Pope Francis and the alleged exorcism

[compared2what?]

I loved that book.

[compared2what?]

(Didn't mean anything. Just being silly. Carry on.)

[/offtopic]

[Simulist]

I loved that book.

But which is His Holiness? And which is backing away? Perhaps both.

[barracuda]

Whatever it is, it's fugly.

I really like that sculpture. It's so very 1970's looking. Not only is it a horrific revelation of the method, but the form of the explosive background is meant to echo the olive groves near Gethsemane, where the whole sweating of blood happened.



But then, I have a soft spot for folks who make gigantic bronzes, just out of sympathy for the technical bitches they can be.

I loved that book.

Seconded. It scared me, and still does.

[compared2what?]

I loved that book.

Seconded. It scared me, and still does.

You mean this book?



That's the one I was talking about.

(Stupid free online image editor.)

[barracuda]

No, I meant fucking Harold and his hellish wand of heliotrope.

[Iamwhomiam]

Musta been one hell of a commission...

[Jerky]

Heheh... touche.

Musta been one hell of a commission...

[Joe Hillshoist]

Check this out

[Simulist]

Check this out

Christian porn.

John Safran deserves some serious ridicule for putting himself in service to this shit.

[Hammer of Los]

...

I loved that book.

But which is His Holiness? And which is backing away? Perhaps both.

Sim, man you got me cacklin' like a good un'.


...

[Joe Hillshoist]

Check this out

Christian porn.

John Safran deserves some serious ridicule for putting himself in service to this shit.

I spose thats one way to look at it.

[stefano]

Coming back to the 'exorcism'... it was a bit more than someone with nervous problems losing control. The guy is breathing quite normally both before and after the laying of the hands, and looking at Francis with an expression that's not in the least out of the ordinary. It's just when the pope has both hands on his head that he comes out with those rasping gasps. And you can see Francis pressing down hard, pushing him back into his chair. More likely to be a show like Hinn's, I think, but I rather suspect it's some unclear combination of psychosomatics and theatrics, a kind of thing where no one involved is quite sure how much is staged. Hinn is perhaps an apposite comparison: often at those happy clappy things they have a few actors who seed the meme of possession by the Holy Spirit, and the rest of what happens is genuine, or rather the people having the fits are sincere.

I thought it was worth a look, anyway.

[Simulist]

Coming back to the 'exorcism'... it was a bit more than someone with nervous problems losing control. The guy is breathing quite normally both before and after the laying of the hands, and looking at Francis with an expression that's not in the least out of the ordinary. It's just when the pope has both hands on his head that he comes out with those rasping gasps. And you can see Francis pressing down hard, pushing him back into his chair. More likely to be a show like Hinn's, I think, but I rather suspect it's some unclear combination of psychosomatics and theatrics, a kind of thing where no one involved is quite sure how much is staged. Hinn is perhaps an apposite comparison: often at those happy clappy things they have a few actors who seed the meme of possession by the Holy Spirit, and the rest of what happens is genuine, or rather the people having the fits are sincere.

I thought it was worth a look, anyway.

I don't know, Stefano. Having once been a True Believer in the "power of the Devil" and the supposedly even-greater "power of the Lord" I am, admittedly, biased now when it comes to this topic.

Still when I watched the video you are referencing, what I saw there was a person who was affected by being touched by the pope. And, little wonder, too! — the reactions ordinary people have had to just being in the presence of, say, Elvis or the Beatles were oftentimes... well, "noteworthy," to say the least. How much more affected might a member of the faithful be by being given a blessing (and being physically touched) by the purported Successor to St. Peter, who claims to be the Vicar of Christ?

I agree that the gentleman's breathing and behavior becomes "noteworthy" upon the pope's touching him, but I don't think outrageously so when religious fervor is factored in.