Religion
In reply to the discussion: We need a ginormous food fight here, so let's have a frank little chat about demons [View all]skepticscott
(13,029 posts)that a person could be possessed by supernatural beings, and that those beings could be driven out by a specific religious ritual?
Ummm...that would be from religion. There are all different degrees of mental illness and delusion, and in some cases, if religious organizations did their best to dispel false beliefs instead of feeding them, it would make a difference.
Is believing that if you handle poisonous snakes and are a true believer you won't be harmed (because the Bible tells you so) a delusion? A psychiatric disorder? If someone does that and gets bitten and dies, was it 100% due to mental illness, or did religion have something to do with it?
When was the last time you heard of a mentally ill atheist kill their child trying to purge demons from them by exorcism?