demon possession
Submitted by Ray on August 21 1999 at 10:29:48
In reply to To all - posing the question again. Does my sexual attraction mean I am possessed? Submitted by Jimf3 on August 21 1999 at 09:15:45
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Jim, No, I don't think you or I are possessed by demons because you and I have a sexual attraction to males. Part of my hesitancy in responding both times this thread began is that I think demon possession is an archaic concept and more harmful than helpful in understanding the human condition and remedying "problems." Usually I avoid persons who tend to use that kind of language. Or maybe, the circles in which I circulate tend to exclude "those kind" of people! I may talk in terms of "spirits," but rarely -- and then in terms of a spirit which a person possesses, not in terms of a person possessed by a spirit. Usually human states which religious persons refer to as "demon possession" I prefer to talk of using terms which are more psychological than religious. And particularly someone who talks of gays being gay because of demon possession I expect I would not engage in conversation. I'd expect that we have no common language for communicating anyway. And that my efforts to explain what I think would fall on deaf ears and I'd become frustrated. Another reason for not responding is that my responses tend to get so complex that no one seems to understand anything I say anyway. I think I had started to respond twice to the thread the first time around and didn't post the follow-up because I thought that what I was saying (e.g., an article about "sin" that I submitted to The Lutheran magazine several years ago, but wasn't published) just wasn't appropriate or helpful here. More on demons and demonizing. Two years ago I talked via anonymous e-mail with a YF who ten years ago said he didn't want to be friends anymore (at that time he was in his late 20's). In one of the 70+ e-mails we exchanged (abut 2/3 of them mine), he said that ten years ago he thought that I wasn't strong enough to take on my demons, and that he'd rather leave than confront me. (He had begun the e-mail conversation hoping to gain some understanding of what had happened between us.) One insight I gained from that conversation is that what I see as a relationship "problem" was considered back then by the two of us and two other mutual friends as my "problem." It was my fault that the relationship was not working and he decided to end it. In the Lutheran Church the regular confession of sin contains these words: "we confess that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole hear; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves." But the confession of sin which the congregation of which I'm a member uses is: "I confess to God almight, before the whole company of heaven, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned in thought, word, and deed by my fault, by my own fault, by my own most grievous fault; wherefore I pray God Almight to have mercy on me..." A line from the movie, "Good Will Hunting," caught my attention a year and a half ago: "It's not your fault!" I've extended that to what happened in the break up of the YF and I -- It's not our fault! To demonize me was to avoid a relationship problem. But each of us used our best judgment at the time to decide what to do each step of the way! To say that same-gender attraction is demon possession is a woefully inadequate understanding of this world we live in and of what it is to be human. Next, Jim, I'd like to find out why you were affected so strongly by what was said and not said about gays and demon possession. For the most part I usually just ignore those statements and they die a natural death! I suspect that you more than some others are more aware of the harm that such statements and that type of thinking can do, and are quick to point it out - and eager to stamp it out! Gotta' go deliver pizza! I forgot I'm supposed to be there now! Ray |