We have followed various cases of exorcisms that result in injury or death over the years. A video has gone viral of one such ritual that did not harm the “possessed” individual but again raises questions over the abusive nature of these rituals. “Father Valeriy” of Church of St Michael in the self-proclaimed state of Transnistria, in Eastern Europe is shown riding the man like a donkey as he protests. After the man collapses, the priest stands on top of him and raises his arms in victory. The Moldovan Orthodox Church has launched a probe. Assuming that this is not just some horrible joke, the video shows the potential for great abuse in such rituals.
When the cameraman asked how far the man must carry the large priest, Valeriy responds “To Jerusalem and to the sacred mountain of Aphone.” The man then pleaded that he cannot go on and asks to carry the priest in his arms instead: “Good people please save me! I cannot take it anymore!
News accounts say that Valeriy insists that they will continue to Jerusalem unless the devil shows itself. What is most disturbing is the appearance of a young child who is allowed to witness this scene as Father Valeriy grabs the man’s ear and then later stands on the collapsed man in victory.
If this video is real, it is shocking to see the level of control that this cleric has over other adults who only only film and laugh at the scene but allow their children to watch as if this were a traveling circus.
Some people have no idea what it’s really like.to have Evil prey on you or be possessed on our human body. comments are absurd and out of line it’s real it existsit’s not a joke.between good and evil absolute battle truly.exists.Took it upon myself to try and exude the evil in my home consequently I went into a seizure.I will not quit the battle!!God bless nobody wants to experience what I have to to deal with.at this point I truly need help.
There was a preacher at the golf course who said he was from Kinston, NC. As he putted the ball across the green he said the following: A duck is a duck. A guiney is a guiney. Kinfolks arse is good as any.
When my half blind guy for whom I was caddy asked what the guy meant by that phrase, the response was: They took the G spot out of Kingston when the American Revolution occurred and women there have not been happy since.
When he was out of earshot another golfer explained that the preacher was of Eastern Orthodox Baptist faith from the NC coast.
It is all a puzzle.
Will any media outlets be covering the ride to Jerusalem?
PAUL C SHULTE…I remember Paul Silas very well. I think he was actually player/coach of the Seattle Sonics in their heyday ( late 1970s).
Very muscular, physical player. Outspoken, too.
He hated Dennis Johnson (DJ). Johnson had made some key buckets down the stretch help win a tight playoff game.
A reporter said “Great game” to Silas. Silas said “Yeah, too bad an ass…. had to win it for us”.
Mike Appleton
While the official number of LDS Church members is increasing, it is far from clear whether the number of ACTIVE members is increasing. Many members are no longer active, but have never taken steps to remove themselves as members of the Church. The Church keeps track of who attends every Sacrament Meeting (the weekly service which all members are supposed to attend), so they clearly know how many members are active. But that information is not made public.
Edwin Starr sang about war, what is it good for…
… The remake should be Religion, what is it good for?
Well, Paul, I use biblical examples but the principle probably applies much more generally than that.
The little I understand of Zoroastrianism leads me to believe that it’s essentially a dualistic philosophy distinguishing order from chaos, in which humans can participate by creating order and dispelling chaos. I do certainly believe that chaos, or entropy, exists as a measurable attribute of any situation. So in that vague and no doubt theologically unsatisfactory sense I think I can see the value of the dualistic viewpoint, as I too love order and avoid chaos.
I don’t think entropy is directly comparable to most human concepts of evil, though. Some very morally dubious things are also relatively low in entropy and vice versa.
Tony Sidaway – in a rather simplistic way it is a continuous fight between good and evil with each taking turns winning at different points. For instance, we could say from 1939-1943 evil was ahead, then good started taking over. By 1945 good was on top. Right now I would say that evil was winning, but not by much.
That is a very rough example. Hope that make sense.
Indeed, but not the beef.
Blue Jay to Sun Devil. Quite a change.
Nick – the scenery was much better. 😉
Thanks for the clarification, Paul. I really didn’t understand the question. No, evil obviously isn’t a separate entity at all. It’s a quality arising from moral discrimination and has a very strong social element, which is one of the reasons why much of the Old Testament is full of blood curdling laws that everybody politely ignores. We simply don’t feel obliged to marry our brothers’ widow or execute our rebellious children any more. The putative evils of wearing clothing woven from two cloths, likewise, are lost on most modern people.
Tony Sidaway – I believe in pure evil and pure good. And I believe they both are at work in the world at all times. This is not Biblical, rather Zoroastrian.
@TexasPoly
Well, trailers are kind of the National House of Texas. . . drumroll—bada boom.
Anyway, I agree that too many churches and religious people try to sugar coat everything. That is why I am impressed with how the Duggars dealt with titty-touching kid episode. My goodness, on a Molestation scale of 1 to 10 of that’s about maybe a 2, but the Duggars still got the kid counseling, and nipped it in the bud. No mealy mouthing around about it.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
I love learning that both PaulS and Pogo are Blue Jays! A girl from our neighborhood who babysat our kids went to Creighton. Good school and an underappreciated city. I like Omaha and Lincoln. The rest of Nebraska sucks. Took a kid to Boys Town when I was a juvenile PO. What a superb place.
Nick – I was only a BlueJay for a year. All I could afford. Then I went to ASU. Muuuuuch less expensive. Loved Creighton though.
One of the problems w/ this venue is contextual humor. I was just playing off the rivalry between Roman and Eastern Catholics. I find all that bureaucratic stuff horseshit. A Chicago Comedian Emo Phillips was raised Lutheran. He does a hilarious bit about all the different divisions, Synods, etc. It starts as a pleasant conversation between two strangers who meet and learn they’re both Lutheran. As they deconstruct all their affiliations it ends w/ one screaming to the other, “DIE, HERETIC!”
Texas P.:
Actually, the Mormon church is one of the few sects experiencing continuing membership growth.
“Tony Sidaway – do you or do you not believe that evil exists? Yes or no. No qualifiers.”
The answer to that question is implicit in the third sentence of my previous comment, where I specifically describe an evil act.
My turn. Why did you appear to assume that I did not believe in a prosaic thing, evil, after I said that make-believe entities like demons, fairies and the like did not exist?
If I misread your reasoning, I apologise in advance, but it did look as if you thought that a reasonable question to ask somebody who doesn’t believe in ghosts, ghoulies, devils and the like.
Tony Sidaway – I reread your comment to make sure I had not read it incorrectly and I had not. Correct me if I misstate your position, you seem to feel some people can do evil things.
I am asking if you believe in evil as a separate entity. Yes or no.
Thanks for the trailer, Squeeky.
BTW, that cleric would have some funny ideas about this movie. By funny, seriously damaging. There’s a reason why the word cult is uttered as a dread word for many churches out there, fearing the loss of members and attendence.
The RCC, Latter Day’s Saints, and other churches are losing attendees because of various reasons and they’re never going to get back their adherents one way or another. Serves them right for trying to lie, distort, warp history. Better yet, preaching something totally opposite, or totally damning, that could have saved an adherent’s “destiny”. For instance, Joseph Smith’s belief in polygamy through Mormonism and the willful disobedience of Smith’s command to be polygamous can be contributed to being in Hell, total damnation. So what did the dear LDS do? They damned many of their adherents by not following the founder of Mormonism in practicing polygamy.
This is what I can’t get: churches who try so hard to hide the real bloody history of what they’ve done. The lies they’ve tried to hide behind the closet, hoping no schoolboy or schoolgirl would ever find out… Well, there’s the truth then there’s the glossed truth.
So many want the glossed truth, not the truth.