It’s really tragic because in some countries where they don’t understand mental illness, it’s treated as a spiritual problem, and people are actually chained up in prayer camps.
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That doesn’t mean I don’t believe in the devil (a fallen angel). I just don’t believe in demon possession.
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Have you heard about the documentary Jesus Camp ?
I highly recommend it. It’s about this huge, awful Pentecostal minister, Becky Fischer, who ran a religious camp for children. She was really big on the devil, and considered Harry Potter to be evil. She would whip the poor children into a frenzy of babbling, weeping hysteria.
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I’ve not heard of it. But I’ve heard of plenty of stories similar to it. As a person who has been watching horror since childhood, I’ve constantly had to deal with views about it being evil. Goosebumps was evil. Creepshow was evil. When I was like 11-13 I don’t remember exactly , maybe even a year or so older. But at one point my mom started going to this almost Pentecostal like nondenominational church and she went hardcore into a devil behind everything. Luckily it only lasted a short while but before it was over a lot of my stuff got burned. Clothes, artwork, cds, board games. Before that there was phases of Pokémon being “pocket demons that encourages dog fighting lol “.
Which was amusing because my mom was a 80s style goth who watched tons of horror. When I was really young I remember my grandma getting mad at mom and tossing out a insult about how she use to bring me as a baby to the theaters watching horror films. When I was like 4-5 I had a goosebumps cookie for my birthday. I’ve always disliked cake. So it was always cookies. Chocolate chip licorice cookies xd.
I’m in a handful of Christian Gothic groups, even though I’m not one, they closely match a lot of my interests in entertainment. One of the things they often bring up is being accused “ appearance of evil “ and “ inviting the devil in “. I have even been told my calico is evil by lady once because the colors are Halloween colors . I have a bunch of tattoos and am often told it’s evil and defiling the flesh and ect….
In one of the forums I’m in on another Christian group there is a person who is asking for prayer over horror movies possibly being demonic. They are worried about it. Tons of the people are telling them “ that shameful feeling is the Holy Spirit stop fighting it because horror is just torture porn that’s hardening your heart “. I pointed out it’s probably not the Holy Spirit but simply personal preferences and even more likely it’s cultural peer pressure brainwashing you into feeling bad “. You don’t have to watch them, but you can’t really say God told you it was evil when the Bible is full of horror.
Another thing I hear is that archeology is evil because they are digging up the things god hid with floods, fires and war. They are digging up these idols and it’s satanic lol.
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Well, uplift and erosion are revealing plenty. In Jesus Camp, some counselors enter the cabin of boys telling ghost stories and tell them to knock it off.
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For more on demon possession take a look at this thread from 2016:
See how I’m outnumbered?
(Casper_Hesp used to be a moderator here)
This is very important point. I know some cessationists theologians who have a higher view of Holy Spirit and his work than some of their continuationist counterparts.
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Just a reminder, y’all, opinions of the moderators are opinions of the moderators. Opinions of the moderators ≠ the official stance of BioLogos. Thanks. 
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