An Exorcism and Dancing with Snakes

You know what I just saw? An exorcism. That's right, you heard me. Demons in people. On TV. Then I saw people get so high off God they danced with snakes. How long has this shit been going on on TV?

The first guy was convinced he was posessed as he tried pills, therapy, and whatever else was recomended to him with no result. Finally he called over his buddies from his church and they all sat around quoting scripture and talking to the guy like he was the devil and all of a sudden he started screaming and cursing and becoming violent. Then, 5 hours later, he said it was gone and he is perfectly normal. Is this simply a result of dementia or group persuation? Can simple beleif in something really make it possible? Or was there actually a demon?

I found this NBC broadcast to be more disturbing than their usual stuff and I asked myself: What could they possibly do to top it? The answer came quick. NBC unleashed the harrowing world of Christian snake handlers. These evangelicals play lots of music, dance themselves into a wild boot-stompin, hand-clappin, 'praise-the-lord' frenzy, then bring out the rattlesnakes and get down. What a way to fuckin party! I mean, I've definelty seen some wild parties, but to party with snakes? If I have a bad night and I go 'all in' at poker and lose all my $$$, that sucks, but imagine coming home with a deadly snake wound? Die a couple hours later? Talk about a bad beat. Do their mothers know that they play with snakes? I bet they'd say 'I wish little Jimmy would've just been a normal boy and gotten into drugs like the rest of the boys...'

Anyway, I just couldn't let this pass me by without saying something about it.

Will The New Pope Rock?

As the next pope is about to be selected, I have one question for everyone:

Do you think he should be a hard-line Christian that shuns other faiths and imposes strict doctrine? Or should he be open to inter-religious dialogue and relax Christian doctrine to accept popular secular customs?

I’m actually having a hard time dealing with this question. For a politician I would not hesitate to choose the latter, but this is the pope we’re talking about. The head of a major world religion. The figurehead for a billion people. If you have someone who is not serious and convincing of the business they are in, will anyone buy the product?

Although I personally disagree with many religious doctrines (including Catholic ones), I do believe that doctrine should play a significant role in how someone practices their faith. Belief, after all, should involve belief in something. It’s not that I admire fundamentalists, who insist on the priority of truth (as they see it) over all other considerations; most of them, in fact, send a chill up my spine. Yet, compared to the religious practices of others who have a pick-and-choose religion where convenience is their doctrine, I do respect their willingness to actually stand FOR something. I just wish they would be more willing to engage in ideas with which they disagree instead of being so quick to proclaim them wrong.

People don’t need to follow it, if they don’t want to. Just look at the proclamations made by John Paul regarding contraceptions, even when it would be intended to prevent spreading AIDS. At least people KNEW his position on things, even though they didn’t necessarily agree with him.

I do hope, however, that the new pope will not be hostile to other religions. There is common ground, it’s just that I think everyone should stand on their own respective ground. Meetings between leaders are good, statements about tolerance and respect for diversity are good, and peace is good, but I would be extremely ambivalent about new steps made to dissemble doctrine for the sake of accommodation. There is no need to blur the lines of defining who God is and how one should practice serving Him because then there fails to be a real choice.