tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post4458088001766869369..comments2023-06-15T09:13:45.467-04:00Comments on Liberty's Torch: Possessions: A Sunday RuminationFrancis W. Porrettohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05862584203772592282noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-90533676199820042952015-02-03T12:03:07.158-05:002015-02-03T12:03:07.158-05:00Fair enough Fran, thank you. I picked up on what ...Fair enough Fran, thank you. I picked up on what you're getting at, but with those two points in particular, I wanted to make sure I understood where they were pointing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-52728996113353590382015-02-03T04:48:01.722-05:002015-02-03T04:48:01.722-05:00No, Anon, he was referring to Obama. Don't let...No, Anon, he was referring to Obama. Don't let Neal bother you; he's a card or two short of a full deck and often expresses himself with confusing statements like that. I usually discard his comments. To be candid, I'm not sure why I approved that one.Francis W. Porrettohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05862584203772592282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-52837836861542615452015-02-03T02:49:35.036-05:002015-02-03T02:49:35.036-05:00Neal, this is anomymous, are you calling MY parent...Neal, this is anomymous, are you calling MY parentage questionable, and comparing something about ME to "Mengele meets Rosemary's Baby"? Please clarify who your ad hominem attack was against.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-24847189113695227152015-02-02T15:08:26.885-05:002015-02-02T15:08:26.885-05:00If explanations for mysteries do not describe mech...If explanations for mysteries do not describe mechanics, but personalities, then science cannot grasp what is by invitation only. Macroquantum effects, temporal mechanics, mythical geometries are for saints and mystics. That way is guarded, for it is not safe for humanity to become those kinds of things.<br />Not that there are not those who attempt to breed for that, or control those who emerge. Reference the last post.<br />Questionable parentage, murky birth and young life records. Not Manchurian, more Mengele meets Rosemary's baby. Anti something, indeed.nealnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-8973958037497700802015-02-02T13:27:07.769-05:002015-02-02T13:27:07.769-05:00It's me again, and your answer makes sense. F...It's me again, and your answer makes sense. Frankly, I believe (have faith?) that there are explanations for pretty much everything that is currently unknown, we just haven't figured them out yet. Interestingly, many of these explanations would disprove, by their very existence, certain mysteries of faith, but would also disprove the position of many atheists that there are no "mysterious mechanisms"...as these mysterious mechanisms will, upon discovery, become science. Which then I suppose would PROVE the atheists view that there is fact behind everything, no matter how strange or hard-to-fathom pre-discovery... Which leaves us with, there are still mysteries of faith, and without closing the door to potential scientific explanation, why is it so hard for disbelievers (e.g. the scientific faithful) to leave the spiritual faithful to their peaceful faith? This is the biggest mystery to me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-42321667683767690962015-02-02T05:09:51.541-05:002015-02-02T05:09:51.541-05:00Anon: I agree that you don’t need possession to ex...Anon: I agree that you don’t need possession to explain evil. My sole contention is that possession – a hypothesized event that’s neither provable nor disprovable by any means available to us in spatiotemporal reality – is an explanation for certain events that <i>lack</i> (so far, anyway) an adequate secular explanation.<br /><br />Knowledge is still advancing, of course. It might well be that at some future time, we’ll discover diseases or injuries to the central nervous system that would adequately explain the behavior of those labeled <i>possessed.</i> The confirmation would be the successful treatment of those maladies, after which the “possessed” person’s behavior normalizes once more. But we’re not there yet, there are still unexplained incidents that suggest demonic possession, and there are still practicing exorcists with a striking record for relieving the sufferers thereof. The training of a real-world exorcist, Father Gary Thomas of California, was described in the recent book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UMCA1O/" rel="nofollow"><b><i>The Rite.</i></b></a>Francis W. Porrettohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05862584203772592282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-61453983889241886282015-02-01T15:42:04.272-05:002015-02-01T15:42:04.272-05:00I'm the personal-atheist/outward-agnostic. I&...I'm the personal-atheist/outward-agnostic. I've been thinking lately about the existence of evil. I guess my question would be, what would you suggest the differences are between possession, and inherent evil? What is one possessed likely to do, or what are the hallmarks, versus, say, a legion of ISIS adherents, or a guy who walks into a store and shoots numerous people over a few dollars? Or even someone who approaches a pregnant woman to play the knock-out game? I'm not arguing, but it seems to me that evil, of the garden-variety, is so widespread today, and so...garden-variety, that possession seems to be somewhat of an unnecessary and exotic condition (to explain evil). Just my thoughts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com