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In africa when you say your not a believer they see you as someone possesd by demons ??‍♂️

martins001 3 Jan 13
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5

In my circle, you are seen as possessed by intelligence.

4

Religious ignorance and intolerance crosses oceans and breaks through borders to spread itself globally. It's a lot like a viral pandemic of stupidity.

I love your way with words.

3

This is why I always carry an alka seltzer in my pocket... When they accuse me of being possessed.... I pop it in my mouth, take a drink of water and foam at the mouth! I still can't turn my head around 360 degrees though... But I can make some cool gurgling noises!

Meh... I'm getting old...

3

The Christian's are the ones responsible for this. They went to Africa with the intention to convert all the Africans to their religion. Now they have demons.

Ironic that the "White Devils" brought demons?

3

An odd way to describe rational thinking.

2

It's truly ashame. And I'm sure it isn't exclusive to Africa. Think how far the human race has come in only a few hundred years. And think how far we could be were it not for religion dumbing us down like this. It should almost be a crime to expose such malleable minded children to it, which is where I feel the root of this impediment to the advancement of civilized societies resides. Let their minds be free to explore, and answer their questions honestly. What is so wrong about that...

2

Be careful. It can be dangerous to make claims of skepticism there.

SCal Level 7 Jan 13, 2019
2

Those who believe in demons or anything for which there is not a shred of evidence that can be scientifically verified only serve to perpetuate such arrant nonsense amongst those who are not in the habit of critical thinking.

2

You're

You're an asshole.

@BufftonBeotch I knew someone would do it eventually.

@BufftonBeotch ??????

@BufftonBeotch He is correcting the guy's English.

@Amisja It's still an asshole thing to do. Especially with the emotions unveiled in this thread.

But it is in general considered an asshole thing to point out grammar mistakes unless someone is somehow being an asshole themself when they make a grammar mistake,

@BufftonBeotch I do it all the time... well I am a lecturer

1

security (insecurity) ranks just below food and shelter on Maslow's hierarchy of human values. it's very serious stuff to them because they are scared.

1

There is much superstition and ignorance around in many parts of the world. As Amisja has just pointed out....Africa is a continent and a vast one at that. Not all countries in Africa have the same religious or cultural beliefs...however, most of them do rather lag behind in rational thought. I presume that your country Cameroon is where you have encountered these primitive ideas. As we all know here in this site, there are no such things as demons, how you are going to change the views of others who believe that there are I can’t imagine, given that you are probably one of the few who have any sort of rational thought. Just be pleased that you have been able to throw off such superstitions.

I don't know if they lag behind in rational thought because I'm not sure how that's measured any more.

@Remowill a good point!

@creative51 Yes, but not all of them...it’s a combination of ancient tribal superstitions and religion....a lethal mix.

@creative51 Long before missionaries brought their White Gods to Africa or any other continent .....the native folks practiced some kind of tribal rituals which included demons and superstitious practices. If I don’t seem enlightened by pointing this out, then so be it. Just because I am a rational thinker and can’t find religion to be the sole evil here, why does that make me unenlightened in your opinion. On the contrary, I believe that I can put perfectly into perspective all the factors which account for these primitive ideas still prevailing.

1

Africa is a continent as you know. Demons don't exist, neither does possession. Welcome to rationality.

There are some generalities that can be placed on large swaths of some continents. Many places in Africa remain very spiritually conservative. There still are many nativist religions there as well as strict versions of Islam and Christianity. Granted, there are also people, especially in the large cities, that are more secular. One can also make some generalities about South America, but it is modernizing as well and breaking form. Having been forced to become Catholic, many of the people in S.A. follow their religious memes. Of course continents have multiple countries and ethnic groups and vast differences as well. If there were not differences, fears, and superstitions, and rivalries there wouldn't be as many regional wars.

@Beowulfsfriend Yep, I get that. About 1/3 of my students are from African countries and there are differences. We have students from Nigeria, Kenya (probably the most secular), Botswana, Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone. I have learned a lot from them. One student from Sierra Leone spoke about watching her father being killed, her mother raped and her brothers having arms cut off so they could not fire guns. Their stories and history are Unique to their particular region. I am European but I feel very different when I go to France or Spain. To condemn an entire continent which has for centuries been raped and pillaged by...well the west...seems wholly unfair.Just do a quick search on Ted talks to find 100s of African academics who have a lot to tell us about that continent.

1

Seems a bit uneducated... a believer in what though? The old African religions with shamans and masked dancers?

World wide religion counts estimate 200 million followers of some form of Nativism religion.

@Beowulfsfriend they may be better off than those following Christianity.

1

Demons R Us then 🙂

Very profound

0

I saw on a YouTube video, many people being burnt alive in a pit, for claims of witchcraft over in Africa.

Surely hell on earth.?☠

0

Where I have lived in the US, State of Kentucky, There are some that would feel the same if someone said they do not believe. Many of them will not say anything at the moment they discover, but they will probably not think well of or trust you from then on. If they say anything it may be that you would "have to be an idiot" to not believe. Some will become outright fearful of you. Kentucky is solidly in the part of this country called the "Bible Belt", A largely Protestant Christian area. The situation is not much complicated with Animist traditions, for example.

0

Stay true to your own way of thinking. People are ignorant in so many ways, even when they have more knowledge they are still ignorant!

0

I presume you would be speaking of Cameroon. I would be interested in some description of the overall situation as you see it where you are. This site is populated by Americans and Europeans largely and as such lack a historical and regional perspective on the situation there as you experience. I suppose that same state would exist for you as well on our situations.

0

africa is a big continent. did you have a particular country in mind?

g

0

A believer of anything or just whatever the local fairytale happens to be?

0

What part of Africa?

0

It has in many ways to be the default position of all theists, though many would not put it that way, since by theistic logic everything has to come from the supernatural, and therefore if you are not possessed by god then you must be by demons. It is just that in the west there is a smoke and mirrors attempt to pretend that the theology is somehow more clever and more sophisticated than that.

0

natas yb dessessop ton m'i

Keita Level 5 Jan 13, 2019
0

I have seen cases that they claim were demon possession but only when I was a believer. The believers go with it because the bible speaks of it. Perhaps the believer needs some extra attention in some way. They are acting. If the demons are cast out they got the attention, but there is less of this in America today. More and more people are seeing that demons are not real, they only make for a scary movie.

This would happen in your country also if people would realize there are no demons. There is no evidence of them and they come out of the minds of people who simply made it all up. Sometimes they do this because they had something to gain. Anything from extra attention to property itself. There are no demons. Only afraid and dishonest people.

Demons are what we understand to be mental illness and they exist. I have seen people so profoundly psychotic possession would seem an apt description.

@Amisja I'm sure there are examples where it really is mental illness but what I'm talking about is not that. It is pretend because you give "life" to a religious belief and call attention to yourself as well. If all demon possession was mental illness you have to ask why there is less possession in more industrialized countries. Being poor does not cause mental illness.

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