What did you think of the film? Please give your thoughts. It was based loosely on a true story. Respectful theists/atheists welcome. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! link to The real "Emily Rose'
I thought the story portrayed well many things that can be known about exorcism. There is no doubt that the girl upon which the story is based suffered greatly from scientifically unexplainable problems. The film brought out those distinctions well. It also showed the considerable difference between points of veiw and operational modes of bible christians as opposed to Catholics.
From your link: (The psychiatrists, whom had been ordered to testify by the court, spoke about the "Doctrinaire Induction". They said that the priests had provided Anneliese with the contents of her psychotic behavior. Consequentially, they claimed, she later accepted her behavior as a form of demonic possession. They also offered that Anneliese's unsettled sexual development, along with her diagnosed Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, had influenced the psychosis. The verdict was considered by many as not as harsh as they expected. Anneliese's parents, as well as the exorcists, were found guilty of manslaughter resulting from negligence and omitting first aid. They were sentenced to 6 months in jail and probation. The verdict included the opinion of the court that the accused should have helped by taking care of the medical treatment that the girl needed, but instead, their use of naive practices aggrivated Anneliese's already poor constitution.) It just goes to show how religion beliefs can ruin a life. If these people would have done what was proper, send their doughter to a freaking hospital, perhaps they would have saved her life.
It seems that the secular powers were attempting to blame religious content for the bizarre experiences of Anneliese. They were forced into this position so as not to upset the secularist ideology. Psychology was used as an excuse to explain away what could not be explained. In its antipathy to true psychology, study of the soul, which is Catholic psychologia, modernist psychologists must blame the contents of religion itself. Materialist psychology has diverted from its source, Catholic investigation of the psyche, and, in order to mantain the shallow materialist system derived ultimately from Freud, the fail to accept spiritual explanations. The profane university system which rewards only materialist liberal scholars is to blame for these outrages.
She was hallucinating, and it is her parents' and the priests' fault that she died. Some ritalin would've been a better choice.
for those that disagree with the methods used to "treat" the girl: if this had happened in 1840, when the "hospital" was a cage in which she was kept as an animal to live in her own filth....would you still think the exorcism inhumane as opposed to the secular solution?
It is a fact that the exorcists killed her. I think this pretty much explains the whole thing. The Devil Inside: I would equate both fairly equally at that level.
i pin the deaths on her parents, from what i have read. the exorcists had no legal rights over her if she were mentally ill. her parents are the ones that made the decision not to commit her to a hospital, not the priests.
The film was biased to make people believe it was a real demon possession. The girl had temporal lobe epilepsy. You might look that up, if you're so inclined. It causes a great many interesting behaviors. Hallucinations. Religious hysteria. Many saints are now thought to have been temporal lobe epileptics. The girl died from neglect. Criminal? It's hard to judge that one, after all, her parents might not have been temporal lobe epileptics, but they must have been a bit out of touch with reality. The problem with punishing the parents, of course, is that it did nothing but fulfill their martyr sense. First their little girl fights satan, and now they spend six months in the stripey hole fighting satan. Everybody wins. Yeehaw. Pass around some wine and crackers. Exorcisms all around. Annelise was a little cutie by the way. Wonder if she ever knew the 'pleasures of the flesh'? Well. Other than self-mutilation and the like, that is.
************** M*W: Throughout the history of humankind, women have always been seen as the sexual predator. My guess is that Annaliese was probably sexually active and the guilt overcame her. I didn't see the movie, but I heard radio talk shows dissing it. Satan is only a fig newton of the imagination. Only we have the power to destroy ourselves.
Art is able to say things that history or a simple presentation of mere facts cannot. A hypothesis not heavily supported by the evidence. Rationalist explanations for the experiences of several billion people of many religions through the course of ages. Funny, when the uncounted numbers of tribal folk and animists and pagans experience these things such rationalist explanations are not resorted to. There is no evidence that she had punishing parents. Please dont lower yourself thus. Such thoughts need not be publicized. Display some manly honour. Speak not that way of the dead.
Whoa, thats really standing up for womanhood there, MW. Surely your support of my chastizement of a chauvanist and abuser of females is evidence of your open-mindedness. Of course, it doesnt matter if the offender happens to be a non-christian, then you will support him no matter how he expresses himself. perhaps you need to reconsider the real source of female oppression: the sex-satureated culture that want women just to become objects for use and abuse. Sure, the bumber-sticker that says "my body is not a temple, its an amusement park!" oh its real funny.... But you will not hear pagan and atheist males saying such things, will you? after all, thats is their hidden motive anyway. they will agree to your face with the lie of how christianity demeans the feminine, but lets tell the truth, they agree so that they can get what they want...
I don't think you can substantiate that claim. To my knowledge atheists are strongly in favour of equal rights for men and women, and against oppression of humans and animals.
************* M*W: Of course, I support the feminine, and part of our human nature (both male and female) is our sexuality which is NOT evil. My remark about Annaliese's sexuality refers to the GUILT she may have had due to her religious upbringing and not because an act of sex. Sexuality is a healthy thing. Have you never seen any asexual people? They are so lost in a world they don't understand, and they defy their own human nature. Sex is not evil. Evil is only in the mind.
