--- On Thu, 7/16/09, eric pinto <ericpin...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>I hope I offfered solace to both sides.
>
Eric provided solace only to one side. Indeed, he extended my position further
by suggesting that what we are dealing with in respect of all the sundry
alternative nostrums is entirely mental.
But nothing could have been a better illustration of my contention that this
business is motivated purely by parochial religious and other faith-based
beliefs, than the incredible post appended below. Wacky medieval notions such
as the influence of the moon and the Evil One are uncritically accepted, while
scholarly articles by an eminent modern scientist such as Edzard Ernst are not
accepted as scientific - in both cases without being able to provide any
rational argument, let alone evidence.
Cheers,
Santosh
--- On Thu, 7/16/09, isouza <icso...@sancharnet.in> wrote:
>
> 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 withdrawn from his dominion, it is called exorcism.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."
>
