A few weeks ago Pat Robertson said something reasonable, pointing out just how silly Ken Ham and his young-Earth buddies are for insisting that Bishop Ussher's interpretation of Bible chronology somehow rises to the level of scriptural infallibility. However, anyone hoping that the prominent televangelist might have turned over a new leaf incorporating critical thinking will be disappointed by his latest comments. According to Robertson, horror movie demons can attack you. Or possess you. Or, at the very least, mess up your car.
It's kind of amusing to see Robertson essentially advocating a position taken by some of the more extreme chaos magicians, that fictional entities can produce physical events. While it's true that magicians can create artificial spirits or servitors that can go on to cause magical effects, a fictional character is just that - fictional. It exists within the microcosmic realm only unless a talented magician decides to use it as a model for some sort of specific creation. That requires a real magical procedure, so it can't just happen by accident.
The octogenarian televangelist responded to a viewer who told him that she had been watching “a horror movie the other day on the recommendation of others” and a few days later got into “an accident leaving church.” She asked Robertson (God only know why) if the “creepy movie caused a curse — or the Lord’s protection to be lifted from me?”
Robertson, of course, went for it, and suggested that by choosing to watch the ”creepy movie” might have given a demon “permission” to possess her — or to cause a car wreck. Or something. “This thing may be living around you and what you need to do again is speak it — command this thing to leave — and ask God to forgive you. I know that’s weird but these things can happen.”
It's kind of amusing to see Robertson essentially advocating a position taken by some of the more extreme chaos magicians, that fictional entities can produce physical events. While it's true that magicians can create artificial spirits or servitors that can go on to cause magical effects, a fictional character is just that - fictional. It exists within the microcosmic realm only unless a talented magician decides to use it as a model for some sort of specific creation. That requires a real magical procedure, so it can't just happen by accident.
Could Robertson be a closet chaos magician?
ReplyDeleteYou never can tell. His stuff is so all over the map that I suppose he could be.
ReplyDeleteMaybe that god of his who always needs money is some kind of servitor...
Actually in the clip, he is doubtful of it...but then he cites that he knows a case where a possessing demon got permission to possess a girl because she watched an X-rated movie. Of course, if that was all that was needed, I would expect us to be knee-deep in car accidents and demonic possessions.
ReplyDeleteHis whole understanding of the mechanism behind it seems pretty vague. Of course, this Pat Robertson, so that comment could apply to a lot of his statements.
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