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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 kayzak on Wed, 2009-01-07 - 23:09
Please allow me to shoot my mouth off. When it comes to reading descriptions of any illness in the bible, we need to remember that the authors are doing their best to describe something that they did not fully understand. Personally, I don't care whether someone sees my seizures as demonic possession or illness, as long as they are willing to help me. If they can stop one of my grand mals through prayer, laying on of hands, spraying me with Holy Water, or loading me up with A.E.Ds, I don't care. Just make 'em stop. I have known people who would with out a doubt view e as demonic possession. My ex mother in law's third husband comes to mind. He would pray the demons out of her when she snored. Unfortunately, he passed before I began having seizures. I would have loved to discuss it with him. On the other hand, I work with a couple of Pentacostal preachers. I don't know if they see e as possession or illness, but I do know their concern for my well being after I have an episode is genuine. At my church, no one has brought up possession, but they have made numerous offers of assistance. In fact, the only trouble I've had with people after my last seizure (Christmas Eve after 17 years seizure free), is people arguing with me about commuting around town on my bicycles. I am blessed with these people in my life. I'm not sure where I'm going with this. I hope it helps.
Please allow me to shoot my mouth off. When it comes to reading descriptions of any illness in the bible, we need to remember that the authors are doing their best to describe something that they did not fully understand. Personally, I don't care whether someone sees my seizures as demonic possession or illness, as long as they are willing to help me. If they can stop one of my grand mals through prayer, laying on of hands, spraying me with Holy Water, or loading me up with A.E.Ds, I don't care. Just make 'em stop. I have known people who would with out a doubt view e as demonic possession. My ex mother in law's third husband comes to mind. He would pray the demons out of her when she snored. Unfortunately, he passed before I began having seizures. I would have loved to discuss it with him. On the other hand, I work with a couple of Pentacostal preachers. I don't know if they see e as possession or illness, but I do know their concern for my well being after I have an episode is genuine. At my church, no one has brought up possession, but they have made numerous offers of assistance. In fact, the only trouble I've had with people after my last seizure (Christmas Eve after 17 years seizure free), is people arguing with me about commuting around town on my bicycles. I am blessed with these people in my life. I'm not sure where I'm going with this. I hope it helps.
Re: Epilepsy and Demonic Possession...or something of the sort
Submitted by juperee on Tue, 2009-01-13 - 22:07
It doesn't take much looking around to realize that sometimes bad stuff happens to good people. It also doesn't take long to realize that a lot of good things can come out of suffering, like character development, opportunities for great compassion, re-prioritization of what really matters.
In my job, I have to build prototypes of "gadgets" and I have to fix things. Often it's unknown territory and I'm encountering a particular problem for the first time. So I have to take a sec to think, then rummage in a tool box to find what I need to solve the problem. I don't always fish out the right tool the first time, and sometimes I go down a dead end at first, but with patience, I persevere.
In life, I have learned (rather recently), that whenever life gives me an obstacle, I can pause and look around a moment, and sure enough God will have provided me the tool I need to cope with the obstacle. Sometimes it's a tool I've never used before, so it takes a little learning (I might not even recognize it at first, especially if I am convinced I already know what I need), but God has never given me something I can't handle, and I always learn something useful by the experience.
God loves us little critters, and he provides what we need, even if it's not what we think we want at the time.
It doesn't take much looking around to realize that sometimes bad stuff happens to good people. It also doesn't take long to realize that a lot of good things can come out of suffering, like character development, opportunities for great compassion, re-prioritization of what really matters.
In my job, I have to build prototypes of "gadgets" and I have to fix things. Often it's unknown territory and I'm encountering a particular problem for the first time. So I have to take a sec to think, then rummage in a tool box to find what I need to solve the problem. I don't always fish out the right tool the first time, and sometimes I go down a dead end at first, but with patience, I persevere.
In life, I have learned (rather recently), that whenever life gives me an obstacle, I can pause and look around a moment, and sure enough God will have provided me the tool I need to cope with the obstacle. Sometimes it's a tool I've never used before, so it takes a little learning (I might not even recognize it at first, especially if I am convinced I already know what I need), but God has never given me something I can't handle, and I always learn something useful by the experience.
God loves us little critters, and he provides what we need, even if it's not what we think we want at the time.
Re: Epilepsy and Demonic Possession...or something of the sort
Submitted by snoviasif on Wed, 2009-01-07 - 17:58
I hate to hear that so many of us have simialr experiences with e and religion. The majority of my family is Christian. Half of them are on the side of e being an illness and half are on the side of it being possession or a punishment from God and I just need to do better.
I converted to Islam and according to my faith e is only a disease and you can either ask God for patience to deal with it, medicine to handle/cure it, or the cure. Either way because you got stuck with it and it sucks having it you're going to get more reward in the hereafter. Most of the American Muslims I've come across comprehend what e is all about. NOW SOME of the people coming from overseas not so much. It's all about praying harder, some committed sin, or a demon, and you may be told go ask this person to do some voodoo junk.
It's all very frustrating, but at least we have each other on here.
I hate to hear that so many of us have simialr experiences with e and religion. The majority of my family is Christian. Half of them are on the side of e being an illness and half are on the side of it being possession or a punishment from God and I just need to do better.
I converted to Islam and according to my faith e is only a disease and you can either ask God for patience to deal with it, medicine to handle/cure it, or the cure. Either way because you got stuck with it and it sucks having it you're going to get more reward in the hereafter. Most of the American Muslims I've come across comprehend what e is all about. NOW SOME of the people coming from overseas not so much. It's all about praying harder, some committed sin, or a demon, and you may be told go ask this person to do some voodoo junk.
It's all very frustrating, but at least we have each other on here.