Yesterday, I was sharing a recent news story with my (devout Christian) mother. It’s about a grandfather who performed an “exorcism” on his three-year-old grand-daughter. I explained how, when the police arrived, the child was in a headlock, bleeding, gasping for air, and screaming. Her mother was there too, standing naked and chanting some religious nonsense. My mother shook her head in disapproval as I continued.
I explained that the grandfather later died from unknown causes, and thus couldn’t be charged with anything. Then I added that the authorities were still considering charging the mother.
“She should be charged, don’t you think?” she said.
I agreed, and then things went weird.
My mother said, “But some people do have demons. You have at least one.”
Now I know that my mother is generally nutty, religiously, but most of her doctrinal views are moderate. She’s nutty about the supernaturalism. In the past, she mentioned me being deceived by Satan and having a demon, but I dismissed it as humor because I’m an atheist. Apparently it wasn’t a joke. She also claims to have seen a manifestation of Jesus in her bedroom, as well as having a guardian angel physically push her car out of the way in a close-call with a truck. Anyway…
So I asked, “Do you sincerely believe that am possessed by a demon?”
“I do,” she said, “Why else would you act the way you do? Satan already has you, and knows how strong my faith is. He is trying to use you to get to me.”
I’ll give you the summary without going through all of that dialog. She explained that I seem obsessed with religion and atheism, and that it’s all I think about. Because of this, she concluded that I have a demon… correction, “at least one” demon.
She is partially correct. I am passionate about what is true in all things. It’s just that, as things are in the world, religion seems to have a stronghold on doing stupid things that harm others, based on superstitious beliefs. Educating myself about such things helps me better discuss the ideas with others, and possibly to change a few people’s minds. This is definitely an important topic to me. Does that mean I am possessed by demons?
I pointed out that what she described implicates a lot of Christians. A lot of them are obsessed with Jesus and the Bible, and it’s all they spend their time on. She admitted that they might have demons too. Seriously. (Remember kiddies – don’t be passionate about anything. it’s of da devil.)
I took a different approach, hoping to show how silly she was being. I asked if she had ever seen a demon, particularly the one(s) in me. She hadn’t. I asked if demons are visible. She said they aren’t. I asked if demons are material beings. She said they aren’t.
So… Demons can’t be seen. They aren’t made of anything, so they can’t be felt. Since there is no matter, they can’t been heard, smelled or tasted either. That’s all five senses! I explained this to my mother, and then asked how she knew about the demon(s) possessing me since they are unobservable. She said, “I just can’t understand how anyone would act the way you do unless it was a demon.” That’s it! An argument from personal incredulity!
I tried to explain the logical fallacy she committed, but she didn’t seem to care. Poor reasoning or not, she is already convinced. I also told her that it’s a mistake to claim certainty about something with apparently no evidence and based on a clear logical error.
I said, “You could be wrong though, right?”
“I could be, but I’m not,” she responded.
This is a good example of how moderate religious adherents actually allow and encourage the more extreme and fundamentalist type among them. It’s not that believing that demons possess humans is ridiculous. No, she believes it. The only difference is that my mother doesn’t have the conviction (or strength) to strangle demons out of possessed people. I’m grateful, and so would be many others who have been diagnosed in her presence.
