If non-belief is NOT a defense against demons, then why do demons seem only to possess people who DO believe in them?
Exorcism is a Catholic thing - so you'd think demons might select their prey from among the billions who do not practice it...
Many families of other faiths resort to the rite of exorcism only once they are unable to obtain help from their own religion, doctor, psychiatrist, etc. I would not agree that it is only Catholics that are possessed, but it is only Catholic priests perform this rite.
I have no belief either way on if they are real possesions or not, but I would love to witness one for myself.
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~ Immanual Kantshare
A Christian is protected from demonic spirits. Someone who goes to church on Sundays but doesn't walk with Christ isn't saved.
Catholics are famous for this. Add the fact that many put their faith in saints or Mary, rather than Jesus and you double down.
Someone can invite the demon inside them. What effect this has, whether it's 'hollywood'-like, mental-crazy, or debased behavior...is beyond my knowledge.
It's only crazy if it isn't true
A Christian is protected from demonic spirits. Someone who goes to church on Sundays but doesn't walk with Christ isn't saved.
Catholics are famous for this. Add the fact that many put their faith in saints or Mary, rather than Jesus and you double down.
Someone can invite the demon inside them. What effect this has, whether it's 'hollywood'-like, mental-crazy, or debased behavior...is beyond my knowledge.
It's only crazy if it isn't true
If you want my own opinion, there's no compelling proof that ANYONE has ever been possessed by a demon; I'm approaching this movie - and others about demonic possession - the way I might contemplate a vampire or SF movie, with questions about how (within the offered fictional framework) the vampires/aliens/whatever select their targets. If Hollywood is the source (and for me, it is) demons certainly "seem" to preferentially select adolescent girls for possession, and they are always at least nominally Christian (The Rite, The Exorcist, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Last Exorcism, etc.)
All the same, I'll grant that you have a point - the possibility of people being possessed (or at least infested) by evil spirits is quite widespread, and the approaches to getting rid of them vary widely.
However, "The Rite" (along with The Exorcist and other films I mentioned) presents an emphatically Catholic take on the whole enterprise, citing the bible and the words of Jesus for descriptions and explanations of what demons are, what they do, what they want, etc. It also offers an unflaggingly Christian approach to driving them out, with crosses and such. I wonder why Father Lucas - who admits to deep uncertainty about his faith - didn't toss in a few non-catholic or even pagan anti-demon tricks, (just to see if they worked better) but only stuck to the procedures taught at the Vatican.
Isn't that a little why asking why a certain disease only exists in countries where doctors treat patients for it?
It kind of precludes the idea that the event can happen outside the Catholic church but go undiagnosed.
But unlike a disease, demons are said to be at least human-level intelligent - and presumably, they are able to pick their targets.
My question then is: why would a demon EVER infect a Catholic, when easier targets are available?
With millions - if not billions - of victims to choose from who lack any effective means to expel them (and again, the movies imply that at least Christian - if not specifically Catholic - methods are the only ones that work) - why then would a demon ever bother to attack a pious Catholic with access to an exorcist?
It's possible to speculate and imagine reasons why it might be - but I've heard no official ones offered.
Here are some speculative reasons I've just pulled out of my ear:
1) Perhaps Catholics are the only ones who "have it right" - i.e. the only ones with even a chance of going to Heaven, and hence the only worthwhile prey. No point corrupting souls that are already damned...
2) Perhaps Catholics just get more freaked out when they are possessed than non-Cathloics do - and demons dig that. After all, if (for instance) the number 666 mysteriously appears on your forehead - it won't be NEARLY as scary if you don't know that it's "the number of the beast" - right? In short, maybe a Catholic's awareness and belief in the idea demonic possession makes the fact of demonic possession much more frightening and horrifying, and for a demon that's money in the bank.
3) Perhaps demons just like a challenge - possessing people who have no way to fight back is just too easy.
Interesting subject for debate/discussion.
I would suspect that were such a thing true, it may be along the lines of the three points you list. I also think that in the case of a demon possessing a believer, it is more a spit in God's face, so to speak. Believers supposedly have God, Jesus, etc. in their heart. Well, if a demon/devil is able to get in and possess them, is that not a more direct attack against their chosen foe?
There is no sin in being possessed since in order to sin, you must have free will
.The possessed may choose a holy person that symbolizes good to cause despair in others that rely on that person more than they rely on God (They might not even realize they rely on that person as a way to God until that person is lost to them. My wife passed away last month. I had no idea had strong she made my faith until she was gone.)
To clarify, I do still believe, but it was much harder to "feel" my faith after she passed.
She was amazing. I still love her and I love God.
There are exorcisms performed by non Catholics. I was raised protestant, and there are people that do them but many are handled "in house" so to speak. HA. Obviously it is not like the Catholics Rite of Exorcism. It is more laying on of hands and prayer by all involved. It isn't unusual to see a heap of people on top of someone trying to pray whatever demon they think someone has. Sadly enough, one of my worst memories as a child was watching them try to "pray the gay away" from some unfortunate fellow. This probably explains why I haven't been to Church in over 20 years.
shareThere is no defense against demons as they do not exist. This is coming from someone who has dabbled. As far as i have seen in my experience, demons, angels, gods, satan are all characters in a book to teach us how to be good to each and live good lives. If taken literally we should all kill ourselves right now.
Habataitara modorenai to itteshare
Mezashi-ta no wa aoi aoi ano sora
I would agree, but I was curious if believers had any thoughts on the subject.
shareIt makes perfect sense for a demon to possess mostly believers.
If a demon possessed a non-believer, the demon allows the non-believer to believe in its existence. Now the human knows some sort of supernatural force is at hand. So if it's possible that there's supernatural evil going on, then to the possessed human being, it may be possible that there's also supernatural benevolence going on as well.
Thus, it's very silly for a demon to possess a non-believer, simply because the potential for them to turn back to God increases tenfold.
On the flipside, possessing a devout believer (as normally is the case) tests the faith of the person, and can put them in doubt, and make them lose all hope. What would once have been a soul going to heaven, could potentially be a soul being lead to hell.
Not bad! Well done sir, that actually makes some sense.
sharepossessing a devout believer (as normally is the case)
Exorcism is a Catholic thing
sorry but that' s a silly thing to say. first of all exorcism is not only a catholic thing, it's also an orthodoxe thing....and orthodoxe christians also do exorcisms but not as widely open as catholics. also, there are a lot of references on other countries/religions or non religions who mention possessions by demons.
as far as it concerns your other question, i believe demons prefer those who have some faith, the point is to get someone who balances on his faith. if you get someone who doesn't believe then why to try, it's the easiest prey. if you believe in nothing then you fall for anything. so it's kinda an already taken soul -anyway, some religions say that if you don't believe in God you go to hell anyway!
I think Beady-El nails it, if you'll pardon the pun, when s/he theorizes that "demons like a challenge." Most of the well-known cases of (supposed) demonic possession have been of people described as devout or extremely devout - tho I suppose the latter is like being "very unique" - cringe. Anneliese Michel comes to mind. I hadn't considered the aspect of a soul destined for Heaven being taken instead to Hell, as I can't imagine a god cruel enough to allow this to happen to one of his followers through no fault of their own.
It's been reported that people of non-Western cultures experience "possession" which also includes speaking in languages to which they've had no exposure, and having unexplained knowledge about others, and of future events. Shamans and other non-Christian holy men (never women, it seems?) perform what we'd call exorcisms.