New paper says maybe mental condition really IS demons | Doubtful News

Kudos to Sharon Hill over at Doubtful News for this gem,,,

Long ago, before modern medical understanding, people thought that various conditions such as mental illness and brain disorders like seizures were caused by demons. Those days have long past. Maybe not in the religious-minded. Note that this article comes from High Council of Science, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey. Turkey is a hotbed of Muslim fundamentalism.

The Journal is peer-reviewed including reports on “contemporary modes of religious and spiritual thought with particular emphasis on their relevance to current medical and psychological research.” Articles deal with mental and physical health in relation to religion and spirituality of all kinds. Therefore, that might explain why such a piece is published – that even contemporary (backwards) religions are returning to pre-scientific explanations.

I can’t fathom how such a paper would contain anything but speculation. The medical data nor any other scientific evidence anywhere in no way supports the reality of supernatural entities as a cause of human harm. Belief, however, causes havoc.

I was half tempted to pay the $40 to purchase this paper until reading K Friesen's comment,

,,,it is definitely not peer reviewed. For that matter, there is scarcely anything in the paper – no methods, numbers, statistics, nothing even about “spiritual treatment”. The five pages of this paper (three if you don’t include the abstract and references) basically describe the symptomatology of schizophrenia and delusional disorders, talk a little bit about what a “demonic” experience might be like. To be a bit balanced, this article is under a subheading of “Psychological Exploration”

Sorry forty bucks for five pages of dreck is not worth the price no matter how "enlightening" it may be.

A few thoughts to ponder,,,

A point that HIll makes, "[w]hen people believe this is religious cause, it will encourage exorcisms. Exorcisms are downright deadly." To which Improbable Research, cited by Hill, ends with this question, "The new theory raises an enigmatic question : if medication helps patients, is it acting on the patients themselves, or on the demons which possess them?

It is my question of which came first, religious belief or mental illness? In my humble opinion, the belief that one is demonically possessed is often a symptom of schizophrenia. "My feelings and movements are controlled by others in a certain way” and “They put thoughts in my head that are not mine.” Compare also to what some say in regards to aliens and demonology, Bill Alnor for example in a 2009 lecture [from my other blog].

A second point, if one looks at the references cited by the paper talked about by HIll some of the references are to sources specifically about the Near Eastern or Islamic belief jinn.

Whether Christian or Islamic, belief in demonic possession will lead to catastrophic results as I have many times highlighted.

New paper says maybe mental condition really IS demons | Doubtful News