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Epilepsy and Demonic Possession...or something of the sort
Tue, 06/24/2008 - 16:43Has anyone had problems with religious family members whipping out Mark 9 (the chapter where Jesus heals a boy who apparently is having seizures of some sort), then declaring that you must have demons in you, or you have spiritual unrest, or are somehow "not right" with God?
My father did that to me recently. When he started talking about it, I was afraid he was going to try an exorcism on me right then and there. But he didn't - he just prayed. Ever since then he's been pushing me to talk to my minister about my alleged spiritual unrest. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do that - soon we'll have a new minister and I can just see me going in on his first day on the job and saying, "O hi, sometimes I wake up at night with a yell and then I shake. Can you help me? I must not be right with God." The poor minister would probably put a request in for a transfer that same day.
I mean, I do have Demons. I really do. And I have Crime and Punishment and The Idiot and Brothers Karamazov and most of Dostoevsky's works. (Sorry - had to get a book nerd joke in there.)
Seriously, I thank this very same Deity (with whom I am supposedly not right) that I'm an adult and live a few states away from my father. But this still bothers me because I have to deal with my father's pestering me to talk to the minister. Truly, I think it goes beyond just a religious matter and it's more a question of my father's sanity.
So has anyone else dealt with this demons issue?
Comments
Re: Epilepsy and Demonic Possession...or something of the sort
Submitted by rabcamah on Fri, 2008-06-27 - 05:59
Hi,
yeah, I had the same thing said concerning my seizures. They all would gather around praying and that would annoy me. That would turn me off. I'm not against prayer, but the fact that they consider epilepsy is demon possesion. I think a person is afraid of what they don't understand. I can imagine when I have seizures that they look terrifying to the on-looker. I don't believe that it has anything to do with demons. Maybe they need to see an article explaining what epilepsy is. Sometimes I wonder if they pray out of their own fear, because it looks scary to them. When I have seizures and get hurt, I don't even feel anything. ... at least until afterwards. I can imagine how it looks to others. I had never seen an actual seizure, but from how others describe mine is that it look scary. Some even say that God must be watching out after me. I know God is watching out after me, because if He wasn't I would have been dead along time ago from the falls I had with them. If we weren't right with God, he wouldn't protect us during them. Hope this helps some.
Hi,
yeah, I had the same thing said concerning my seizures. They all would gather around praying and that would annoy me. That would turn me off. I'm not against prayer, but the fact that they consider epilepsy is demon possesion. I think a person is afraid of what they don't understand. I can imagine when I have seizures that they look terrifying to the on-looker. I don't believe that it has anything to do with demons. Maybe they need to see an article explaining what epilepsy is. Sometimes I wonder if they pray out of their own fear, because it looks scary to them. When I have seizures and get hurt, I don't even feel anything. ... at least until afterwards. I can imagine how it looks to others. I had never seen an actual seizure, but from how others describe mine is that it look scary. Some even say that God must be watching out after me. I know God is watching out after me, because if He wasn't I would have been dead along time ago from the falls I had with them. If we weren't right with God, he wouldn't protect us during them. Hope this helps some.
Re: Epilepsy and Demonic Possession...or something of the sort
Submitted by ruth.brown82 on Sat, 2008-06-28 - 14:15
I have read the scripture in Mark that you are talking about. Jesus cured the
boy of epilepsy. The boy had epilepsy and that is all. It is sad that
people think he was demonic. If he was, Jesus would have said so. He
always did when he was dealing with the demons.
I emphazise that the boy had epilepsy and Jesus cured him. Jesus was
showing that people have epilepsy and need to be cured.
I have read the scripture in Mark that you are talking about. Jesus cured the
boy of epilepsy. The boy had epilepsy and that is all. It is sad that
people think he was demonic. If he was, Jesus would have said so. He
always did when he was dealing with the demons.
I emphazise that the boy had epilepsy and Jesus cured him. Jesus was
showing that people have epilepsy and need to be cured.
Re: Epilepsy and Demonic Possession...or something of the sort
Submitted by Seruzies on Fri, 2008-06-27 - 00:35
I've never had some idiot tell me anything like this, but if someone did, I'd tell them to go finish the box of Cracker Jacks they were eating, and see if there's something else in the box besides the degree in neuro sciences they found in the first place. I laughed out loud at the "demons" comment, that's really not even a funny joke. You have a condition, it's called Epilepsy, and is treated with medication, diet, and sometimes surgery. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking religion, I'm Catholic myself and wouldn't listen to someone in the church about Epilepsy unless my Neurologist was sitting in the pew next to me. Science sometimes can't even find a cause for Epilepsy, you're going to take someone's advice from a church? Give me a break.
I've never had some idiot tell me anything like this, but if someone did, I'd tell them to go finish the box of Cracker Jacks they were eating, and see if there's something else in the box besides the degree in neuro sciences they found in the first place. I laughed out loud at the "demons" comment, that's really not even a funny joke. You have a condition, it's called Epilepsy, and is treated with medication, diet, and sometimes surgery. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking religion, I'm Catholic myself and wouldn't listen to someone in the church about Epilepsy unless my Neurologist was sitting in the pew next to me. Science sometimes can't even find a cause for Epilepsy, you're going to take someone's advice from a church? Give me a break.