Monday, August 30, 2010

A Demon Called Schizophrenia

Are you schizophrenic? This man hates you. He also hates music. And gays. And Catholics. And atheists . . .

Ray Comfort has been writing an ongoing series on exorcism, specifically his exorcisms of people that were doubtless using drugs, experiencing seizures or mentally ill- without any effort to make sure these people visited medical professionals. (Who needs medical professionals when you've got Jesus?)

I've been ignoring this, though as a person who suffers from Simple Partial Seizures this series has enraged me to no end*. Please, please, please: if you or someone you love are experiencing any of the symptoms mentioned in Ray's posts, see a doctor. Right away. You or they could be in very big trouble and time may not be on your side. If you want to pray, pray. Just do it at the doctor's office, okay?

This passage, however, was the outside of enough:

Over the next few hours twelve spirits named themselves and came out of her. The first one to leave called itself "Joseph Smith." Jane apparently had contact with Mormonism, and had even been baptized by them. The other spirits named themselves as Mocking, Lying, Deceit, Schizophrenia, False Tongues, Music, Affliction, Soal, Marinda, Strength, and Lucifer (which I would think was a lying spirit). The two that had the greatest stronghold were Strength and Marinda. I commanded, "Marinda, what is your function -- what do you do?"
[emphasis mine]

Schizophrenia is not a demon. It is a disease. It is a disease that affects millions of people, people just like you and me. Those people are suffering from a disease exactly the same way a diabetic is suffering from a disease. Oddly enough, nobody ever feels ashamed to admit that their pancreas isn't working right, while schizophrenics are treated with fear and revulsion every day.

How dare you, Ray?

How fucking dare you?






*Because SPS can cause symptoms like abdominal pain and tachycardia, or just plain weird ass moods, it can be very difficult to get diagnosed. I suffered for a very long time and the treatment is simple: take some pills. They work great. I no longer have to deal with hallucinations. Why that took the better part of decade to work out, I don't know.

8 comments:

  1. It sure would be nice if medical problems worked that way, though. We could just order the demons out, people would be cured, and we could prove the Truth of Jesus Christ all in one fell swoop.

    With my luck, though, we'd just breed new strains of prayer-resistant demons.

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  2. "Don't pray when you don't have a demon, it just makes the demons prayer resistant. And, be sure to continue praying for the entire 10 days, because the demons will just come back and we don't have any stronger prayers than that."

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  3. so... what was "Marina"? i have a feeling it was supposed to be the new IUD - but none of the links went to Ray [which is *safer*, and i've never once WANTED to go see everything he wrote before - just this one time]


    also, that's hilarious; "pray for the entire 10 days" lol

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  4. have i mentioned that sometimes, i HIT a key, but it never shows? Marinda - could it be "Miranda" is what i was TRYING to convey. sigh. sorry

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  5. The ignorance of some people never ceases to astonish me. Although it would be really nice to think of exorcizing a few demons I can think of...

    It's really scary to think that some people out there really listen to this man.

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  6. Hey, PF, Blogger unveiled a new comment spam blocker. I used it on Sunday and applied it to your friend up there. Just sayin', is all...

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  7. Well said! I remember in the late 90s Morris Cerullo held mass rallies in London and promised cures. A young died soon after attending one of these rallies, as she decided to stop her epileptic medication and unfortunately died of a siezure in her bath.

    You may remember the now silent Mr Greiser - no doubt believing the dangerous drivel of Mr Comfort, also advised those with mental illness to ditch their medication?

    Given treligion seems more able to CAUSE problems, rather than solve them, you'd think most sensible people would just ignore Ray Comfort - but alas, there are those who are fooled by this dangerous man.

    Thanks for this - it needs to be said!

    S.

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  8. I suspect that Ray is being clueless and stupid here rather than actually hating people. Never confuse stupidity with hatred especially where Ray Comfort is concerned. In this case, it wouldn't at all surprise me if events occurred close to how Ray is describing them. Unfortunately, there's the more general problem that almost every single person who has a "demon" really just has some form of mental illness. What is worse, they often then react in a way that is culturally mediated. If you tell a mentally ill person that they are possessed, if anything things are going to get worst.

    I'm damn thankful that I live in a nice, sane part of the US, so when I had some mental health issues, I was sent to see a shrink, not an exorcist.

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Comments are for you guys, not for me. Say what you will. Don't feel compelled to stay on topic, I enjoy it when comments enter Tangentville or veer off into Non Sequitur Town. Just keep it polite, okay?

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