Gov. Bobby Jindal, possible VP candidate and exorcist
Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, who may be on John McCain's Vice President shortlist, has quite a resume: state university system president, Congressman, governor, and, er, exorcist. In 1994, Jindal apparently wrote an essay for Catholic journal New Oxford Review about how he helped drive out a demon from a friend named Susan, and posits that the ritual may have even cured the young woman's skin cancer. Talking Points Memo recounts the weirdness and quotes Jindal's essay:
The students, led by Susan's sister and Louise, a member of a charismatic church, engaged in loud and desperate prayers while holding Susan with one hand. Kneeling on the ground, my friends were chanting, "Satan, I command you to leave this woman." Others exhorted all "demons to leave in the name of Christ." It is no exaggeration to note the tears and sweat among those assembled. Susan lashed out at the assembled students with verbal assaults...Link (Thanks, Gil Kaufman!)
Whenever I concentrated long enough to begin prayer, I felt some type of physical force distracting me. It was as if something was pushing down on my chest, making it very hard for me to breathe. . . Though I could find no cause for my chest pains, I was very scared of what was happening to me and Susan. I began to think that the demon would only attack me if I tried to pray or fight back; thus, I resigned myself to leaving it alone in an attempt to find peace for myself.
the latest
latest episodes
I went to college with Jindal, and this reputation did seem to follow him. I might add that he was especially effective at flicking the lights while looking in the bathroom mirror repeating, "Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary..."
cmon if Bush got got to be president on the 'faith' ticket, this guy has to be way better, he can use the 'force'
I could have a lot of fun with this man.
Great, now we're electing the insane to government positions...oh...wait....this is nothing new. Carry on.
Hilarious.
Instead of making Jindal vice-president, shouldn't they set up an office of Witchfinder General, and appoint him to that?
"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" would make a kick-ass campaign slogan.
>Instead of making Jindal vice-president, shouldn't >they set up an office of Witchfinder General, and >appoint him to that?
They did but the called it 'Homeland Security"
they did but they called it "Homeland Security"
We're about two election cycles away from snake handlers and fortune tellers running the country. I'm sure that will help when we're up to our eyeballs in raw sewage and crumbling bridges.
I was thinking more in the opposite direction -- maybe Jindal could exorcise the White House!
After its current occupants leave, I'm sure it could use a good psychic scrubbing.
Just imagine how Satan must feel having his name associated with this twit.
Bobby Jindal's parents being from India, many people here in India are extremely proud of his being the first Indian-American to reach such political heights. You should see the hilariously clueless positive coverage he receives in the Indian press and TV.
Read the very interesting entry about him in wikipedia which if true speaks volumes about the American South (that such a man should be elected governor there.)
Whoops, apologies everybody for my triplicate post (no I am not a government bureaucrat, heh.) Blame it on my ISP's fickle DNS server which made me refresh the comment-submission page twice. Should make a mental note to avoid that henceforth.
blaaaAAAAARrrrgh /headspin
Save meh, Bobby!
the ole refresh twitch?
I have a question: Why has not someone brought forth a law suit to defend the good name of Satan?
#s12,13,14: You've got a bad stutter; maybe Jindal could help?
He made a wise choice to stop praying. As they say down south, "You fuck with the Devil, you get the horns."
He turned me into a newt!
So the eff what? He's a converted Catholic. I thought that Boingboing was some bastion of free-thinking and open-mindedness...now someone who has faith or believes in the supernatural is deemed some sort of nutbar.
Ridiculous.
I got better.
could it have been .... Satan?
the demon cured the skin cancer. can't have your host dying in you y'know.
#20: Nutbar? Who cares. Nutbar that was elected Governor? SCARY!
New TSA screening test: If they float, burn her! If they sink, they can continue on to their gate.
He's not McCain's VP, he's McCain's health care plan.
Run, Dick, Run!
See Dick Run!
Do you know how to get Satan off your doorstep?
Pay for the pizza.
Funny, #24. Funny.
It seems that when any person is featured in a BoingBoing story that has any type of traditional religious leanings (mild or extreme) the typical response is the epitome of intolerance. We become what we hate.
any type of traditional religious leanings? piffle tosh bosh! Any number of holy folks have been paraded through here. The brickbats go to those most felt deserving by the majority - who usually cite their reasons.
I do agree that there has been a variety of "holy folks" discussed/reported on. I also agree that the majority have reasons. But for some reason I just see visions of the majority with torches and pitchforks. :)
btw- I may use "piffle tosh bosh" from now on!!
The whole "Where is your tolerance for anti-rational religious nutjobs" thing reminds me of this old article:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39182
Seriously, though I wish that people pretending to have perpetual motion machines would get the same treatment here. It seems that some forms of anti-rational nuttery, if packed up in the right aesthetics (engineering, underdog scientist, etc...) is not as well criticised here as it maybe should be.
I do hope that he goes to work on the Congressdemons.
I think being elected governor of Louisiana is a good standard to determine that someone is unfit to rule. This is the state that has had a campaign between a man convicted of major fraud and the former Grand Wizard for the KKK.
People who believe in medieval superstitions don't belong in the Governor's mansion, let alone the VPs house or the White House, and for the same reasons we don't need witchdoctors or advocates for leaching and bloodletting as Surgeon General.
People who believe things that are demonstratively false about reality should be kept out of positions of power. If that makes me intolerant, then perhaps you should go pray about it to whatever invisible ghost you believe in. Maybe you'll get lucky and His magic telepathy will be on. If you pray hard enough maybe He'll cast a spell to change my mind. Hold your breath. I hear that helps.
I wish that people pretending to have perpetual motion machines would get the same treatment here.
When they run for public office, they will. Until then, pointing and laughing is good enough.
there have been a few perpetual motion types through here. I don't recollect any leaving happy.
So no Christians in the White House? That'll fly. 83 percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians...so they are NOT in the minority. There may well be a range of devotion, but 83 percent believe in Jesus Christ and his divinity—so they are all whackjobs apparently.
@Certhas, re #31, I wouldn't laugh too much. The ACLU is supporting anti-gay nutjob Fred Phelps' right to free speech, and he's easily as bad as the Nazis.
I live in Louisiana, and yes, the religiosity of Catholics, Baptists, Pentacostals, and others can be quite heated. Other bloggers assure us, and I believe, that exorcisms are by no means rare among Catholic Charasmatics.
As for Intelligent Design, don't forget that staunchly mid-American Kansas voted it in.
Many Americans are quite religious, and I honestly don't know how the whole country would see this exorcism.
On a lighter note, here's an imagined picture of it:
http://megorious.com/politicklish/bobby-jindal-exorcist
Droo31 @37 said: There may well be a range of devotion, but 83 percent believe in Jesus Christ and his divinity—so they are all whackjobs apparently.
Reality is not democratic, nor is it malleable to a majority consensus. You don't get to pick and choose which physical properties of the universe to follow and which to ignore. People are free to believe what they want, but they are not exempt from criticism when those beliefs are not just wrong but endanger others, as do the belief in demons and exorcism.
It'd be bad enough if Bobby Jendel were just a hick preacher mumbling incantations to a clapboard shack full of yokels, but he's the Governor of Louisiana. His beliefs endanger others because they are unfounded, unverifiable and in numerous documented cases, similar beliefs have led to people being harmed or killed. Just because a large percentage of the population share his beliefs in some vague fashion (because we all know that large groups have homogeneous world views) doesn't make him right. it just makes lots of people wrong.
Hiding dangerous ideas behind group consensus is how tragedies happen.
This comment from another blog is by far the most disturbing thing I've seen on this matter. I quote it here in its entirety:
"As a Catholic, I agree - it's crazy. And as an epileptic, it's downright alarming. Smelling sulfer [sic] is a text-book description of an "aura" - which are frequent precursors to grand mal seizures. What she was experiencing in the early weeks were untreated medical symptoms - and the seizure is the predictable result!
"Also, epileptics are not alert during seizures - we ALWAYS "wake up" and wonder why people are surrounding us. And don't get me started with the "L...L...L..." sound; she was having a seizure!
"Finally, I have no doubt that, after this 'exorcism', her group of friends retrofitted Susan's daily life to fit the dramatic "demons" plaguing her. And that is the most troubling of all. Rather than calling a doctor, Bobby Jindal grabbed a Bible. That would be a very scary person to have in the White House."
- Posted by Decalain
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/bobby_jindals_dance_with_the_d.php#comment-2899659
Shecky, @#1, do you mean he had a sense of humor? Then there's hope! :-)
Keith@40 said:"His beliefs endanger others because they are unfounded, unverifiable and in numerous documented cases, similar beliefs have led to people being harmed or killed. Just because a large percentage of the population share his beliefs in some vague fashion (because we all know that large groups have homogeneous world views) doesn't make him right. it just makes lots of people wrong."
The arrogance in that last sentence is mind-boggling. Christians are devotees of Jesus Christ whom cast out demons on numerous occasions...how is Jindal forcing his beliefs on others or "harming" anyone. He was recounting a story from his student days about a spiritual encounter. Presenting someone with a belief that is "unverifiable" is dangerous? How? No one is forced into believing by this "fanatic". The amount of disdain and mistrust of religious types (a vast majority in this country) is borderline ludicrous.
..and I agree that the type of Christianity that Rev. Phelps preaches is dangerous and the antithesis of the type of Christianity that MOST Americans follow.
Ha ha, Jindal as VP candidate. I don't know who's trolling who, but to think the Republicans would brook this idea before drafting Condi is a nutbar themselves. I think it's really more of a test to see if Dems will criticize a politician for their (apparent) religion, the converse of the Obama = Muslim smears. It's one way of checking to see if what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
"Hypocrisy still in place? Check."
Jindal appears to be a good person. Not a bad choice.
Jindal appears to be a good person. Not a bad choice.
***Keith @ #40 said: Reality is not democratic, nor is it malleable to a majority consensus. You don't get to pick and choose which physical properties of the universe to follow and which to ignore.***
Agreed that reality is not subject to our opinions and that the physical laws of the universe are inescapable but until that list of properties/laws is completed (and maybe posted here) it is very short sighted to imply that we know already all there is to be known. We've thought that so many times before.
@2 and @24: I made the mistake of eating baked potato while reading the comments, and your posts nearly made me snarf. Possession by potato demons would've been an uncomfortable nasal fate.
What did Colbert say? Reality has a liberal bias? I love the song "Religious Vomit" by the Dead Kennedys. If you care to be offended, the lyrics are at: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/d/dead+kennedys/religious+vomit_20038189.html
Alas, how uncomfortable it must feel to have posted #43 without having first read #41. My sympathies - timing is everything.
And to the author of #47 I would like to suggest that while the complete list awaits our ability to understand it, the picture on witch hunters and exorcists is pretty much filled in.
enough catsup and all your souls taste the same
Aside from his wacky religious writings, which made me lose a good bit of respect for him, he's remarkably level-headed, honest and intelligent.
He's probably the best thing to happen to Louisiana politics in ages.
It's also very unlikely he would accept the VP invitation if he got it. He's been governor down here for only a few months and has no intention of leaving us hanging. Depending on how well he does during his term(s), I wouldn't be surprised to see him go on to run for president later on.
"Catsup"?
Did you really spell it "catsup"?
I'm forwarding this to the UN. Or something.
THIS WILL NOT STAND.
#52 50 yrs g n Lsn, th nly thng tht wld hv bn lft hngng ws strng frt lk hm.
Mikelotus,
I'm just going to assume that it's late and you weren't thinking clearly.
@52...isn't "wacky religious writing" a redundancy?
Take Barak Obama on his faith from a Christianity Today interview,
"I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life."
I assume McCain would say something similar. Once you're at that point, how can you get any wackier or more irrational?
Ah. A devout atheist here to proselytize non-religion by insulting people. That always goes well.
Popcorn, get your popcorn!
That is a great post. It is both hilarious and sad. I feel bad for the poor girl, it is clear she was having a seizure or something that should have been dealt with by doctors. It reminds me of this story I just read about a guy from KC who is one of Bob Larsons folks who claims to have done over 500 exorcisms. Some of the "exorcised" seem to have needed medical help not religious help as well. Here is the link... www.pitch.com.
THE DEVIL, YOU SAY!
Bobby Jindal has been criticized recently because he participated in an “Exorcism”. Given the religious ignorance and bias of most liberal bloggers and media, I looked for the story behind the story. When they casually mentioned that this took place during a Catholic charismatic meeting, then everything became quite clear. I have experienced many Catholic charismatic prayer meetings; they often have a 'deliverance' prayer associated with prayers for healing. It's not an Exorcism! Only a priest does Exorcisms in the Catholic faith. You may rebuke evil and even use similar language but it doesn’t claim to be an Exorcism. It’s a simple prayer for a person or situation who feels like they are fighting temptation or spiritual oppression.
I then looked at the incident in question. Jindal was an observer of a deliverance prayer for a woman with cancer. One site casually quotes Jindal as saying, "When the operation occurred, the surgeons found no traces of [cancer]. Susan claimed she had felt healed after the group prayer and can remember the sensation of being 'purified.'" There is no comment at all on the fact that the cancer of the woman in question disappeared! Doesn’t that sound like a miraculous healing!? If I were Jindal, I would have been affected and impressed, too!
Further, such experiences of prayer are not going to be seen as ‘scandalous’ by a whole lot of Americans. These bloggers just seem to assume that a miraculous healing couldn’t really have happened so all these people must be nuts! To these anti-religious bloggers, it might as well be a story about aliens. They think everyone is going to react like they do. Well, there are a lot of us who have directly experienced or witnessed such healing; I have seen it personally. There are centuries of such experiences in many faiths but especially the Catholic faith.
Anyone who says the Our Father is doing the same thing when they pray "Our Father....deliver us from evil." To the critics of Jindal I would answer by saying, 'Is someone a kook if they pray the Our Father?' (I suspect that for many of these people it’s the very idea of prayer and organized faith itself that is kooky!)
At the very least I would ask, 'Don't you believe Evil exists at all that I should pray about it?’ A clear majority of us do believe Evil exists! In fact, it’s reassuring to me if Jindal does believe it and pray about it. He joins pretty august company in Washington and Churchill among others.
All these commentators were more interested in making something look a certain way than in getting at the truth of it. Their prejudice limits them. They want to use Rhetoric as a weapon. We should use honest discourse for gaining knowledge and forming Virtue and Character.
Oddly, having read the thread, I didn't see the views expressed as being quite so monolithic as your characterization of them.