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]cbayer
(146,218 posts)but in a relatively benign way.
I have always taken the position that it is pointless and can be counter productive to argue with someone's delusions, so I don't think we agree about the effectiveness of telling someone that what they are experiencing just isn't real. I tend to go for the, "I know you believe that, but I don't" approach.
We absolutely agree about scientology. Not only is what they offer a complete scam, it can make people much worse.
I first heard of exorcisms when I saw Rosemary's Baby, and i was raised in the church.
It's not common. The RCC does it, but they have a pretty strict set of guidelines that include a medical (including psychiatric) evaluation to rule out illness.
And there are some extreme sects that do it, but they have had some real tragedies associated with that as they do no screening at all as far as I can tell.