"These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages; "
Author: Mark 16 Verses #: 17
In the african countries of Nigeria and Uganda the pentecost revivalist churches pastors are charging up to several hundred dollars to cast demons out of children. When the exorcism has been thought to have failed children as small as toddlers are being abandoned by their parents and families. This is causing a great strain on the social networks of these countries to find people who will care for these poor abandoned children. The practice of claiming that people and little children are possessed of demons by church leaders creates a stigma upon the child and person that is nothing short of a cruel modern day "witch hunt". At no point in scripture does god explain what a demon possessed person looks like or acts like and it is impossible to provide proof of demon possession. This has left the accusation of demon possession open to those church leaders and church members with the largest and most vivid imaginations. I have met many a "preacher" in my 30 years of church attendance who claimed they cast out demons and yet the characteristics and signs and symptoms of a person requiring exorcism is quite vague and the actual proof that a "demon" has been cast out is non existent. To be singled out for a public exorcism is quite demeaning and very confusing for an adult let alone a little child and yet is done routinely in many american churches. Until you have had someone lay hands on you and start screaming for the devil to come out of your body/mind/spirit you cannot really appreciate the confusion and damage that this practice can do. I personally pity any child forced into the experience.
2,000 years ago very little was understood about mental illness, head trauma, and various neurological disorders which I suppose could have been construed as demon possession. Since the advent of modern psychiatry and psychiatric medication society has been able to close institutions/jails that were designed to keep the mentally and criminally insane from the population at large. We no doubt still have a problem with people who need treatment for mental illness and are not getting the care and drugs that they need. Many mentally ill people still refuse help and fail to recognize their illness. This no doubt causes a great deal of suffering as any family unit can attest to when subjected to a mentally ill and unmedicated family member. I personally have never known an exorcism of demons as sufficient to accomplish anything except embarrass and ridicule the person being subjected to the experience. When you are forced to live with someone who has a manic explosive anger disorder for instance one can only wish an "exorcism" could ease the pain and end the physical abuse, but the reality is that demons are a figment of the imagination as is exorcism. Modern day exorcisms are nothing but a fraud and a dog and pony show put on by a church leader who wants to make themselves look powerful and connected to deity before they pass the offering plate.
