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" (Optional Musical Soundtrack to This Post)      It&amp;#039;s helpful, occasionally, to take a short walk over to Bedlam and see what the inmates are up to these days. Well, if Our Lady of the Squandered Hormones thinks this is an &amp;quot;interesting piece&amp;quot; \u2014 Shurrup, ya pack o&amp;#039; bastids! \u2014 we should probably check it out, no? Oh, holy mother of God. What makes a mild mannered, promising young scientist decide to arm himself to the teeth, walk into a suburban movie theater and start killing innocent people at random? Did he have a bad childhood experience? Doesn&amp;#039;t seem that way. Everybody says he was a nice, very smart, shy kid. Maybe a bit of a geek, but there are millions of geeks who don&amp;#039;t go on killing sprees. Was he insane? There weren&amp;#039;t any warning signs that he was crazy. Was he politically or religiously motivated? No evidence. Was he driven crazy by violent video games? He didn&amp;#039;t seem to play more than most kids. Was his mind poisoned by the nihilistic second Batman movie? It was a dark film, but millions saw it and didn&amp;#039;t go on a rampage. Was he somehow &amp;quot;possessed&amp;quot; by the Joker character? Some say the demonic Joker drove Heath Ledger to kill himself. Some say that. Some say it was an accident, though, and that it involved prescription medications, and several of those people work in the medical examiner&amp;#039;s office in New York City. Demonic infestation is a rare, strange and terrible psycho-spiritual affliction. In simple terms, a malevolent, separate intelligence infests the mind and spirit of a person. It takes over the rational faculties and dominates the personality. The phenomenon is real, but anyone who has ever dealt with the problem realizes that the demonic realm is complex.  And, in other news, schizophrenia hires a copyright attorney. This is because, in theory, demonic influence in a personality can exist on several different levels. Experts disagree about the terminology and extent of the diabolical influence, and in this arcane discipline, for reasons that will become clear, there are few set rules or guidelines. However, some levels of demonic involvement can be observed.  &amp;quot;Experts&amp;quot; also disagree about the &amp;quot;terminology and extent of the&amp;quot; influence of the Grays in the formation of crop circles and cattle mutilations, and, also, too, the &amp;quot;discipline&amp;quot; under discussion was already &amp;quot;arcane&amp;quot; in the 17th century. However, if you could just stay at the level where your head turns all the way around, you could be great fun at parties. The first level of demonic influence is temptation. This is not just the mild desire to drink too much, overindulge, or have a sexual dalliance. That&amp;#039;s just part of being human. If there is a demonic element, the &amp;quot;temptation&amp;quot; is to do something radically and extremely vile. This can happen in a person&amp;#039;s life without any sign of supernatural activity.  And sociopathy joins the lawsuit. The second level of demonic influence is obsession. At this level, there is still no sign of anything paranormal happening. The person starts to give in to the temptation. He may become reclusive and secretive as he becomes obsessed with the evil that he is entertaining. This evil may be in the form of occult activity, violent video games or movies, pornography, drug abuse, sexual perversion, sexual promiscuity, or obsession with power and violence.  If &amp;quot;obsession&amp;quot; with sex is an indication of demonic influence, half the Vatican must be speaking in tongues by now. In the first two levels of demonic influence, the malevolent spirit is still outside the personality. On the third level, the malevolent spirit seems to enter the whole person in a spiritual, mental and even physical dimension.  And Sybil files an amicus brief. The final stage of demonic influence is possession. This is when the malevolent spirit does not manifest itself any longer, but hides within the personality rather like a parasite. The person will appear to return to normal, but there is a shadow within. Even if they do so in a respectable and &amp;quot;normal&amp;quot; manner, they will live only for themselves and the darkness within.  And the Cheney family launches a slander action. In analyzing these levels of demonic influence, one must remember that each level builds on the former and there may be no sequence, predictability or diagnostic tests.   Damn, because you could really have some fun with the MRI technician if he saw something grinning back at him. In dealing with the interface between the paranormal realm and the complexities of the human person, the exorcist often feels like he is walking blindfolded through a minefield set in quicksand. He is wrestling with a pool of oily octopuses. He is on the edge of chaos where there is no foothold.  BACK TO METAPHOR HELL! THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU! Is James Holmes demon possessed? It is impossible to say without a detailed diagnosis. Even then, it is a slippery question. We are dealing with a reality that is rubbery. In many ways this is the wrong question. Better to ask, &amp;quot;Was James Holmes taken over by Evil?&amp;quot;  A rubbery reality? Senator Vitter? Beelzebub on Line Four. Whether the twist was through mental illness, some inner wound or some terrible dark intelligence, we cannot say. The fact that we can&amp;#039;t say what went wrong and don&amp;#039;t have a neat and tidy answer is the key to understanding the terrible conundrum of evil.  But only one of them makes for a smashing summer popcorn movie! What I mean is that the further one goes down the path of Evil, the more it becomes irrational and mindless. Evil, by its very nature, is a lie, a subterfuge, a deceit and a vast web of contradictions and inconsistencies. Evil is, by it&amp;#039;s nature, the darkness and the chaos-where what seems reasonable is only a smoke screen for the absurd, and what seems logical is a pretext for irrationality.  And the Cheneys hire more lawyers. A friend of mine who is an exorcist says this is why the ministry of exorcism is so exhausting and grueling-because the demons constantly lie. Whenever evil is manifested, it wears a mask. The evil ones squirm and hide. They flatter one moment and hiss with rage the next. They are one moment obsequious and aggressive the next. Because they are liars, reason and trust can find no grasp. Pure Evil is random, violent and unpredictable.  And Jim Cantore loses a second career. Furthermore, Evil is, by it&amp;#039;s nature, perverse and twisted. Evil has nothing positive in itself. It can only ever twist, pervert and destroy what is good. Consequently, Evil seeks innocent victims. Goodness is the fuel and fodder for Evil. Evil kills and feasts on the good.  Give Anna Paquin the Emmy now! This is why evil feels so bad. We wouldn&amp;#039;t mind so much if bad people got gunned down by a vengeful killer. But Evil doesn&amp;#039;t work that way. Evil seeks innocent victims. That&amp;#039;s why it&amp;#039;s evil. We wouldn&amp;#039;t feel so bad if vile, genocidal dictators get their just reward and hang, but evil seeks out the helpless old person, the vulnerable woman, the child yet unborn.  Which is why Planned Parenthood doctors show up at movie theaters and pelt people with condoms.  All we can do when faced with mindless evil is recognize that it is mindless.  OK, tell you what. I recognize that evil is mindless. (I did, after all, cover the Republican primary process.) How&amp;#039;s about we all recognize that and then we decide as a country not to let it turn itself into a walking arsenal as the fundamental expression of human freedom? Because I am a pantywaist liberal, I think both the person and the demon possessing him should be forced to show an ID at gun shows. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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