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HODGESthroughout room, brandishinghis sword over the patient andeven heating him with the flat of the blade, knocking the sword against the bed and the door If the patient panted and groaned, that was a sign of the dismay of the possessing spirit I he ex ore ist waved a whip, strewed uncooked rice and salt about the room, and wounded his own brxly with the swordor with a prick-ball.... If the patient recovered, the familygod was thanked, but if he didnot gel better, further expensive exorcisms were required.”As the centuries have passedand scientific knowledge has increased, religious organizations have been forced to acknow ledge that certain physical and mental conditions have medical explanations. The hlack plague survivors are nowknown to have had a genetic anomaly that promoted immunity from tlx* plague bacterium. Autism, the condition afflicting little Terry Cottrell, is now believed to have a genetic connection Other forms of mental illness i.e., depression, schizophrenia, mania, now have medical explanations.Modem religious institutions, faced with accumulating scientific know ledge about the causes of human conduct, have revised their definitions of“demonic possession to exclude forms of behavior that are caused by other than a roving band of malicious specters intent upon entering into unsuspecting humans.The Catholic church in 1952revised its “RitualeRomanum. a formal exorcism rite in two significant ways. First, wording was changed that suspected symptoms “aresigns of a demon to might hesigns of a demon.Additionally, the revisions■ Wiexpanded the definition of states other than demonic possession to include mental illness. (thetnystica.com whichreports these revisions, concludes that Such diagnosesare making true demonic Ipossession) more difficult to determine. I guess.In 1999 the Catholic church again rev ised its rite. Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez, in announcing the new rules that recognize advances in behavioral symptom diagnosis.reminded the world that belief in Satan is a still a tenet of Catholic faith The devil “deceives men. making them believe that you find happiness in money, in power, in carnal desire, Medina said. Flip Wilson also shared the same vfem “The Devil made toe doit. I suspect the Church considers pedophilia to fall withinthe rubric of a medical affliction. II it were simply a matter of demonic possession, the Church could have avoided a decade of scandal by periodic mass exorcisms, carried out in rigorous compliance with the Rituale Romanum The Cardinal also reported that the new. “regs** were first: published in Latin. But its Latin-onlv version was not a problem. “The new manual comes into effect today in its (Latin) version. An exorcist can use the Latin version tonight ifhe wants because the devilunderstands Latin ” ThankGod.While the death of little Ternm ;Cottrell was caused by an irrational commitment to a belief in “demonic possession** instead of a recognition that hiscontinued from A-5autism was a medical condition asm. (3) That minister is entithe genetic and environmental causes of which are becoming more understood every day. a further social tragedy has been committed in the refusal of the district attorney in the matter to charge the minister responsiblewith homicide. The DA'srefusal is rooted in three mistaken assumptions lt;11 That theminister did not know that the course of conduct he was implementing was fraught withphysical and emotional danger to little Terry, and (2) That the state should not interfere withthe religious practice of exottied to a presumption that his intentions had some rationalbasi s.coronerdeterminedTheresecondin mostdoes not require specific intent to kill, but requires only negligent conduct that reflects a “malignant heart and a wanton disregard for human life.To subject an 8-year-old autistic boy to a procedure in w hich he w as held down and smothered seems nrettv close to amalignant heart and a “wanton disregard for human life At least involuntarymanslaughter would have beenan appropriate charge, homicide resulting from a lesser degree of negligence. The minister has been charged with felony child abuse.It seems that the only demonW $in the world still alive and well is ignorance.Tom Hotlgt' is a biweekly columnist for the MountainDemocrat. He am be reachedvia email at T\PAH H)td msn.eom*'em.•mrnrnm(Vf♦It idesiv!*Si n1 he tl Dorado County Harvest haiiisloadedwiith
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Placerville Mountain Democrat
Placerville, California, US
Mon, Sep 08, 2003
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