental.

 

[draper]

Well, umm, gee. I'd certainly say they were just religious fanatics if it weren't for the fact they were running around in their birthday suit after midnight. Don't think there's a religion that teaches that.

Anyways, done for religious reasons or not, this is, well, sick.

 

[Firscherscherling]

Ms. Turnspeak,

I think you and some others missed a very important detail here. As a mental health "professional", would you consider someone "sane" who walks through the streets naked in the bitter cold after midnight with two children? May I suggest you go back and carefully re-read the original article and the news link provided. I'd say your conclusion is rather rash, not to mention judgmental.

I think the question is, where do you expect us non-believers to draw the line? The other day I saw Christians on TV nailing each other to crosses. I often see, on film or in person, Christians flagellating themselves until their backs bleed, or crawling across concrete in their panty hose until their knees are bloodied. I see them fall on the floor and flop around while chanting "homina-flibida-anna-kournikova" and claiming they are posessed by spirits and speaking in toungues. I see them kill doctors who have different world and religious views than they do. I see them handle snakes and dringk strychnine. I see them get together and recite again and again ritualistic chants. The list is endless.

So, the question is, how do you distinguish the righteous man from the man who is obeying God's voice. Do you believe in posession? What is the crazy part? Is it beliving that there are spirits, or is it beliving that a spirit can posess a person, or is it that you can perform a ritual to cast the spirit out? Where is the line crossed from faith to just plain nuts?

 

[Paula]

Well, umm, gee. I'd certainly say they were just religious fanatics if it weren't for the fact they were running around in their birthday suit after midnight. Don't think there's a religion that teaches that.

Anyways, done for religious reasons or not, this is, well, sick.

Do you know of a religion that teaches parents to break their children's backs and then suffocate them? Well, I don't either. This couple is very obviously disturbed and should be punished to the ultimate letter of the law for their unconscionable behavior. Mentally ill people may experience delusions that cause them to mutilate or kill their children, and I think this is one of those instances, but it shouldn't be used as a pretext by some for Christian-bashing.

 

[SirKenin]

I think the question is, where do you expect us non-believers to draw the line? The other day I saw Christians on TV nailing each other to crosses. I often see, on film or in person, Christians flagellating themselves until their backs bleed, or crawling across concrete in their panty hose until their knees are bloodied. I see them fall on the floor and flop around while chanting "homina-flibida-anna-kournikova" and claiming they are posessed by spirits and speaking in toungues. I see them kill doctors who have different world and religious views than they do. I see them handle snakes and dringk strychnine. I see them get together and recite again and again ritualistic chants. The list is endless.

So, the question is, how do you distinguish the righteous man from the man who is obeying God's voice. Do you believe in posession? What is the crazy part? Is it beliving that there are spirits, or is it beliving that a spirit can posess a person, or is it that you can perform a ritual to cast the spirit out? Where is the line crossed from faith to just plain nuts?

Use Jesus as your guide. After much intense unbiased study you will be able to answer your own question and draw your own line.