So when you said you were using “metaphor and hyperbole,” what you meant was that, in fact, you think it is possible that demons take human forms and hang around singles bars waiting to pick up divorced chicks for a romp in the sack.
Thanks for the clarification.
You do know that Judas Iscariot, a man, was called “a devil,” by Jesus, do you not ? Do you pretend not to know why ? A friend of yours betrays you, knowing you are wholly innocent, to death : I am curious, at such an occurence, would the indignation in you to curse him and call him a devil be succesfully suppressed by your disbelief in demons ? I would imagine that your deeper emotions and humanity would trump your rationalized disbelief and you would still curse such a friend as being a true devil, a doer of evil, a destroyer of all things good and worthy, such as simple friendship and the bonds of love and trust it begets, is.
Now you refuse to believe that a demon would seduce a woman in order to debauch her ? I am curious, do not even mere men seduce vulnerable women for no other reason than to debauch them ? And if men are capable of harbouring such wickedness within themselves, and doing such evil arising from their own selfishness and perverted desires, than for what reason do you possibly fancy that the very spirit of evil would not seek to do the same ? To be frank, men are possessed by demons all the time - the spirit of evil, licentiousness, wickedness, etc. First comes the arousal to desire or fancy, usual brought on by some object, which itself is probably not evil but can become evil if used badly, wrongly, etc. Then comes the desire to occupy this object, to have it, even though this is forbidden, and this is always the spirit of pure greed, and the Apostle (Saint Paul) teaches us that all greed is idolatry. The promise of such spirits is always self-gratification, self-indulgence, and is the self-same promise that infected Eve and Adam, wherein they are deceived into believing they can have what is forbidden. This happens, of course, almost surely at the expense of a neighbour, though sometimes purely at our own expense. Then comes the acceptance of that spirit so as to be possessed by it. The man or woman has flirted with the lying promise and reasoned with it or rationalized it in some way. Now they wish to acquire the object of desire, and possess what was lyingly promised to them, wherein the will is now subjected to the spirit for the sake of the (false or lying) promise, then the members of the body are (un)naturally are offered up for and to this spirit for its use, as to effect the (wicked) spirit’s desire.
Man is debauched. Man then seeks to debauch something or someone else, and as if this were all not enough evil, the very debauching of the one and (even the simple attempt) to debauch another (whether person or thing) becomes a scandal, and yet more people are debauched. “
O, the tangled webs we weeve !”
Have you never seen this ? Have you never seen the “air” of a person change, darken, when you see in your mind’s eye that he, in his mind, is festering or brooding over some dark purpose ? Now the makers of art and those who make films certainly recognize this, even dramatizing it to the point where the ambient light will actually be darkened around a person who is being depicted as plotting some wicked scheme, as being possessed by some evil or unlawful desire. Perhaps it is a desire to steal, to cheat, to take, to have (Cain - that infamous man and first murderer - his name means, literally, “possession,” or “to possess,” as in to want to have or to take) ; regardless, something is festering inside this person, and the longer this festering occurs, the more likely the wrong action will be taken.
That is possession by a demon, and it happens all the time. You might argue, “well, that may not actually be a demon itself,” and I would reply, “well, what difference does that make ?” Tell me the difference between being physically dominated, oppressed, controlled by another person, or voluntarily accepting the very spirit of that person, and doing their will of your own free will and accord ? Which is better from the perspective of the one who wishes to dominate ? To resort to force to get others to do your will or to have them freely choose to do your will voluntarily ? Now God issues us promises that we may do his will, and so evil does likewise issue promises, though these are of course evil and most often lying promises. Now the next time you find yourself in a moral challenge, having to choose between two courses, observe yourself in that state, and see how intimate the desires are, and conflicting they are. It is a very, very deep battle occuring and one we can only call “spiritual,” involving our will, our minds, and our bodies.
This is why we Catholics are strictly taught never to fancy such fallacies, never to flirt with such evil, and certainly never to directly invite such wickedness into our very beings (as in magic), and to resist temptation, following the example of Christ.
Pax,
Tim
