Sunday, March 25, 2007

Scientific Views on Abrahamic Religions

Religious and Scientific Views Some religions — in particular, most Abrahamic religions — do not admit the existence of beneficial spiritual possessions; so, if they admit the concept at all, they automatically consider any spiritual possession as malign. Many of those religions have practices, often in ritual, to drive out such evil spirits, generally termed exorcism. Various forms and denominations of Christianity have developed practices for driving out spirits, most notably Roman Catholicism; there exists a Roman Catholic International Association of Exorcists. Father Gabriele Amorth is a Roman Catholic priest and noted exorcist.


Charismatic Christianity includes a tradition of individuals being 'blessed' by the Holy Spirit - either Speaking in tongues, or experiencing some other manifestation - but this is not traditionally considered possession by those who adhere to these beliefs. Many other creeds, including Shamanism and many African and Afro-American religions, teach that spiritual possession may be benign as well as malign, and their rituals often include incorporation: either of spiritual deities, such as the lwa of Vodou (related to Voodoo), the Orisha of the Yoruba, or of the ghosts of deceased people, as in Kardecism. Depending on the religion, the person who is possessed may be a priest, or a specially gifted medium, or a lay member. In Spiritism, incorporation of spirits is a key aspect of the practice. The existence of spiritual possession has not been scientifically proven. However, some psychologists acknowledge that occasionally, an individual exhibits behaviors that are consistent with possession as it is understood by the individual or the individual's religious/cultural tradition.


Believers hold that these cases provide evidence of spiritual possession, but most psychologists dismiss these claims as anecdotal evidence and suggest that there are other possible explanations for these cases, including delusion and malingering. Some cases may be considered consistent with the psychological-psychiatric category of culture-bound syndrome. Some cases of demonic possession may also be explainable by purely psychological or social causes, e.g. hysteria — roughly, a grown-up version of childhood tantrums or displays of anger. In fact this explanation was liberally mis-applied since the 19th century.


In the past, demonic possession may also have been alleged (by the subject or by others) for the purpose of excusing behavior which would otherwise be severely punished — similar to a defendant falsely claiming temporary insanity in a court of law in many jurisdictions today. Incarnations have been feigned by priests, religious figures, and mediums for fraudulent purposes, e.g. by pretending to communicate with a person's deceased relatives in exchange for "donations". The famous U.S. escape artist Houdini was instrumental in exposing several such frauds in the 1920s.

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