POSSESSION....

So, do you agree that Adolf Hitler and Stalin were possessed by the Devil? This is what the Vatican's chief "exorcist" has claimed.

Father Gabriele Amorth who is Pope Benedict XVI's 'caster out of demons' made his comments during an interview with Vatican Radio. Father Amorth said:

"Of course the Devil exists and he can not only possess a single person but also groups and entire populations. I am convinced that the Nazis were all possessed. All you have to do is think about what Hitler - and Stalin did. Almost certainly they were possessed by the Devil.

I also believe that Satan exists and that he stalks this Earth, like a roaring Lion. Those such as Hitler and Stalin demonstrated just a little of his unbelievable evil. In a post-Christian age, to coin a phrase, you may not believe in the Devil, but he certainly has plans for you!

Comments

[daytripper]

complete and utter tosh.

the danger of such nonsense like this is that you set stalin and hitler on pedestals, a position normal people cannot acheive. the fact is, stalin and hitler were human and for most of their lives, sane.

anyone can become a hitler or a stalin, that is the lesson to be learnt.

[smcgiff]

It's not the terrorists, Nazi's, Commies, fundamentalists etc’s fault, but a fallen angle with a 6,000 year old chip on his shoulder.

My message to Satan… Get over it already! And the whole red pyjamas and horn look went out in the middle ages, and even then wasn’t a cool look for a semi-deity to be prancing around in!

[daytripper]

but a fallen angle

damn those protractors ;)

[smcgiff]

'damn those protractors'

Not my fault - That was Satan's influence!!! *whistles*

[Felix Quigley]

I thought this was a POLITICAL site dealing with the affairs of EARTH

[smcgiff]

Well, Felix, if a post on the ubiquitousness of Ken Livingston by the new contributor can lead to asking him if he agrees that ‘the neoLeft is now anti-Semitic’ then I’m guessing this thread is not so strange.

[mahons]

Felix:
Check out the Screwtape Letters by Belfast born C.S. Lewis for a great take on the Devil and politics.

[jaun]

surely his mass possession statement includes a young benedict ?

[mahons]

Juan - very funny point. Now, how does one get the job as a caster out of demons?

[aileen]

"complete and utter tosh.

the danger of such nonsense like this is that you set stalin and hitler on pedestals,"

How?

[daytripper]

aileen, stalin and hitler were human beings. not monsters. people should never fall into the trap of claiming they were anything other than human. the lesson we should learn from that era is that absolutely anyone can become the arbiter of mass murder that these men became.

to casually disregard their actions as those of "satan" is to distance ones self from the possibility that you, me or anydody could end up doing something similar.

[aileen]

Daytripper

I don't argue for possession of the Devil but you still haven't shown why this is putting anyone on a pedestal. The arguement is still that these people were possesed by the Devil. It doesn't say that others can't be. Isn't that why people who beleive in the Devil. consider him so dnagerous, precisely because he is ready and waiting for all of us.

[That Damnable O'Dwyer!]

mahons,

Now, how does one get the job as a caster out of demons?

According to the Bible it was practically a mainstream hobby back in Jesus' day. Amazing that grown men and women still believe such things now but there you go.

I'm not sure what one is supposed to do with the 'information' that Hitler et al were possessed though, or why the likes of Torquemada are left off the list. Instead of D-Day should the allies have bombed Berlin with holy water, or sent in crack exorcists, or just had a vigorous pray?

[daytripper]

the actions of the third reich were not those of a single man. it took a willing nation to destroy europe and murder millions of slavs, jews and many other unfortunate groups of people.

it was the power of man not the power of satan. and there is a tendancy to place these actions on a pedastal, seemingly to elevate them beyond the realms of reality. when infact the reality is that humans are still capable of such brutality and nations are still capable of being seduced into accepting such measures as necessary for the preservation of their way of life.

what alot of people dont see is the pattern being repeated, not by the islamic world, but by the west.

read Michael Burleighs - The Third Reich (A New History).

[mahons]

O'Dwyer - aren't you risking having your nickname realized by such statements?

[james orr]

The Bible describes Satan/Lucifer as "The Father of Lies", and the originator of sin. Therefore all sinful acts, from something as simple as stealing a sweet from the Pick'n'Mix at Woolies to acts of genocide originate with him.

From Biblical accounts Satan, and his demons, can clearly take on physical form or possess an existing physical form.

[ch in tx]

"the actions of the third reich were not those of a single man."
DT,
That's the thesis of "Hitler's Willing Executioners. Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust" by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, 1997.
The Third Reich needed millions of the Volk to operate. On the topic of the thread, I've never been impressed with "the Devil made me do it." That denigrates man's free will. Hitler and the Germans chose to act in an evil manner.

[Ben-Con]

So they weren't just sociopaths, then? Funny, that would have made a lot more sense...

[daytripper]

The Bible describes Satan/Lucifer as "The Father of Lies", and the originator of sin. Therefore all sinful acts, from something as simple as stealing a sweet from the Pick'n'Mix at Woolies to acts of genocide originate with him.

regardless of Gods existence, all acts of good are by man. Likewise all acts of evil are mans.

That denigrates man's free will.

succinctly put chas.

So they weren't just sociopaths, then?

no.