War on Christianity > Finland tries again to close Bibles with respect to homosexuality

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It has been obvious for several decades now that the LGBTQ lobby would challenge the Bible in courts around the world in an effort to prevent people from sharing God's view of homosexuality and other abominations. Abomination is what God calls it in both the Old Testament and the New. 

So far, no one has been able to shut the Bible up. But in Finland, they are trying again.

Christian MP back in court to face 'hate speech' charges

for quoting the Bible

By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor

Päivi Räsänen holds a bible as she arrives with her husband, Niilo Rasanen, to attend a court session at the Helsinki District Court in Helsinki, Finland, on January 24, 2022. | Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtukuva/AFP via Getty Images

Finnish Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen, acquitted more than a year ago after being prosecuted for voicing her traditional Christian beliefs about marriage and sexuality, is back in court, facing charges of "hate speech."

Räsänen, a parliamentarian with over 25 years of service, and Bishop Juhana Pohjola arrived at the Helsinki Court of Appeal this week to face the prosecution's appeal of their acquittal, said the human rights group ADF International, which is supporting the case.

"Everyone should be able to share their beliefs without fearing censorship by state authorities. With God's help, I will remain steadfast," Räsänen told her supporters.

The prosecution kicked off the proceedings with arguments against the defendants, focusing on a booklet written by Räsänen nearly two decades ago and stating that the content was "insulting" and violated "sexual rights."

The prosecutor argued that the use of the word "sin" in Räsänen's booklet was "degrading" and that her interpretation of Bible verses was "criminal."

"The point isn't whether it is true or not but that it is insulting," 

the prosecutor stated, according to ADF International.  

"We can limit freedom of expression in the outward expression of religion," the prosecution added. "You can cite the Bible, but it is Räsänen's interpretation and opinion about the Bible verses that are criminal."

Last year, the Helsinki District Court cleared both Räsänen and Bishop Pohjola of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland of similar charges. The prosecution appealed this decision, arguing that the court had "misinterpreted" Räsänen's tweet and reached an incorrect conclusion.

Paul Coleman, Executive Director of ADF International, was present in court to support the defendants.

"Criminalizing speech through so-called 'hate-speech' laws shuts down important public debates and endangers democracy," he said.

Räsänen is facing multiple charges related to the content of the 2004 booklet, her participation in a radio debate in 2019 and a tweet containing Bible verses directed at her church leadership.

War crimes and crimes against humanity????

Bishop Pohjola is also facing trial for publishing Räsänen's pamphlet, Male and Female He Created Them: Homosexual relationships challenge the Christian concept of humanity, nearly 20 years ago. The charges against both defendants fall under the "war crimes and crimes against humanity" section in Finnish law, adding another layer of gravity to the case.

The case originated when Räsänen questioned her church's sponsorship of the LGBT event Pride 2019 in a tweet. Following this, she was subjected to 13 hours of police interrogations over several months.

During these interrogations, Räsänen was repeatedly asked to explain her understanding of the Bible. The extent and nature of these interrogations raised concerns about the state's role in matters of personal belief and religious expression.

In March 2022, a three-judge panel on the Helsinki District Court determined in a unanimous ruling that the government should not be interpreting "biblical concepts" and that the speech in question was not "hate speech." The court ordered the prosecution to pay the legal costs for the trial. Räsänen could have faced two years in prison and a fine if convicted.

Räsänen has been a member of the Finnish parliament since 1995. She was reelected in April 2023. She has also served as the chair of the Christian Democrats from 2004 to 2015 and was the Minister of the Interior from 2011 to 2015. As Minister of the Interior, Räsänen was responsible for church affairs in Finland.

"Cases like Päivi's create a culture of fear and censorship and are becoming increasingly common worldwide," Coleman said.

Räsänen insists that she has no ill will toward the LGBT community and claims those accusing her of hate speech are the ones dabbling in hatred.

"We all are sinners and we need Jesus. But now, I think there is a heavy hatred against Christian values in our society," Räsänen earlier told The Christian Post. "If you speak about gender issues — that there are two genders or that marriage belongs to one woman and one man — it arouses hatred against you in our society."

The Miracle of Israel - A Scientific Theory

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HAVE SCIENTISTS PROVEN THAT GOD IS PROTECTING ISRAEL?

written by Phil Schneider

Israel Unwired

April 11, 2019 

Nuclear physicist, Gerald Schroeder, a known researcher in the past for The Weizmann Institute and Hebrew University, simply cannot be accused of unscientific thinking. When observing statistics that don’t seem all too logical, most of Schroeder’s colleagues admit that there was “luck” involved.

Impossible Stats?

The existence of the State of Israel, the fact that there were so few casualties from the Scud missiles shot down on Israel during the Persian Gulf War of 1991, all appear, on the surface, to be a stroke of luck. Schroeder, however, refuses to call it “luck.” Luck is just not a scientifically sound term. For nuclear physicists like Schroeder, the real answer is that God is protecting His people.

Dr. Schroeder makes the point that many miracles happen in what seems like a very natural manner. The Persian Gulf War in 1991 was an odd war. The State of Israel endured a massive bombing of an enormously powerful missile – the Scud missile – on heavily populated areas in Israel – Tel-Aviv and its surroundings. Not one person was killed from these bombings, though there were wounded. One man experienced a heart attack, and it is unclear if this was connected to the bombing.

One does not need to be a brilliant professor in order to reach the conclusions of Dr. Schroeder. But, it is most reassuring when someone of his stature makes it clear that the rational explanations of the occurrences in the modern State of Israel simply don’t hold water. We don’t need to be scared of the repercussions of accepting God’s involvement in this world. If it is logical to assume that there is a hand of God in charge of this world, and illogical to assume otherwise, then let’s accept that the creation and existence of the State of Israel is one big miracle.

The fact that Israel survived at least 4 wars by much larger countries on three sides is another clue to the Hand of God being with them. Arabs and Muslims don't like it, but it has been clear for many years that God is not with them, but with the Jews, as He promised He would be.

Ozzone 7-4 > Fretting rises from our determination to have our own way. Worrying always results in sin.

 

Ozzone 7-3 > This is always the sign that a person is in the presence of God. There is never any vague sense of sin, but a focusing on the concentration of sin in some specific, personal area of life.

 

Ozzone 6-24 > The recognition of sin establishes a mutual respect for the fact that the basis of sinful life is tragic. God protects His children who are pure and virtuous.

 

Ozzone 6-11 > Where sin and sorrow cease, and the song and the saint commence.

 

Ozzone 4-6 > The Greatest Gift in the World, The Gift of Salvation, is Easy and Inexpensive, But is Priceless Because of the Great Cost to God the Son, and God the Father

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The Cross is the central event in time and eternity – The Gregorian Calendar, which was a tweaking of the Julian Calendar, chose to zero itself on the Birth of Christ, or at least as near as they could calculate in 709AD. 

Gregory didn’t correct this flaw, unfortunately. While the Birth of Jesus on earth was an extraordinary event, it was not the center of all time and eternity that His death and resurrection was.

The nearest calculations for the birth of Jesus are about 3 BC. Given that He died and resurrected at 33 years of life on earth, that would place the 2000th year of his death on the cross and resurrection at 2030 AD. Wouldn’t that be a nice time for Him to return?

Vatican Doctors Pope's Remarks on ‘Psychiatric Help’ for Gay Children, Says He Did Not Mean It

Well, so much for infallibility!

Pope Francis © Gonzalo Fuentes / Reuters

Pope Francis told a reporter that parents should seek psychiatric help if their children had homosexual tendencies. The Vatican says he did not mean it and removed those words from the official transcript, however.

Then what did he mean?

The comment in question was reportedly made as the pontiff was flying back to Rome from Ireland on Sunday. While the Pope has earlier implied that there is nothing wrong with being gay, this time he said that “a lot that can be done through psychiatry” no later than in childhood and added that ignoring such a child is “error of fatherhood or motherhood.”

“When it shows itself from childhood, there is a lot that can be done through psychiatry, to see how things are. It is something else if it shows itself after 20 years,” Pope Francis told reporters, as cited by multiple outlets.

However, that reference was not included in a transcript published by the Holy See Press Office on Monday.

The Vatican did not deny the alteration, saying that the quote had been erased to avoid confusion. 

Now, I'm really confused!

“When the Pope referred to 'psychiatry', it is clear that he was doing it to highlight an example of 'things that can be done'. But with that word he didn't mean to say that it [homosexuality] was a 'mental illness',” a Vatican spokeswoman told AFP.

Ah! That's much better... He didn't mean to say what he said. But if he wasn't calling homosexuality a mental illness, then he was at least calling it a sin. You cannot call it anything less than a sin and believe in the God of the Bible, for He made it very clear and unambiguous. Yet, the church has had a great deal of tolerance for gays in the priesthood with many advancing to Bishops and Archbishops and, at least some, to Cardinals. Sin is progressive - nothing good could possibly have resulted from the Catholic embrace of an abomination inside the priesthood.

Last week, Pope Francis was accused of inaction over sexual abuse claims against a prominent US priest, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, which the pontiff allegedly knew about. The claim was made by former Vatican ambassador to the US, Carlo Maria Vigano, who even called for the pope’ resignation. 

However, the pope refused to comment on the allegations, calling on the public to “judge for yourselves.” 

The Catholic Church has recently found itself in the epicenter of the sex abuse scandal and had to acknowledge that priests were really involved in it, after a Pennsylvania grand jury published a report that found 300 “predator priests” had abused children for decades.

And, rest assured, Pennsylvania is no different than any other state in America or any other country in the world with regard to pedophile priests. In Australia they have determined that 8% of the country's priests were pedophiles, although in some orders the percentage was in the 20s and even 40s. 

It seems the percentage of Pennsylvania priests were likely very much in the range of 8% or more. If that holds true for the whole world, then you are looking at more than 33,000 current priests as pedophiles. Most of those pedophiles would be gay, although many gay priests may not be pedophiles, which just means that there are considerably more than 33,000 gay priests in the world, perhaps several times that. 

Is it any wonder the Bible refers to the Catholic Church as the Whore of Babylon?

‘Take a Selfie with God and I’ll Resign,’ says Duterte

There is a lot to like about Rodrigo Duterte, and a lot to hate. His efforts to clean up the Philippines drug culture is both laudible and horrifying, but I wish he would extend his enthusiasm to cleaning up the rampant child sex abuse that makes the Philippines the world's premier hotspot for child sex tourism and child pornography. 

One good thing about Duterte is that Christians don't have to apologize for him. We do have to pray for him because he has the most pathetic grasp of theology of almost any world leader.

© Romeo Ranoco / Reuters

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has promised to resign immediately – if a Christian can show him any proof that God exists. It comes just weeks after he outraged religious groups for calling God “stupid.”

The outspoken leader made the vow on Friday during one of his signature freestyle speeches. Duterte said if anyone can say that they have either “been to heaven, talked to God [or] saw him personally,” he would resign as president “tonight.”

“I just need one witness who will say, ‘Mayor, those fools at the church ordered me to go to heaven and talk to God. God really exists. We have a picture together and I brought a selfie,’” he added, during the opening of a science and technology event in southern Davao city.

I would like to introduce you to Someone called Jesus. Have you heard of Him as other than a curse word? I dare you to find out Who He is.

Duterte then hit out at the Catholic Church by asking why followers are required to donate money to the Church. “If you are really helping people, why do you ask money from them?” he questioned.

This isn’t the first time the 73-year old has criticized Christian groups and their ‘God.’ In June, Duterte called God “stupid” during a discussion about the Biblical story of creation. In response, Christian groups accused him of insulting God and demanded an apology, to which the president replied: “Not in a million years.”

You might get a million years to change your mind! But I don't think it will take that long.

Duterte's tirade against God started, at the beginning, with Adam and Eve. With God allowing them to choose to sin and thereby contaminating every human being born after them, except Jesus, with their sin. Duterte called it stupid, and at first glance, in fact after several glances, it still appears pretty stupid from the view of an extremely limited human mind.

But what was God thinking? He didn't have to allow Satan into the Garden of Eden, did He? He threw him out of Heaven after he sinned against God, but threw him to earth where he could tempt and infect all of mankind. How bright was that?

One of the erroneous assumptions we make as human is to think that this life that we are living is all there is, or is the whole purpose of our existence. But, contrary to some weak theological theories, God did not create us and put us on the earth for the purpose of just enjoying our lives and avoiding suffering. We may have those opportunities, but most of us struggle through life suffering in a myriad of ways.

What was God's purpose in creating us and putting us on a planet with demonic spirits, with evil personified? God created us to love and enjoy Him forever. But love is a funny thing. You may 'fall' in love with someone but that almost invariably fades over time. True love, the love that God showers upon us and the love He hopes to get from us is deeper than that. It includes a decision to love, a choice. 

Our lifetime on earth is an infinitely small fragment of forever, but a vital one. For it is here that God determines those who shall go on to enjoy Him forever, and those who will not. Those who will go on to be in God's presence are those who choose to love God. They are those who choose good over evil - not what they think is good, man cannot make his own definition of good or evil. One evil that God consistently hates is man's desire to be his own god. To ignore what God says and to ignore the phenomenal sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. 

But choosing good over evil requires that there be evil to choose! If there was only good and no evil, man would have no choice but to 'love' God. Such love would ultimately fail as it did in Heaven where there was no evil and therefore no real choice to make. Satan's love for God faded and he decided to put himself on the throne. Many of us are still doing that today - Duterte is one of them.

So earth is a testing ground, a boot camp almost, where those committed to God are taught and tested to determine if their commitment, or faith, is real and will last through Eternity.

God shows Himself to believers in many ways. He has proved Himself to me many, many times. He will not prove Himself to unbelievers, generally speaking, because we have to come to Him in faith. If God could be seen by unbelievers, there would be no need for faith, and without faith there can be no lasting, pure love, and no hope for an Eternity with God.

Duterte has just celebrated his second year in office but critics cite his verbal war with Christians as one of the many reasons he has “become isolated domestically and internationally,” and may not see the end of his six-year term.

“Duterte’s tirade against God and the Bible reveals again that he is a psychological freak, a psychopath, an abnormal mind who should have not been elected as president of our civilized and Christian nation,”  Catholic Bishop, Arturo Bastes

Unfortunately, the Bishop doesn't seem to understand that it is God who places Kings, Queens, Prime Ministers and presidents. His purposes are not always what Christians might want or hope for. Sometimes it is to clean up messes that religious people have created or have allowed to exist.

I Regret Saying Gay Sex is Not a Sin, Former UK Lib-Dem Leader

War on Christianity - UK politics

Tim Farron  © Neil Hall / Reuters

Ex-Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron has admitted that he misled the public when he said that he didn’t believe gay sex was a sin. Farron took to a Christian radio station to correct his previous comments.

Farron - who led the party until June 2017 - quit after he was hounded about his stance on homosexuality. Upon resigning, Farron said his Christian views were no longer compatible with running the political group.

In April last year, he told the BBC: “I don’t believe gay sex is a sin… if people have got the wrong opinion of what I think of those issues, it’s right to correct it.”

But on Wednesday, Farron retracted that statement in an interview with Premier Christian Radio. He said he felt under pressure to change his message in the BBC interview.

“There are things I said, including that, that I regret,” Farron said. “There was a sense in which I felt, I’ve got to get this off my table. There was a general election and all they wanted to do was talk about my Christian beliefs. I foolishly and wrongly attempted to push it away by giving an answer that frankly was not right.

“I found myself in a situation, partly because of events beyond my control and partly because of things that were my fault, where I either had to be compromising my faith and say things that were not true – or be true to my faith, and be in a situation where I sucked all of the attention away from our main message.”

Farron said trying stay faithful to his god and to his party was “tricky.”

“In the end, if you’re a Christian you’ve got a very clear idea of what you think a sin is,” he said.

“It is us falling short of the glory of God. That is something that all of us share. To be asked that question is to persecute one group of human beings, because sin is something we are all guilty of."

“If you’re not a Christian, what does sin mean? It’s to be accused of something, it’s condemnatory. We’re talking different languages. Maybe I could have explained that, and the Biblical teaching on sex and sexuality. But let’s be brutally honest, with the exception of program like this, you don’t get more than 20 seconds to get your message across.”

New party leader Sir Vince Cable criticized Farron in a November 2017 interview with PinkNews. He said that the Liberal Democrats needed to “detoxify” its image for LGBT voters.

“It was very unfortunate, the difficulties Tim had with squaring his Evangelical Christianity with the long-term commitment of the party to LGBT equality,” said Cable.

“It became an election issue among lots of supporters and lots of gay people.

“I don’t think it was handled very well… it did us quite a lot of political damage and we all know that. I am keen to get us back on track,” he added.

The new party leader, however, admitted that the party does need to be tolerant.

“We are a party committed to equality and that includes gay rights, but the simple truth is we have millions of people in the country who are committed Christians, Jews, Muslims who have a different view,” said Cable.

“We need to stand our ground in defense of secular values, but understand that people are coming at this from a different point of view in religious terms. I don’t think the two are inconsistent.”

Good luck with that.

Expelled from University for Quoting Bible on Facebook

War on Christianity

It seemed like only a generation ago when gays came out of the closet. Now they are successfully putting Christians into those closets. It's OK to be a Christian, as long as you don't talk about it!

This is astonishing! The judge makes all the right arguments and then comes to the completely wrong conclusion.

A Christian student who was expelled from university after posting on Facebook in support of Biblical teaching on marriage and sexual ethics has today lost his case in a judicial review of the university’s decision.

Felix Ngole was studying for an MA in Social Work at Sheffield university. In 2015 he made comments using his personal Facebook account on the story of the American registrar Kim Davis who was imprisoned after conscientiously refusing to register same-sex marriages. Felix expressed his Christian beliefs on the issue and argued that: "same sex marriage is a sin whether we like it or not. It is God’s words and man’s sentiments would not change His words". He was asked where in the Bible it says that same-sex marriage is wrong, and he quoted various passages to demonstrate this.

Nearly two months later, Felix received an email from a university official informing him that his Facebook comments were being investigated. He was later interviewed by an investigatory team, and subsequently removed from his course by a panel chaired by Professor Marsh, an LGBT rights campaigner.

Felix, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, sought to challenge the university’s decision in a judicial review which was heard in the High Court over two days. The court ruled that the university acted lawfully in removing Felix from his course.

'May have caused offence'

The court heard that the university “investigatory team accepted that Felix was fully entitled to his religious beliefs, and had acted with honesty and integrity”. The university held that it was not Felix’s views that were at issue, but his public posting of these views. They held that this expression of his views “may have caused offence to some individuals”.

The university argued that they were right to sanction Felix and bar him from his chosen profession in spite of the fact that Felix had lawfully expressed his Christian views as a practicing Christian, outside of his professional studies, in a context in which he was not identified as a social work student, and despite this expression having no impact on his work and professional abilities.

So the court is saying that not only is offending someone against the law, but merely creating the possibility of offending someone is against the law, or, at least, unacceptable on a University campus, even if the offending statement was not made on the campus and had nothing to do with the university. Soon you will have to be careful what you think.

'Freedom of speech impaired'

The university and the court agreed that Felix's freedom of speech had been impaired. The judge accepted that his posts “were undoubtedly intended by him to convey a religious perspective.” Nevertheless, the court ruled that “Felix had no religious imperative to comment on an American news website about Kim Davis”.

So, shut up and get back in the closet!!!??? 

The judgment stated: “Freedom of expression is an important right. Exercising that right to express the content of deeply held religious views deserves respect in a democratic and plural society, nowhere more so than in a university. Freedom of religious discourse is a public good of great importance and seriousness.”

'No discrimination'

The university agreed that there had been no cause for concern or evidence of Felix acting in a discriminatory fashion, whether on placement or otherwise. The university’s decision was not based on speculation that Felix would discriminate in the future either. No discrimination has actually occurred, or is expected to occur in this case.

'Severe sanction'

The judge accepted that the university’s sanction of Felix “was indeed severe”. The judgment also stated: “Nor is it to doubt that there may well be good grounds to fear more generally for the place of religious discourse, and the understanding of and respect for religious adherents, in the context of a liberal and secular consensus within universities or elsewhere.”

The judgment further stated: “If a chain of events, starting with a student posting Bible verses on a news website and ending with him being removed from his course, is one for which the law does not provide him with a remedy, it is important to test hard why not.”

'Perceived risk'

What in the end was judged to have justified the university’s actions was a perceived risk of damage. The court ruled that “It was how they could be accessed and read by people who would perceive them as judgemental, incompatible with service ethos, or suggestive of discriminatory intent. That was a problem in its own right. … But whatever the actual intention was, it was the perception of the posting that would cause the damage. It was reasonable to be concerned about that perception”.

Seriously!

'Biblical views must not be expressed'

Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of the Christian Legal Centre which is supporting Felix commented:

“The court has ruled that though Felix is entitled to hold his Biblical views on sexual ethics, he is not entitled to express them. But freedom to believe without freedom of expression is no freedom at all.

“Many views are frequently expressed by students on social media and in other contexts. It is the expression of Biblical morality that has been singled out for sanction by the university.

“The university, in investigating Felix's personal Facebook posts and disciplining him for them, is acting as if they are thought police. This ruling will have a chilling effect on Christian students up and down the country who will now understand that their personal social media posts may be investigated for political correctness.

“As the judgment stated: 'Freedom of expression is an important right. Exercising that right to express the content of deeply held religious views deserves respect in a democratic and plural society, nowhere more so than in a university.' In this case the judge has failed to safeguard Felix's freedom of expression, in spite of the importance she rightly attaches to that freedom.

“This ruling comes after Jo Johnson, the universities minister last week criticised universities for failing to protect freedom of speech. He said: 'Freedom of speech is a fundamentally British value which is undermined by a reluctance of institutions to embrace healthy vigorous debate. Our universities must open minds not close them.'

“This ruling flies in the face of the government’s expressed intention to promote free speech at universities."

'Christian bar to office'

Felix said: “I am very disappointed by this ruling which supports the university’s decision to bar me from my chosen career because of my Biblical views on sexual ethics. I intend to appeal this decision which clearly intends to restrict me from expressing my Christian faith in public.”

Andrea Williams said: “Rulings like this show that society is becoming increasingly intolerant of Christian moral values. Christians are being told to shut up and keep quiet about their moral views or face a bar from employment. Unless the views you express are politically correct, you may be barred from office. This is very far from how a free and fair society should operate.

“We will appeal this ruling in an attempt to protect basic freedoms in our society. No democratic society can function without freedom of expression. This ruling shakes the foundations of freedom in our society.”

In Canada, Trinity Western U has been trying to launch a law degree program for a few years but several provinces have stated that they will not recognize TWU law degrees because the university requires its students to sign a declaration that they will confine sexual activity to that between a man and his wife. This has the LGBTQ lobby up in arms and fighting tooth and nail against TWU, even though there are almost certainly no LGBTQ students at the Christian TWU.

You can follow this campaign in the War on Christianity by searching this blog for 'Trinity'.

‘Volcano of Homosexuality’: Egypt’s Coptic Christians Organise Conference to ‘Treat’ Gays

An act of moral terrorism?

FILE PHOTO © Jamal Saidi / Reuters

The Coptic Church in Egypt has reportedly organized a conference entitled "The Volcano of Homosexuality" which will offer a variety of ways to "treat" homosexuality.

St. Mark's Orthodox Coptic Cathedral in Alexandria will set up the event to increase awareness about "treatments" for homosexuality and how best to ensure a "speedy recovery," reports The New Arab.

A date for the conference has yet to be confirmed but early reports indicate that a number of workshops will be provided at the event by a "homosexuality healing specialist" who will provide instruction on gay conversion therapy.

The Coptic church has previously described same-sex relationships as "immoral" and a "threat" to family stability.

"Therefore this marriage is completely refused from the Christian faith," head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Tawadros II, said when asked about gay marriage, as cited by Step Feed.  

"When God created man and woman and for them the first family was made by man and woman. [gay marriage] is not acceptable and it is considered as a sin. It's sin," he added.  

Homosexuality is taboo in Egypt among the nation's Muslim majority and Christians alike. The country has roughly 77 million Muslims and four million Christians, the vast majority of whom are Coptic.

Seven people were detained for flying the rainbow flag at a concert in Cairo on Monday.

Declaring yourself as a homosexual is not a human right,

Egyptian MP Shadia Thabit

"What happened at the concert cannot be accepted by society. Declaring yourself as a homosexual is not a human right," lawmaker and Egyptian Member of Parliament Shadia Thabit said, as cited by The New Arab.

"How can they openly announce their sins? Don't talk to me about human rights. They should go, get lost far away from us," she said.

Abbas Shouman of the Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo described the incident as an "act of moral terrorism," as cited by Egyptian Streets.

At a 2003 meeting of all Christian churches in Egypt, chaired by the former Pope of the Coptic Church, Shenouda III, leaders opposed attempts to legalize homosexual marriage, reports Egypt Independent.

Police in Egypt use decades-old laws to arrest members of the LGBT community including an anti-prostitution law established in 1950 and a 1961 law against "debauchery" which have been pretexts for raids on gay clubs and events in the country.

State in Malaysia Approves Public Canings for Breaking Sharia Law

Another in a series of posts documenting the 'progressiveness' of Islam. Sin is progressive, we see that in those addicted to pornography - it often progresses to child porn, and, in time, tends toward younger and younger children and more and more violent assaults. 

Islam progresses as its numbers rise. The greater the percentage of Muslims in a particular area or country, the more Islam moves toward Sharia and its legalism and barbarism. 

© Beawiharta / Reuters

A state in Malaysia governed by a conservative Islamist party has amended its laws to allow public canings for crimes against sharia law. Critics have called the move unconstitutional, with one politician saying it indicates a “bleak future” for the country.

The amendment was passed by the assembly of Kelantan to more closely align the state’s policies with Islamic criminal law, Kelantan deputy chief minister Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said, as quoted by Bernama state news agency.

“Caning can now be carried out inside or outside of prison, depending on the court’s decision,” Mohd Amar said.

“This is in line with the religion, which requires that sentencing must be done in public,” he said.

He declined to say exactly what offenses would be punishable by caning, although Reuters reported that the amendment applies to sharia crimes.

Ti Lian Ker, a member of the Malaysian Chinese Association, which is part of the ruling coalition, says public canings are unconstitutional under federal criminal law.

“This is a rewriting of our legal system and spells a bleak future for the nation,” he said in a statement, as quoted by Reuters.

While Islamic law is observed in all of the other Malaysian states, its application is restricted to family issues such as divorce and inheritance, as well as sharia crimes involving Muslims, including the consumption of alcohol and adultery. Criminal cases are handled by federal law.

The decision of the Kelantan state assembly comes as no surprise, as the state has also been pushing to adopt a strict Islamic penal code called ‘hudud,’ which would allow adultery to be punished by stoning and thievery by amputation.

The state, which is governed by PAS, a conservative Islamist party, has also banned nightclubs and cinemas.

Last year, PAS introduced a bill that would expand the powers of sharia courts and incorporate hudud into the country’s existing legal system. The proposed legislation is expected to be debated in parliament later this month.

Ethnic Malay Muslims make up more than 60 percent of the country’s 32 million people. Similar calls to implement stricter sharia law have made waves in recent years, prompting concern from members of the country’s Chinese and Indian populations, as well as other ethnic minorities.

The Wednesday amendment comes just one month after Malaysia's Health Ministry made headlines for holding a contest soliciting videos which explained the consequences of homosexuality and "gender confusion," promising a cash award of up to US$1,000. 

Homosexuality is forbidden in Malaysia. Those violating the law face flogging and up to 20 years in jail.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian state of Kelantan isn't the only government in the region to advocate for caning, or against homosexuality.

In May, two gay men were publicly caned in Indonesia’s most conservative province, Aceh, which has the authority to enforce sharia law alongside the national criminal code. 

No, Christianity Should Not ‘Welcome’ or ‘Include’ Your Sinful Lifestyle

Brilliant response to gay Christian who attacks blogger

for not welcoming practicing gays into the church

Matt Walsh is a blogger, writer, speaker, and professional truth sayer.

I got this email a few days ago insisting Christians need to be more “inclusive” of open homosexuals. It’s a popular notion these days, so I thought I’d share this with you and respond here publicly:

Matt, you put yourself on a pedestal as this “great Christian” but you do more harm to the religion than anyone else. As a gay man I can say I’m happy to see how finally a lot of Christians and different churches are realizing that Christianity has to be INCLUSIVE of the LGBTQ community and other lifestyles. Not judging of them. Gays and trans people have felt alienated by Christianity and now progressive Christians have finally started to pull the religion into the 21st century and reach out to all of us. Jesus preached tolerance for all people and lifestyles not HATE. The prodigal son was WELCOMED back not told to go away! You are still trying to make divisions and tell some of us Christians we are not Christians just because we live differently. You are a truly sh*tty person and you come off as a bad writer and an uneducated idiot. Just stop talking. You make Jesus mad every time you write your garbage.

-A gay man who loves Jesus


Hi. Thanks for writing. A few points.

First, as I’m constantly reminded, the sins of homosexuality and fornication have existed since Biblical times. Still, it was prohibited in the Old and New Testaments (Genesis 19:1-13, Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9) and by every Christian church for the first 20 centuries of Christianity’s existence. Since you are a self-identified Christian who thinks the moral teachings of the Bible should now be suddenly updated, I have to ask: What changed?

What was revealed in the last few years that proved the prophets, the apostles and all Christian denominations until recently wrong? What new piece of information did humanity obtain? What great revelation occurred? You think a 2,000-year-old faith that professes timeless Truths should “keep up” with the whims of modernity, but why? What do we know in our time that the Church didn’t know — that God Himself didn’t know — up to now? Be very careful in how you answer that question.

Second, I have never referred to myself as a “great Christian” — or a “great” anything for that matter — so I’m not sure why you put “great Christian” in quotes. I consider myself a greatly flawed Christian, even a “sh*tty” one, as you so helpfully and compassionately noted.

Photo credit: Shutterstock

See, you need to stop reading with your emotions and read with your brain, man. Your emotions tell you that anyone who advocates virtue is automatically claiming to be virtuous, because it’s easier to dismiss a point based on the perceived motivations behind it rather than consider the point on its own merits. It’s like I’m saying two plus two equals four, and you’re countering that I’m not such a brilliant mathematician. Well, right, but I never said I was a brilliant mathematician. I just said two plus two equals four, because it does, and because even a stupid man can see that.

It’s difficult to have grown-up conversations these days, because people like yourself see every mention of moral truth as either a personal attack or a statement of superiority. This is the real damage you cause in the Faith. It’s not that you’re sinful — we all are, to be sure — it’s that you want to be coddled. You want to shut down professions of Truth that are inconvenient or uncomfortable. You want to modify Christian teachings not because you tried them and found them wrong, but because, to paraphrase Chesterton, you found them difficult and don’t want to try them.

I have many sins, but I will not tell you they are not sins. I come to Christ a sick and broken man looking for healing. You apparently come a sick and broken man looking to be assured you were never sick and broken to begin with. That is the only real difference between us. Or I should say, it’s the only real difference between Christians and “progressive Christians.” Both groups are sinful, both groups are weak, both groups need Christ desperately, but one wants — though they may so often fail — to go Christ’s way, and the other wants Christ to go theirs.

Third, I’m tired of hearing this “inclusive” stuff. Yes of course the Faith is made for people like you. It’s made for all people. It’s not a cult or a club. There’s no entrance exam or membership fee. Christianity is for everyone. If that’s what you mean by “inclusive,” fine, but a better word would be “universal.” In any case, that isn’t what you mean, is it?

When you ask for an “inclusive” Christianity, you ask for a Christianity that, rather than calling you to serve it, bends down and serves you. You’re asking to be “included” in the Faith on your own terms. That’s just not how this works, brother. As Christians, we have no authority to “include” you in that way. You must include yourself.

We go out into the world and proclaim the Gospel. We offer an invitation. We extend a greeting. We fight to win souls. But the souls must come of their own accord and must accept the Truth of Christ willingly and in its fullness. You must enter into the Truth. You must be the one who accepts it. You must be the one who “includes” the Truth in your life. Your lifestyle must change to accommodate the Truth, not the other way around.

By the way, Jesus never uttered the word “lifestyle,” much less did He preach that they all ought to be tolerated. Recently, we’ve started referring to sins as “lifestyles” and pretending that this rhetorical maneuver somehow changes the morality of the issue. It doesn’t. A sin is still a sin, and He instructs us all to “go and sin no more” (John 8:11), which often means dramatically altering our lifestyles.

Indeed, when people came to follow Him in Scripture, He told them to first leave their earthly pleasures behind and then continue along the road (Luke 18:22). He made it very clear that there is in fact a correct lifestyle, a correct way to live, and that way is narrow. Matthew 7:13 tells us the broad and “inclusive” road is the one that leads to damnation. You must choose, then, to walk through the right path, the narrow path, but it will be difficult and demanding, and it will not and cannot be widened to include you.

We all struggle with sin. But struggle is the keyword. Struggle. Fight back. Plead with God in agony to help you defeat these demons. Go to Christ begging that He help you overcome your temptations and live with chastity and temperance. Don’t demand that your sin be allowed to accompany you into Heaven. It can’t. We can accompany our sins into Hell, or ditch the whole ugly package on the side of the road and come Home.

In “The Great Divorce,” C.S. Lewis said, “If we insist on keeping Hell, we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven, we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.”

That’s our choice, in a nutshell.

Yes, as you mention, the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11) was welcomed back by his father. But have you read the entire parable? The son realizes the error of his ways, makes the journey back home, and when he arrives he pleads for forgiveness. “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” Wow, that’s, like, a pretty intense declaration. Notice he didn’t waltz back to his dad’s place and casually brag that he blew his fortune on hookers and booze but he’s not sorry and intends to get right back to it first thing tomorrow. If he had, I think the story would have ended differently.

We see the same sort of thing play out in the passage about the two criminals crucified next to Christ (Luke 23:39-43). One of the criminals is unrepentant and demands that Jesus rescue him from his fate and allow him to continue on sinning. The other realizes he deserves his punishment and, in those final moments before death, professes his faith in Christ and repents of his sin. Christ assures the repentant man he will be with Him in paradise. Our Lord very noticeably does not make this guarantee to the other. A really bad sign for that dude, to say the least.

But for the penitent criminal, imagine the joy. What a beautiful thing, what a privilege it must have been to die next to Christ, to be forgiven everything he’d ever done and welcomed into eternal salvation. Now, that is inclusive. And that is an opportunity open to all of us.

It’s so simple, really. The message is so hopeful and good and joyous, which is why I resent attempts to dilute it into oblivion. All we have to do is follow Christ, spread the Gospel, fight against our sins, and repent for the times when we fail in that fight. That’s all. That’s the “how to” of Christianity. It seems you want to remove, well, all of those ingredients and still call yourself a Christian. You might as well remove all the yeast and flour from a mixture and call the goop of water, butter, and salt that remains “bread.”

I’m reminded of a great moment from a fantastic book called “The Power and the Glory,” set during the persecutions in 1930s Mexico. The protagonist, a sinful, degenerate, alcoholic priest with an illegitimate daughter, is facing execution for his faith. Hours before they march him to death by firing squad, he’s in his cell reflecting on his life and praying for forgiveness:

He felt only an immense disappointment because he had to go to God empty-handed, with nothing done at all. It seemed to him at that moment that it would have been quite easy to have been a saint. It would only have needed a little self-restraint and a little courage. He felt like someone who has missed happiness by seconds at an appointed place. He knew now that there was only one thing that counted — to be a saint.

Powerful. The man knows he has failed God so many times in his life, he lacked even the little restraint and courage that was required to follow Christ perfectly, yet because he believed, because he repented, because in these final moments he hungers for the Lord’s embrace, he will enter Paradise all the same.

Inclusive? Sure. I’d call that inclusive.

The point is, Christianity includes us, Christ includes us, but He will not include our sin. We have to choose to shed our sin, pick up our cross, and follow Him. That’s what it means to “be included.” You say that’s what you want, but do you? Do you want to leave your earthly pleasures behind, cut off whatever parts of your life are causing you to sin (Matthew 5:30), and die with Christ? I can’t answer that question for you. I have a hard enough time answering it affirmatively myself every day.

Christianity is truly a simple formula, but a painful one. If we will not include the pain and sacrifice in our lives, we will not include the Faith.

Fourth, Christians churches in America were never guilty of “alienating” unrepentant sinners like the “LGBTQ community.” They are so attached to their sin that they literally define themselves by it. They look for ”community” not with the Body of Christ, but with those who share their urges and fetishes. They elect to reject the difficult aspects of the Faith. They alienate themselves.

There are many accounts in Scripture where Jesus delivers a controversial message that is hard for people to accept, and many of his followers abandon Him altogether because of it. You’ll notice that Jesus never backtracks and apologizes. He never chases them down as they walk away and explains that He didn’t really mean all that stuff and really they were just taking it out of context.

In John 6, after Christ proclaims Himself the bread of life, many of his disciples are upset and threaten to leave. He does not beg them to turn around. He just continues right along speaking the Truth. He does not change His Word to cater to those who choose not to accept it. They are alienated by their sin, not by Him.

With that said, I do think many churches are guilty of alienating a certain group. As others have pointed out, the minority that rightly feels disaffected are those striving to live the Christian life. While western Christendom has worked so hard to shelter and welcome people who do not even desire to follow His Word and who, in fact, wish to subvert and change it for their own purposes, the ones really left out in the cold are those who try to be virtuous, chaste and faithful.

The Christians who would now be called “extremist” or “fundamentalist” or “conservative,” who stand against the cultural tide, who resist the temptation to succumb to the heretical fashions of the day — these are the Christians we need to include more. They have accepted the Faith for what it is, they are trying, though imperfectly, to walk through the narrow gate, but what do they find? Churches that treat them like nuisances. Church services designed to appeal to the secular crowd at the expense of giving the faithful the sacred and invigorating experience they deeply crave. Christian leaders who provide no leadership. A faith muted and watered down for the benefit of those who wish to destroy it.

These believers are trying their best to keep their hearts pure in a society that heaps mockery and scorn upon such efforts. They despair sometimes wondering how they’ll ever manage to raise their children to love Jesus in a country where even His supposed followers celebrate sin and bestow blessings on the worst kinds of evil. They’ve watched their nation discard virtue and truth and God. They feel isolated. They feel betrayed. They are beaten and exhausted in their fight against sin because they feel like they are fighting alone. They feel like Christ on Calvary shouting,  ”My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Of course, God has not forsaken them. But many Christians have. Many churches have. Many pastors have. Many Christian leaders have. They need to be equipped, encouraged and inspired in their mission to defeat sin, follow the Word and walk the narrow path to salvation, but these Christians are frequently left wondering where to turn.

Certainly the culture is no help. The education system is usually just another obstacle. The government, the media, even sometimes their own families are against their quest for holiness. So they run to their churches and their ministers and their fellow Christians and often they are greeted with secularized gospels and “progressive” gospels and “prosperity” gospels and gay gospels when all they want is the Gospel, in all its truth and fury.

John Chrysostom said the Holy Scripture should be “engraved upon our hearts.” There are some Christians who wish to adhere to it with that level of severity. They are the minority that all churches should be bending over backwards to embrace. They are the ones who need to be included again. They are the life of the Faith in this country.

Frankly, the church has not failed if it makes open homosexuals or anyone else feel uncomfortable in their sin. That is a success. That is the church doing what it’s supposed to do.  But it has failed if it makes the faithful and the sincere feel unwelcome. This is the real problem, the real crisis.

I’ll pray Christian churches in this country always “include” the Truth, not liberal sexual dogmas or any other form of blasphemy.

As for you, I’ll pray you leave your sin behind and come to Christ remorseful and empty handed, ready to be His servant.

As for me, please pray I do the same.

God Bless.

Woman Fatally Stabs Daughter in Throat with Crucifix to ‘Rid Satan from her Body’

Juanita Gomez in a booking photo dated Aug. 28, 2016 © Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office

A 49-year-old woman has been arrested in Oklahoma City after confessing to carrying out a gruesome murder of her daughter, whom she believed to have been possessed by evil spirits.

Someone was possessed by evil spirits, but it wasn't the daughter.

The killing was discovered last Saturday by Francisco Merlos, who went to visit his girlfriend, 33-year-old Geneva Gomez, only to be met by her mother Juanita.

Juanita had previously disliked Merlos – accusing him of theft - and encouraged her daughter to break up with him only two days earlier, but now dragged him into the house, where he hugged her to try and put an end to the feud.

But when he requested to see Geneva, there was no reply, and when he came into the living room, he saw a grotesquely disfigured body.

“She was laying on her back with the cross on her chest, and you couldn’t even recognize her face,” Merlos told the Oklahoman.

Overcome with horror, Merlos attempted to escape, struggling out of a choke-hold by Juanita, who babbled “incoherently” about the devil and money.

He called the police, who arrived within minutes, to encounter Juanita, whose hands were bruised from fighting her daughter, who was resisting her attempts to “rid Satan from her body.”

Gomez then detailed how she murdered her daughter.

"Juanita stated she punched her daughter repeatedly and forced a crucifix and religious medallion down her throat until blood came out of her daughter's mouth," said court documents released on Monday. "Juanita saw her daughter die and then placed the body in the shape of a cross."


© Geneva Gomez / Facebook

She then washed Geneva’s body, prior to the arrival of Merlos.

The older Gomez was handed a suspended 10-year sentence for drug trafficking and gun possession in 2009, but it was not clear if she had a history of mental illness. Friends and neighbors speaking to the local media said that mother and daughter, who had a relatively small age gap, had been very close to each other.

During her arraignment, which was done through video link, Gomez refused to mention her deceased daughter, and instead spent time complaining about the lack of toilet paper in her cell, and claiming she’s got “the best lawyer in town,” under the name of Blaine. Online records showed that Gomez, who refused a public defender, has not hired a lawyer.

Gomez ended her statement by asking the judge, “Do you believe in God? I do.”

Wonderful! Unfortunately you do not know Him from Satan. If she didn't have a history of mental illness, she does now. Demonic beings are, I believe, very often present in insanity either because of it, or as the cause of it. Demonic beings often try to desecrate that which is associated with Jesus Christ, ie the crucifix. When you see such things happen, you know evil is involved.

How a Scientist Learned to Work with Exorcists

As a psychiatrist, I diagnose mental illness

also, I help spot demonic possession

By Richard Gallagher
Richard Gallagher is a board-certified psychiatrist and a professor of clinical psychiatry at New York Medical College. He is at work on a book about demonic possession in the United States.

Matt Rota for The Washington Post

In the late 1980s, I was introduced to a self-styled Satanic high priestess. She called herself a witch and dressed the part, with flowing dark clothes and black eye shadow around to her temples. In our many discussions, she acknowledged worshipping Satan as his “queen.”

I’m a man of science and a lover of history; after studying the classics at Princeton, I trained in psychiatry at Yale and in psychoanalysis at Columbia. That background is why a Catholic priest had asked my professional opinion, which I offered pro bono, about whether this woman was suffering from a mental disorder.

This was at the height of the national panic about Satanism. (In a case that helped induce the hysteria, Virginia McMartin and others had recently been charged with alleged Satanic ritual abuse at a Los Angeles preschool; the charges were later dropped.) So I was inclined to skepticism. But my subject’s behavior exceeded what I could explain with my training. She could tell some people their secret weaknesses, such as undue pride. She knew how individuals she’d never known had died, including my mother and her fatal case of ovarian cancer. Six people later vouched to me that, during her exorcisms, they heard her speaking multiple languages, including Latin, completely unfamiliar to her outside of her trances. This was not psychosis; it was what I can only describe as paranormal ability. I concluded that she was possessed. Much later, she permitted me to tell her story.

The priest who had asked for my opinion of this bizarre case was the most experienced exorcist in the country at the time, an erudite and sensible man. I had told him that, even as a practicing Catholic, I wasn’t likely to go in for a lot of hocus-pocus. “Well,” he replied, “unless we thought you were not easily fooled, we would hardly have wanted you to assist us.”

So began an unlikely partnership. For the past two-and-a-half decades and over several hundred consultations, I’ve helped clergy from multiple denominations and faiths to filter episodes of mental illness — which represent the overwhelming majority of cases — from, literally, the devil’s work. It’s an unlikely role for an academic physician, but I don’t see these two aspects of my career in conflict. The same habits that shape what I do as a professor and psychiatrist — open-mindedness, respect for evidence and compassion for suffering people — led me to aid in the work of discerning attacks by what I believe are evil spirits and, just as critically, differentiating these extremely rare events from medical conditions.

Is it possible to be a sophisticated psychiatrist and believe that evil spirits are, however seldom, assailing humans? Most of my scientific colleagues and friends say no, because of their frequent contact with patients who are deluded about demons, their general skepticism of the supernatural, and their commitment to employ only standard, peer-reviewed treatments that do not potentially mislead (a definite risk) or harm vulnerable patients. But careful observation of the evidence presented to me in my career has led me to believe that certain extremely uncommon cases can be explained no other way.

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The Vatican does not track global or countrywide exorcism, but in my experience and according to the priests I meet, demand is rising. The United States is home to about 50 “stable” exorcists — those who have been designated by bishops to combat demonic activity on a semi-regular basis — up from just 12 a decade ago, according to the Rev. Vincent Lampert, an Indianapolis-based priest-exorcist who is active in the International Association of Exorcists. (He receives about 20 inquiries per week, double the number from when his bishop appointed him in 2005.)

The Catholic Church has responded by offering greater resources for clergy members who wish to address the problem. In 2010, for instance, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops organized a meeting in Baltimore for interested clergy. In 2014, Pope Francis formally recognized the IAE, 400 members of which are to convene in Rome this October. Members believe in such strange cases because they are constantly called upon to help. (I served for a time as a scientific adviser on the group’s governing board.)

Unfortunately, not all clergy involved in this complex field are as cautious as the priest who first approached me. In some circles, there is a tendency to become overly preoccupied with putative demonic explanations and to see the devil everywhere. Fundamentalist misdiagnoses and absurd or even dangerous “treatments,” such as beating victims, have sometimes occurred, especially in developing countries. This is perhaps why exorcism has a negative connotation in some quarters. People with psychological problems should receive psychological treatment.

But I believe I’ve seen the real thing. Assaults upon individuals are classified either as “demonic possessions” or as the slightly more common but less intense attacks usually called “oppressions.” A possessed individual may suddenly, in a type of trance, voice statements of astonishing venom and contempt for religion, while understanding and speaking various foreign languages previously unknown to them. The subject might also exhibit enormous strength or even the extraordinarily rare phenomenon of levitation. (I have not witnessed a levitation myself, but half a dozen people I work with vow that they’ve seen it in the course of their exorcisms.) He or she might demonstrate “hidden knowledge” of all sorts of things — like how a stranger’s loved ones died, what secret sins she has committed, even where people are at a given moment. These are skills that cannot be explained except by special psychic or preternatural ability.

I have personally encountered these rationally inexplicable features, along with other paranormal phenomena. My vantage is unusual: As a consulting doctor, I think I have seen more cases of possession than any other physician in the world.

Most of the people I evaluate in this role suffer from the more prosaic problems of a medical disorder. Anyone even faintly familiar with mental illnesses knows that individuals who think they are being attacked by malign spirits are generally experiencing nothing of the sort. Practitioners see psychotic patients all the time who claim to see or hear demons; histrionic or highly suggestible individuals, such as those suffering from dissociative identity syndromes; and patients with personality disorders who are prone to misinterpret destructive feelings, in what exorcists sometimes call a “pseudo-possession,” via the defense mechanism of an externalizing projection. But what am I supposed to make of patients who unexpectedly start speaking perfect Latin?

I approach each situation with an initial skepticism. I technically do not make my own “diagnosis” of possession but inform the clergy that the symptoms in question have no conceivable medical cause.

I am aware of the way many psychiatrists view this sort of work. While the American Psychiatric Association has no official opinion on these affairs, the field (like society at large) is full of unpersuadable skeptics and occasionally doctrinaire materialists who are often oddly vitriolic in their opposition to all things spiritual. My job is to assist people seeking help, not to convince doctors who are not subject to suasion. Yet I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the number of psychiatrists and other mental health practitioners nowadays who are open to entertaining such hypotheses. Many believe exactly what I do, though they may be reluctant to speak out.

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As a man of reason, I’ve had to rationalize the seemingly irrational. Questions about how a scientifically trained physician can believe “such outdated and unscientific nonsense,” as I’ve been asked, have a simple answer. I honestly weigh the evidence. I have been told simplistically that levitation defies the laws of gravity, and, well, of course it does! We are not dealing here with purely material reality, but with the spiritual realm.

One cannot force these creatures to undergo lab studies or submit to scientific manipulation; they will also hardly allow themselves to be easily recorded by video equipment, as skeptics sometimes demand. (The official Catholic Catechism holds that demons are sentient and possess their own wills; as they are fallen angels, they are also craftier than humans. That’s how they sow confusion and seed doubt, after all.) Nor does the church wish to compromise a sufferer’s privacy, any more than doctors want to compromise a patient’s confidentiality.

Ignorance and superstition have often surrounded stories of demonic possession in various cultures, and surely many alleged episodes can be explained by fraud, chicanery or mental pathology. But anthropologists agree that nearly all cultures have believed in spirits, and the vast majority of societies (including our own) have recorded dramatic stories of spirit possession. Despite varying interpretations, multiple depictions of the same phenomena in astonishingly consistent ways offer cumulative evidence of their credibility.

As a psychoanalyst, a blanket rejection of the possibility of demonic attacks seems less logical, and often wishful in nature, than a careful appraisal of the facts. As I see it, the evidence for possession is like the evidence for George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware. In both cases, written historical accounts with numerous sound witnesses testify to their accuracy.

In the end, however, it was not an academic or dogmatic view that propelled me into this line of work. I was asked to consult about people in pain. I have always thought that, if requested to help a tortured person, a physician should not arbitrarily refuse to get involved. Those who dismiss these cases unwittingly prevent patients from receiving the help they desperately require, either by failing to recommend them for psychiatric treatment (which most clearly need) or by not informing their spiritual ministers that something beyond a mental or other illness seems to be the issue. For any person of science or faith, it should be impossible to turn one’s back on a tormented soul.

Many years ago, long before I became a Christian, I watched The Exorcist - the movie with Linda Blair. It convinced me that evil exists in the form of some kind of beings. It was clear to me that that movie could not have been made without the very presence of evil entities.