From: "Santosh Helekar" <[email protected]>
--- On Thu, 7/16/09, isouza <[email protected]> wrote:
Astrology has its own plus points and has to be taken as such. The
>Universe is interconnected, stars and moon have influence on human
beings. I do not accept witchcraft.
This is hilarious. Accepting one unscientific ritual and rejecting another
appears to be based entirely on quirky personal tastes, faiths, moods,
whims and fancies. I am tempted to provide a list of all the fantastic
quack practices to find out which ones are to be accepted and which ones
are to be rejected, just for fun. Perhaps, exorcism is in and voodoo is
out on the basis of these made up foggy individualized idiosyncrasies.
***I am discussing the value of homeopathy as a scientific medical system,
as we see its benefits in our daily practice, and the cures are tested by
scientific means.
That is the reason why I called "nice articles" like those of Edzard Ernst
"scientific quackery"... Dr.Santosh may be accepting them as "scientific",
but I cannot.
Regarding the influence of moon and stars, I know that patients can be
influenced by phases of moon or cloudy weather (for example, asthmatic and
insane). It is taken into account in homeopathic medicine. But stars/spirits
cannot determine our fate. God is our Father, as St.Paul of Tarsus clearly
taught the Colossians (Col 1:15-20).
I cannot accept sorcery, divination, witchcraft, black magic, voodoo
(important for people from Haiti). These are against Religion. But we do
accept exorcism, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:
(no.1673 )"When the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of
Jesus Christ that a person or object be protected against the power of the
Evil One and withdrawn from his dominion, it is called exorcism. Jesus
performed exorcisms and from him the Church has received the power and
office of exorcizing. In a simple form, exorcism is performed at the
celebration of Baptism. The solemn exorcism, called "a major exorcism," can
be performed only by a priest and with the permission of the bishop. The
priest must proceed with prudence, strictly observing the rules established
by the Church. Exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the
liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual authority which
Jesus entrusted to his Church. Illness, especially psychological illness, is
a very different matter; treating this is the concern of medical science.
Therefore, before an exorcism is performed, it is important to ascertain
that one is dealing with the presence of the Evil One, and not an illness."
I saw the film The Exorcist in 1973.
I am with Dr.Santosh in fighting out superstition, sorcery and black magic.
We do need scientific, critical mind.
Regards.
Fr.Ivo
