"Exercising" the devil.

[Reginald]

Following from the top story in this weeks commentary, I find it somewhat amusing that the catholic church have seen fit to trot out the big, bad guy in red.

Call me cynical (by all means) but IIRC, does it not seem that when the CC is going through a rough period they see fit to start more publicly recognising the devil. The uses of this for them could be several fold (but not more than seven).

Primarily I see it as a reminder that if you are a bad boy/girl terrible things can happen and it's only the intervention of us that can save you or...

Simply a distraction technique to take peoples minds off all those ill behaved priests.

Now this is the 21st century and although their dogma is (as JR says) locked in the 14th, their public relations bods will be state of the art. How do you sell drain cleaner? You show a blocked up drain and an irate person looking like they have a blocked up drain. How do you sell the RC Church, not with blocked up drains I can tell you!

 

[Wrath of the Swarm]

I'd like to know how they're trying to distinguish between demonic possession and schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a descriptive label, and is defined by its symptoms: if you have the symptoms, you have schizophrenia. No further assumptions about the nature of your condition are implied.

So if you have a person hearing voices, unable to follow trains of thought, using word salad, and so forth, how will they determine that the person is actually possessed?

 

[Reginald]

Maybe they are waiting for the poor unfortunate to manifest a black pig in a cloud of sulphur fumes or something. I would say given that kind of thing it would be pretty conclusive. However I wonder if the psychologists are going because they have to for show or because they are hoping to at least get real treatment for some cases.

 

[BillyJoe]

IT'S TRUELY LOGICAL....

The Neurologist will be there to diagnose any Neurological disorder
The Psychiatrist will be there to diagnose any Psychiatric disorder
The Psychologist will be there to diagnose any Psychological disorder
So, the Priest will be there to diagnose any...er... Priestly disorder



BillyJoe

 

[geni]

Alturnativly this is the churches way of stopping exorcisiums without admitting it.

 

[Reginald]

Alturnativly this is the churches way of stopping exorcisiums without admitting it.

I think people will notice that slight change of possition after several hundred years.

"What satan? oohhhhhhh THAT one! Nothing to do with us Guvvner."

 

[shemp]

Maybe the church should get its own child-buggering bastards under control before they lecture others on the devil.

 

[Reginald]

Maybe the church should get its own child-buggering bastards under control before they lecture others on the devil.

Eloquently put as ever Cardinal Shemp, I trust you will be raising this point at your next meeting with the Pontiff???

 

[Kopji]

Apparently about 100 Energy engineers have descended on the town. One of the R&D engineers is being frequently quoted /re-quoted as personally seeing an unattached wire burst into flames before his eyes.

In the Guardian, John Hooper quotes Gianfranco Allegra, of the Italian Center for Electro-technical Experimentation, as saying he watched as "an electrical wire lying on the floor that was not plugged in to the mains inexplicably caught fire."
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The "problem" with fires may turn out to be related to a societal problem shared by priests and engineers. They both have a desperate need to establish their 'usefulness', and asserting there is actually 'something going on here' serves both group's needs.

Italian public energy R&D has seen a considerable decline since the mid -1980s, falling from $634 million in 1987. Fission has seen greater cuts than other energy sectors, and its funding has been cut by 93% from 1987 to 1996. This decline correlates with Italy's moratorium on nuclear power. Even renewable energy has experienced a 74% cut since 1987. Only general energy research has seen a real increase in R&D spending compared to levels in the late 1980s; as the title indicates, it is difficult to understand exactly how this funding is being spent.
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