(Sadly, mostly death.)
Exorcism is a really bad idea, from any perspective, but especially when wrapped in an ideology which tolerates no counter evidence. The problem is that there is no other kind of exorcism.
From SGU Episode 54
Top 10 Exorcisms Resulting in Death or Injury:
10. In April 1994, Nicholas Sogunro of East Ham, East London, became convinced his fiancée was possessed by the Devil when she refused to marry him. Mr. Sogunro locked her is a bedroom, starved and beat her for 14 days, and force fed her communion bread and wine. After her death, Mr. Sagunro tried for 3 days to resurrect her, and then hid her body in the back of his church for a year. He was jailed for 6 years.
9. In January 1998, Charity Miranda, 17 years old of Sayville, Long Island, NY, was suffocated to death with a plastic bag by her mother and sisters after an unsuccessful attempt to exorcise her of demons. The women had recently embraced Santeria, which Charity resisted joining. When she developed the flu after resisting, her mother interpreted it as demonic possession and began the exorcism. Vivian Mairanda, the mother, was excused from a trial on the grounds of insanity, and will spend the rest of her life in a maximum-security psychiatric hospital.
8. In October 1993, Cheung Ho of Norwich England, believing her body had been invaded by spirits taking the form of snakes and worms, asked her brother to exorcise the demons. Mr. Chi, the brother, repeatedly stomped on her to drive out the demons, breaking ribs, lacerating her liver, and causing internal injuries. Mr. Chi was jailed for 5 years.
7. On December 8, 1993, Farida Patel of Ilford, East London, began displaying various signs of demonic possession, when problems with her husband’s immigration began to plague her. Her family called in an exorcist, Mouna Pai, who, along with Farida’s sister and brother, preformed an exorcism. Pai beat Farida with a plastic vacuum cleaner pipe and a walking stick for over five hours, interspersed with readings from the Koran. The attack was repeated for over four hours the following day until the woman expired. All 3 were found guilty of manslaughter, and spent from 3 to 5 years in jail.
6. In April 1997, Kira Canhoto of Kitchener, Ontario, was killed by her mother and grandmother during an exorcism. The women felt that the child was the victim of a demon, and tried to exorcise it by forcing Kira to drink vast quantities of water. The grandmother pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and was sentenced to 2 years in prison.
5. Also in April 1997, a busy month for exorcism, 5 year old Amy Burney of Staten Island, was killed by her grandmother and mother, during an attempt to exorcise a demon that they believed caused Amy to have tantrums. Not being satisfied with vast quantities of mere water, these good women tied Amy down, forced her to drink a mixture of ammonia, vinegar, cayenne pepper, black pepper, & olive oil. They taped her mouth shut to prevent her from spitting out the mixture, and she expired. Police charged the women with 2nd degree murder, and both were sentenced to 12 – 25 years.
4. In July 1996, 5 year old Breeann Spickard of Baldwin Park, Los Angeles was beaten to death during an exorcism preformed by her mother, and two of her friends. All 3 of the women, who were taking methamphetamines, held the girl down and whipped her with a cheeseboard for 2 hours, stripping away several layers of skin and eventually killing the child. All 3 women were convicted of murder.
3. In August 1994, Hoda and Abir, of Egypt, punched their mother to death. The daughters claimed their mother was possessed by a djinn, and said “incomprehensible things”. The daughters were sent to a state mental hospital.
2. In May, 1994, Lindsay and Janice Gibson were charged with killing their son. Janice had become convinced she was God, and had convinced her husband of this as well. Janice first tried to expel demons from her 2 year old daughter by beating her in the face for 10 minutes. When Janice tried to exorcise her husband’s boss, he called the authorities. The doctor refused to sign commitment papers requested by social services, as he felt she was just a religious fanatic. The next day, Janice, convinced her family and especially her 12-year-old son were surrounded by demons, fed then a hearty meal and thence forced them to vomit the just consumed food. She then kicked her son out of the house naked into the cold. Later, while her husband restrained the boy, Janice beat him repeatedly in the head with a concrete block. When police arrived, she shouted, “He’s already dead. We killed him, you stupid man, just like the first Jesus”. Mr. & Mrs Gibson were both found not guilty by reason of “folie a deux”, a rare psychiatric syndrome of psychosis, particularly a paranoid or delusional belief, that is transmitted from one individual to another.
1. In April 1996, Sommai Chaipanya of Udon Thiland agreed to a ritulastic beating to her head and genitala with a stingray tail by a Shaman to exorcise evil spirits. After the exorcism began, she changed her mind and fled, only to be abducted later by the Shaman who continued the ritual untl Ms Chiapanya’s death. The Shaman was charged with the murder.
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