Saturday, February 28, 2009

Jindal's Strange Past of Spiritual Warfare

Wowsa. Hard right conservative republicans seem to have the devil in common. Sarah Palin participated in her own exorcism of sorts.

They like to draw hard and fast lines between good and evil, Us vs. Them.

Remember the hard time evangelicals gave Obama at Rick Warren's little get together when Warren asked if evil exists and what do we do about it?

McCain was applauded for his simplistic (simpleton) answer: "Defeat it." While Obama was more thoughtful. He talked about the evil in Darfur, child abuse and approaching evil with humility.

I guess good vs. evil makes it easy for them. Everything in their life falls into one of those categories, which could cause wingnuttery. 

Does the devil turn them into crazy republicans or does being a right winger make them believe in devil-y things? 
NYT: In 1994 Jindal penned a piece for the New Oxford Review, under the title “Beating a Demon: Physical Dimensions of Spiritual Warfare,” in which he recounted what happened.

The account is straight out of the movies.

According to Jindal, Susan was a “charismatic Christian.” She had recently been diagnosed with cancer. Weeks before the diagnosis, one of her “closest friends from home” had committed suicide. She was hysterical and erratic (I wonder why), and started having “visions” and smelling like sulfur “which supposedly accompanies the devil.”

Everything came to a head at a prayer meeting organized for Susan. Here are some excerpts from Jindal’s article:

“Suddenly, Susan emitted some strange guttural sounds and fell to the floor. She started thrashing about, as if in some sort of seizure. Susan’s sister must have recognized what was happening, for she ordered us to gather around and place our hands on Susan’s prostrate body.”

“I tentatively ap proached the group and placed the edge of my finger tip on her shoulder … In a voice I had never heard before or since, Su san accused me: “Bobby, you cannot even love Susan.”

“The students, led by Susan’s sister and Louise, a member of a charismatic church, engaged in loud and desperate prayers while holding Susan with one hand. Kneeling on the ground, my friends were chanting, ‘Satan, I command you to leave this woman.’ Others exhorted all ‘demons to leave in the name of Christ.’” Check it out. 

The comments on Jindal's exorcism story in the NYT kept me entertained for quite some time. People come up with some funny stuff.