5 ms·

Let me guess, it looks like a mixture of epilepsy and schizophrenia, plus a splash of frustration and anger that your serious and medically recognized condition

• xtiansimon 3y ago
  The article gives the example of the priest working with the patient’s doctor to conclude his affliction is medical, just as you describe, and not demonic. Patient is disappointed he didn’t get a faith-based reason for his suffering. I’m struck by this example, because it gives me the idea this priest’s main job is to look for evidence of something that doesn’t exist. Arguably, like SETI research. … I’m thinking about this drug addict I met once on a day labor job. He was describing to me how he faked different mental illnesses to get better drugs. I’m guessing there was something underlying, and he’s working from there. The previous guy is looking for a reason underlying his condition. The latter guy is developing his conditions. It seems like this exorcist job would deal with people on a spectrum of strong religious beliefs—people with rare conditions grasping for answers, people who convince themselves and maybe manifest the symptoms consciously or unconsciously, and people who are truly mentally lost, and I would add, lost in the man-made fiction. If the church exists for any positive purpose, it’s to help people who are suffering. In the latter type, only a trained exorcist trained in faith and in ‘evil’ distortions of church doctrine could help. Like a specialist software/hardware debugger. His job is to help alleviate suffering because he has this knowledge of weird, and to protect the church. Like a spiritual fire fighter.