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Extraordinary Claims => Religion General Discussion => Christianity => Topic started by: Contemporary Protestant on July 26, 2014, 01:06:32 PM

Title: Demons
Post by: Contemporary Protestant on July 26, 2014, 01:06:32 PM
Growing up in a more moderate-liberal background, I am unfamiliar with doctrine or dogma on this subject. Would anyone be willing to share what they were told as kids/young adults?
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Hijiri Byakuren on July 26, 2014, 01:15:05 PM
Everything I've ever heard about demons is so conflicting that I've just given up and decided to stick to this kind.

(http://hdwallpapersfactory.com/wallpaper/video_games_touhou_wings_red_eyes_remilia_scarlet_desktop_2000x1250_hd-wallpaper-605920.jpg)
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: SGOS on July 26, 2014, 01:17:06 PM
My father frightened me with the boogeyman for a short time, but I think my mother told him to stop that shit, and he did.  Other than that, my parents told me ghosts and monsters didn't exist, but I was afraid of them anyway.  I wasn't taught anything about demons during my Lutheran upbringing, but I think they play a part in the Catholic religion and in some protestant fringe sects.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Mr.Obvious on July 26, 2014, 01:19:46 PM
When I was a kid I thought demons and devils were real entities out there. But I mostly blame my schooling combined with my being an impressionable kid with a rather active imagination more than 'indoctrination' on this. My parents didn't actually believe in god, let alone demons. And always told me they, like monsters, didn't exist. I actually remember finding it confusing that they said these things couldn't exist when the devil clearly was an entity in the stories of the bible. (I didn't know they weren't religious and just had me baptized, taken communion and given me the optional course of 'religion' over 'ethics' in school to please my grandparents.)
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: stromboli on July 26, 2014, 02:03:58 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lesser_Key_of_Solomon

Lesser Key of Solomon. Describes demons of various types, if you are looking at classical references.

Demon in  my religion, (Mormon) were fallen angels that backed Satan supposedly in a war in heaven, and were cast down to earth. Also sometimes referred to as Sons of Perdition, a term used interchangeably between fallen angels and people who denied Mormonism      (me :biggrin:)

I once had as dream where I saw an image of the fallen, dressed in Mormon Temple garments, substituting the color red for green, the standard color of the apron and the sash. Woke up in a cold sweat. Went to church next Sunday.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Contemporary Protestant on July 26, 2014, 02:05:38 PM
thanks for the link
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Solitary on July 26, 2014, 04:56:44 PM
I never heard of demons as a kid, but the boogey man as well as the tooth fairy scared the crap out of me along with Santa if I was naughty.  :doh: Solitary
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: AllPurposeAtheist on July 26, 2014, 07:48:47 PM
Quote from: Solitary on July 26, 2014, 04:56:44 PM
I never heard of demons as a kid, but the boogey man as well as the tooth fairy scared the crap out of me along with Santa if I was naughty.  :doh: Solitary
The tooth fairy of course causes all kinds of dental pain and it doesn't really matter if you brush and floss. It's all dependent on whether you feared her or not as a kid. I made the mistake of not fearing her so had terrible dental pain till finally getting all my teeth pulled. I bet my dentures will hurt too because of it.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: GrinningYMIR on July 26, 2014, 07:55:08 PM
Quote from: Hijiri Byakuren on July 26, 2014, 01:15:05 PM
Everything I've ever heard about demons is so conflicting that I've just given up and decided to stick to this kind.

(http://hdwallpapersfactory.com/wallpaper/video_games_touhou_wings_red_eyes_remilia_scarlet_desktop_2000x1250_hd-wallpaper-605920.jpg)

I don't find that difficult to fap to
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Simon Moon on July 26, 2014, 08:19:36 PM
Quote from: Contemporary Protestant on July 26, 2014, 01:06:32 PM
Growing up in a more moderate-liberal background, I am unfamiliar with doctrine or dogma on this subject. Would anyone be willing to share what they were told as kids/young adults?

So, you learned your cherry picking from your parents.

Never ceases to amaze me how 'moderate Christians' want to ignore the parts of the Bible that make them uncomfortable.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Contemporary Protestant on July 26, 2014, 08:56:55 PM
Excuse me?

I have already talked ad nauseum about how I read scripture, just because I don't live according to the Old Testament because I am not jewish. I live according to Jesus' philosophy

And for your information, my parents are very conservative but allow me to believe things (or not believe things on my own) I actually left my parents church the second I could drive myself places. I say I had a moderate background because that is what I chose to surround myself with
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: PickelledEggs on July 26, 2014, 09:35:49 PM
Quote from: GrinningYMIR on July 26, 2014, 07:55:08 PM
I don't find that difficult to fap to

I find it difficult to NOT fap to.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: PickelledEggs on July 26, 2014, 09:36:08 PM
Quote from: PickelledEggs on July 26, 2014, 09:35:49 PM
I find it difficult to NOT fap to it.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Gawdzilla Sama on July 26, 2014, 10:00:12 PM
I was declared a demon in 1971. I tend to agree with that.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: The Skeletal Atheist on July 26, 2014, 10:14:58 PM
I was simply told that demons were agents of Satan, and that their main job was whispering temptations into you head so you'd do bad things because unlike God, Satan couldn't be end-user and he only visited for major temptations. That's what I was told as a child anyways.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Munch on July 27, 2014, 08:37:18 AM
If your going to have demons, they should at least be smoking hot, just to piss christians off all the more.

(http://i.imgur.com/XgQjAUG.jpg)
(Dantes inferno, awesome game, Lucifers slong had its own animation)
(http://i.imgur.com/4xK8i2z.jpg)
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Munch on July 27, 2014, 08:38:21 AM
Quote from: GSOgymrat on July 26, 2014, 10:32:10 PM
My demon costume. Won $100.


woo, is that all costume or are you really that buff?
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Shiranu on July 27, 2014, 08:41:29 AM
Quote from: Contemporary Protestant on July 26, 2014, 01:06:32 PM
Growing up in a more moderate-liberal background, I am unfamiliar with doctrine or dogma on this subject. Would anyone be willing to share what they were told as kids/young adults?

Don't really know where they came from, simply that they possessed people who let them into their hearts.

Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Munch on July 27, 2014, 08:47:36 AM
Quote from: Contemporary Protestant on July 26, 2014, 01:06:32 PM
Growing up in a more moderate-liberal background, I am unfamiliar with doctrine or dogma on this subject. Would anyone be willing to share what they were told as kids/young adults?

Demons are just an easy answer for christians to create something to explain any 'negative vices' people have as a further means to controlling them, simply paint things like desire or lust or essentially any average human emotion we as a bipedal animal might have, that might lead us away from church, and paint it as something evil, and demons are just something to reaffirm them as the works of the devil.

"This man had sex with his daughter"
"Welp, musta been demons in his head"
"but he was a christian"
"Welp, he probably didn pray hard nough"

"Mommy, my peener got hard today"
"Devil Child!! You must hit it with the bible to ward off demons from you!"
"But it hurts mommy.."
"That is gods way of saying you did wrong child"
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: doorknob on July 27, 2014, 09:08:28 AM
yes anime demons are sexy and the type of demon I prefer myself.

Even if demons existed it wouldn't automatically prove that a god or gods exist.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Munch on July 27, 2014, 09:15:32 AM
Quote from: doorknob on July 27, 2014, 09:08:28 AM
yes anime demons are sexy and the type of demon I prefer myself.

Even if demons existed it wouldn't automatically prove that a god or gods exist.

yeah. infact in japanese demons are called Oni, and are completely different to what you'd take from western societies look at demons and where they come from:

QuoteOni (鬼?) are a kind of yōkai from Japanese folklore, variously translated as demons, devils, ogres or trolls. They are popular characters in Japanese art, literature and theatre.[1]

Depictions of oni vary widely but usually portray them as hideous, gigantic ogre-like creatures with sharp claws, wild hair, and two long horns growing from their heads.[2] They are humanoid for the most part, but occasionally, they are shown with unnatural features such as odd numbers of eyes or extra fingers and toes.[3] Their skin may be any number of colors, but red and blue are particularly common.[4][5]

They are often depicted wearing tiger-skin loincloths and carrying iron clubs called kanabō (é‡'æ£'?). This image leads to the expression "oni with an iron club" (鬼にé‡'æ£' oni-ni-kanabō?), that is, to be invincible or undefeatable. It can also be used in the sense of "strong beyond strong", or having one's natural quality enhanced or supplemented by the use of some tool.[6][7]
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: GSOgymrat on July 27, 2014, 09:42:37 AM
ftp://
Quote from: Munch on July 27, 2014, 08:38:21 AM
woo, is that all costume or are you really that buff?

The wings are fake. :madu:
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: stromboli on July 27, 2014, 09:58:01 AM
Quote from: GSOgymrat on July 27, 2014, 09:42:37 AM
ftp://
The wings are fake. :madu:

You are a damn fine example of humanity.  :clap:
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Munch on July 27, 2014, 10:00:06 AM
Quote from: GSOgymrat on July 27, 2014, 09:42:37 AM
ftp://
The wings are fake. :madu:

Mmm, buff ^^
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: doorknob on July 27, 2014, 12:24:23 PM
I agree.

and kudos on 100$ you deserved it.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: LazyLotusEater on August 08, 2014, 10:11:35 AM
As a kid I once got sleep paralysis and my sister told me that I was probably being raped by an incubus demon. She made me cry and I actually believed her at the time. My sister is very superstitious , anyway that's one folkloric demon story.
Here's a pastor casting out demons (paid actor?) : http://youtu.be/8RuCLB6vM3M (http://youtu.be/8RuCLB6vM3M)
                                                                                 http://youtu.be/OmP_AKDHPKE (http://youtu.be/OmP_AKDHPKE)
                                                                                 http://youtu.be/QiJtio9n4Lc (http://youtu.be/QiJtio9n4Lc)
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Solitary on August 08, 2014, 10:18:44 AM
Quote from: stromboli on July 26, 2014, 02:03:58 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lesser_Key_of_Solomon

Lesser Key of Solomon. Describes demons of various types, if you are looking at classical references.

Demon in  my religion, (Mormon) were fallen angels that backed Satan supposedly in a war in heaven, and were cast down to earth. Also sometimes referred to as Sons of Perdition, a term used interchangeably between fallen angels and people who denied Mormonism      (me :biggrin:)

I once had as dream where I saw an image of the fallen, dressed in Mormon Temple garments, substituting the color red for green, the standard color of the apron and the sash. Woke up in a cold sweat. Went to church next Sunday.
"Sons of Perdition" Sounds like a rock band.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Mister Agenda on August 08, 2014, 11:16:31 AM
As a former Pentecostal, I was raised to beleive that demons are real: fallen angels who hate God and despise humanity, who would like nothing better than to posess our bodies and use them to work evil. Any involvement with the occult or mystiicism, such as using OUIJA boards or practicing Zen meditation would make us vulnerable to demonic oppression and eventual possession.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Hijiri Byakuren on August 08, 2014, 11:44:10 AM
Quote from: LazyLotusEater on August 08, 2014, 10:11:35 AM
As a kid I once got sleep paralysis and my sister told me that I was probably being raped by an incubus demon. She made me cry and I actually believed her at the time. My sister is very superstitious , anyway that's one folkloric demon story.
Here's a pastor casting out demons (paid actor?) : http://youtu.be/8RuCLB6vM3M (http://youtu.be/8RuCLB6vM3M)
                                                                                 http://youtu.be/OmP_AKDHPKE (http://youtu.be/OmP_AKDHPKE)
                                                                                 http://youtu.be/QiJtio9n4Lc (http://youtu.be/QiJtio9n4Lc)
I seem to remember a thing on the Discovery Channel several years back where a psychologist was explaining something to the effect of, "The combination of fervent belief and the pastor's own actions produces a psychological reaction, wherein the results the Believer expects will be acted out with subconscious prodding."

I am 90% certain I got that wrong somewhere, this was like 7 or 8 years ago, but that's the basic gist of it I can remember.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Munch on August 08, 2014, 12:18:58 PM
Demons are just an interchangeable construct of human imagination and fear, they exist as much as water nymphs, elves, fairies, goblins, orcs, minotaurs, 98% the cast of world of warcraft, angels, dragons and free willed republicans do.
But on that notion, I'm a comic book and fantasy gaming nerd, so looove the idea of playing a sexy demon guy the same as i would an orc or furry.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Nam on August 08, 2014, 12:19:04 PM
Quote from: Contemporary Protestant on July 26, 2014, 01:06:32 PM
Growing up in a more moderate-liberal background, I am unfamiliar with doctrine or dogma on this subject. Would anyone be willing to share what they were told as kids/young adults?

I was always told I was an adopted alien demon. True story.

-Nam
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Munch on August 08, 2014, 12:29:17 PM
Quote from: LazyLotusEater on August 08, 2014, 10:11:35 AM
As a kid I once got sleep paralysis and my sister told me that I was probably being raped by an incubus demon. She made me cry and I actually believed her at the time. My sister is very superstitious , anyway that's one folkloric demon story.
Here's a pastor casting out demons (paid actor?) : http://youtu.be/8RuCLB6vM3M (http://youtu.be/8RuCLB6vM3M)
                                                                                 http://youtu.be/OmP_AKDHPKE (http://youtu.be/OmP_AKDHPKE)
                                                                                 http://youtu.be/QiJtio9n4Lc (http://youtu.be/QiJtio9n4Lc)

Dunno about you, but if I had this floating over me at night:

(http://i.imgur.com/2nhWVcr.jpg)

Well, I'd not say no thats for sure.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Thackerie on August 08, 2014, 01:56:21 PM
Quote from: Contemporary Protestant on July 26, 2014, 08:56:55 PM
Excuse me?

I have already talked ad nauseum about how I read scripture, just because I don't live according to the Old Testament because I am not jewish. I live according to Jesus' philosophy ...


It seems to me that anyone who tried to live according to Jesus's philosophy WOULD be Jewish, like he was. He never tried to end Judaism but only to reform it.

As he supposedly said (Matthew 15:24), "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

And, he followed Jewish practice, including celebrating Passover, right up to the end.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Solitary on August 08, 2014, 03:07:10 PM
So CP I guess the Old Testament is not Gods Word, and the New one is. How convenient!  :fU: Solitary
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Munch on August 08, 2014, 03:22:39 PM
Quote from: Solitary on August 08, 2014, 03:07:10 PM
So CP I guess the Old Testament is not Gods Word, and the New one is. How convenient!  :fU: Solitary

oh no see gods words can be edited anytime. When he told Abraham to kill his own son, he was about to do it, when god sent an angel to tell Abraham to not do it. Apparently its okay to fuck with an senile old man like that if god does it.
And yeah, it would have senile for a looong time since he died when he was 175 years old.. who knew you could live that long.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Solitary on August 08, 2014, 03:38:19 PM
The theists here can seem to set you dumb atheists straight, so I have to. A day back then was judged by the rotation of Kolob where God lives, and a year was by how long it took to go around its sun.  :whistle:  :biggrin: Solitary
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: ApostateLois on August 11, 2014, 11:09:42 PM
As a Christian, I was taught that demons were the fallen angels who rebelled against God and were cast out of heaven to Earth. Now they roam around, looking for weak, doubting Christians whom they can trick into not believing in God, or going to the wrong church, or masturbating, or any other sin you can think of. They also convince people that evolution is real and there's no such thing as heaven or hell. Exactly HOW they do all this is never explained, nor is it explained why God had to cast the demons to Earth instead of to some other planet or galaxy where they couldn't hurt humans.
Title: Re: Demons
Post by: Hydra009 on August 12, 2014, 03:53:43 AM
As a teenager, I somehow picked up the idea of daemons in the classical sense -  supernatural beings that could aid or harm and were a mix of good and bad, not unlike people.  The Christian depiction didn't really make a whole lot of sense to me.  It was very interesting to how the idea morphed over time - which further cemented the idea that religion is a syncretic and ever-evolving construct not unlike a fictional universe.