Slog: News & Arts

RSS icon Comments on Shout at the Devil

1

Of course the devil took her...she couldn't tell right from Hmong.

Posted by Jubilation T. Cornball | June 27, 2008 4:31 PM
2

I'm surprised the GOP didn't play the faux-diversity card this year by steering an established conservative of "color"--such as noted neocolonialism-apologist Condoleezza Rice--towards the Prez nominee race. How much you wanna bet they'll pick Jindal for VP so they can claim the "diversity" mantle, then, if McCain's elected, continue to practice de facto colonialism--i.e., institutionalized racism--at home and abroad?

Posted by Jeff Stevens | June 27, 2008 4:34 PM
3

Shit. Beating a Demon: Physical Dimensions of Spiritual Warfare was the title of my unpublished memoir of teenage masturbation.

Posted by elenchos | June 27, 2008 4:35 PM
4

I like McCain, but there's no way I'm voting for a Muslim for VP.

Posted by Concerned Voter | June 27, 2008 4:39 PM
5

That is some of the best damned sci fi/fantasy I have read in some time. I hope he publishes under Tor soon.

Posted by thaumaturgistguy | June 27, 2008 4:42 PM
6

"Susan"? "Alice"? I call bullshit. Those are totally made up names.

Posted by Robin Sparkles | June 27, 2008 4:57 PM
7

And if McCain wins Jindal will be the 45th president after McCain has his massive heart attack after 6 weeks in the oval office....God help us

Posted by Cato the Younger Younger | June 27, 2008 5:17 PM
8

I wish someone would have the balls or ovaries to ask McCain (or any other Republican) if homosexuality itself should be made illegal.

Posted by elswinger | June 27, 2008 5:18 PM
9

As one of Sullivan's letter-writers pointed out a while back, the Catholic Church takes exorcism VERY seriously indeed, and laymen are absolutely forbidden from having anything to do with it. It has to be done by a priest, and not just any old Father Ryan from down the block, but specially trained ones straight from the heart of the Vatican, with a chain of permission and so on. Jindal was breaking all sorts of very serious rules of his faith by fucking around with that shit.

Oh, yeah, he's a complete horse's ass too.

Posted by Fnarf | June 27, 2008 5:28 PM
10

According to the Rovian rumor I'm starting here and now, Jindal's the person who fathered John McCain's adopted Indian daughter.

Posted by Deuce Bagelow | June 27, 2008 5:33 PM
11

FYI some of the conservative conventional wisdom is that it's more important to them that Jindal stay in his current post. Some think he doesn't have enough experience yet, some would be happy to cede this presidency to the dems so they get stuck with this mess, and some think it's more important that his current position remain in the R camp.

An unfortunate by-product of being a student of history is that it is dominated in the US by hardcore Rethuglicans, the good side of that I sometimes get a bit o insight into their (scray) minds and their way of thinking.


Posted by K X One | June 27, 2008 7:09 PM
12

Not only did the campus Christians cast out her demon, they cured her cancer too! That is a helluva story.

Perhaps when he is Vice President, he can spearhead a faith-based healthcare initiative.

Posted by flamingbanjo | June 27, 2008 7:14 PM
13

@ flamingbanjo


Prayer's pretty much all we've got now.

Posted by Original Andrew | June 27, 2008 7:24 PM
14

You know, when Jindal was running for governor here, the Democratic party tried to bring out those articles during the campaign, and nobody much cared. Of course, Louisiana (Alexandria, specifically) is pretty much the center of the Charismatic Catholic universe. Nobody here much cared.

By the way, Jindal is currently the subject of a recall petition here. During his campaign, he promised to veto any pay raise the legislature voted themselves. Well, the legislature voted themselves a raise that essentially doubled their salaries, and Jindal opted to allow it to pass into law without his signature. He said he opposed it, but he would not veto it. People here are not amused.

Posted by Sheryl | June 27, 2008 8:16 PM
15

A Darky Papist next in line to someone who is iffy on Abortion? What's he going to do? Abuse little boys while in the oval office?

Posted by Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.... | June 27, 2008 8:17 PM
16

Uh, choosing Jindal wouldn't exactly be embracing Protestant fundamentalists. Jindal is a fundamentalist Catholic, to the point that he believes that all Protestants are heretics, apostates from the one true faith. Choosing him would piss off moderate Catholics and fundamentalist Protestants, and everyone but Bill Donohue. The exorcist thing would just add to the GOP crazy.

Posted by Gitai | June 27, 2008 8:55 PM
17

I suppose there's nothing worth knowing about him except what is written here.

Like: maybe you could add say 45 words about you know, um, his record in office?

Maybe another 25 comparing him to say Edwin Edwards? OR ex gov. Blanco whatever her name was? The one voters threw out due to her non great response to Katrina?

you are using stuff that is as much a snippet as in Rev. Wright case. Yes all such snippets should be reported but hey a drop of fairness goes a long way to damning him, too.

Jindal that is.

But also get this: person of color elected in Louisiana which if I am not mistaken is in the Deep South.

So mebbe the outright racists there are down to what, just 25%?

I do not believe the Democratic Party there has ever nominated a person of color to be a governor in that particular state, though they did help throw out the reconstruction govt. including many blacks and back in about 1875 or something, thru outright violence... like Colombia or someplace.

Posted by PC | June 27, 2008 9:50 PM
18

So let me get this straight. The same Repubs who would never vote for a black man will turn around and vote for a Indian guy who at least as dark as Obama? Huh? I call bullshit on this. I don't believe they will pick Jindal for two reasons: 1. He's two young and it draws way to much attention to McCain's age. 1a. Again, no "hard working Americans, white Americans", will vote for the colored guy, especially when he's a hair's breath and a heart attack or stroke away from the Presidency. 2. Two much baggage. A sure way to drive every voter who does not want an exorcist to the Dems. He spend the entire time basically explaining the whole exorcist thing, and probably start speaking in tongues. Hmmm, on second thought: McCain/Jindal 08!

Posted by Hal | June 27, 2008 9:56 PM
19

I meant too young. Oops.

Posted by Hal | June 27, 2008 9:58 PM
20

Wow. All my two, too, and to, were totally screwed up. Anyway, I think Jindal got in on the anti-blanco vote/hurricane Katrina mess. I would also point out that David Duke received 42% of the vote in LA in a Senate race and was a state Legislator there as well, and all of that was well after 1875.

Posted by Hal | June 27, 2008 10:06 PM
21

Brendan, are you nuts? This guy would be my dream pick for McCain's VP. He would totally alienate the protestants and the racists, while simultaneously alienating the social moderates who would otherwise be drawn to McCain's faux populism. He'd turn the McCain bid for the White House into a perverse hybrid that tries to be all things to all people and loses everyone's vote in the process.

The more I read about this guy the more excited I get. Seriously. I'm sporting wood.

Posted by Judah | June 27, 2008 10:14 PM
22

We won't support NO-Bama whatsoever and will re-defeat him in November!!!

Posted by clintonsarmy | June 27, 2008 10:47 PM
23

Say "YES" to War on Iraq by Dan Savage Oct. 2002

"War may be bad for children and other living things, but there are times when peace is worse for children and other living things, and this is one of those times."

"The War on Iraq will make it clear to our friends and enemies in the Middle East (and elsewhere) that we mean business: Free your people, reform your societies, liberalize, and democratize... or we're going to come over there, remove you from power, free your people, and reform your societies for ourselves."

Washington Post June 27, 2008

"Bomb Kills Marines, Iraqi Tribal Leaders
At Least 40 Die in Two Separate Attacks"

Posted by stnkinstinkbuggystinks | June 28, 2008 9:40 AM
24

Say "YES" to War on Iraq by Dan Savage Oct. 2002

"War may be bad for children and other living things, but there are times when peace is worse for children and other living things, and this is one of those times."

"The War on Iraq will make it clear to our friends and enemies in the Middle East (and elsewhere) that we mean business: Free your people, reform your societies, liberalize, and democratize... or we're going to come over there, remove you from power, free your people, and reform your societies for ourselves."

Washington Post June 27, 2008

"Bomb Kills Marines, Iraqi Tribal Leaders
At Least 40 Die in Two Separate Attacks"

Posted by danfansarewarmongersupporters | June 28, 2008 9:56 AM
25

I seriously doubt they do this. The GOP wouldn't be able to play the race card or the experience card, given that most folks think McCain might not live long enough to serve one term. And, outside of Louisiana, Southern Baptists hwo are already suspect of McCain, will NOT vote for a ticket that includes Jindal.

Posted by Go ahead | June 28, 2008 11:02 AM
26

An anecdote from a Southern Red State:

A new guy joined our car club. He was half Indonesian. About as dark as Jindal. Straight hair. Half English. He looked like a miniature Cary Grant, esp. the hair, parted on one side.

My jaw dropped the day I heard some other members of the club (Red State, white male, blue collar/middle middle class) refer to him behind his back as "that black kid."

Things can be that simple to these folks. Straight hair or continent of origin can be that unnoticeable to them. "Not white!" was the signal their reptile brains sent out.

This would also explain John McCain's adopted Bangladeshi daughter being used against him in South Carolina. (I must also point out that SC is full of many more stupid people than the state I'm in.)

None of this explains how Jindal got elected in LA, except maybe that's he's Catholic and Republican. A black liberal candidate sets off middle of the road racists aplenty, but a moderate (Powell) or Republican/conservative black? Not so much -- they can vote for such candidates then pat themselves on the back for being unracist?

P.S. Jindal didn't get laid much in college, did he?

Posted by CP | June 28, 2008 11:39 AM
27

I'm curious, since nobody bothered to mention it, are you all rationalizing the claims he's making or assuming they are materially false? It's not that unlikely that a politician would fabricate outright lies (such as being under sniper fire) but this seems to be fairly verifiable. He's talking about a fairly large group of people here, I wonder if others of them have been interviewed on the subject.

Not everything he says fits into my own theological framework, but I'm hesitant to disbelieve what he's saying. Plenty of folks I know have had similar bizarre experiences, and they I know well enough to have more confidence in their stories.

Posted by Mr. Joshua | June 28, 2008 12:23 PM
28

At the risk of starting to sound like I'm the captain of his fan club, elenchos@3 FTW

Posted by Big Sven | June 28, 2008 1:56 PM
29

#27: I, for one, am comfortable assuming that this story of a group of Campus Crusaders for Christ casting out a demon in their dorm-room and, in the process, removing a cancerous growth is materially false, although it's worth noting that the way the story is told makes it mostly unverifiable one way or the other. I've noticed this to be the case with most claims of this nature -- the speaker makes a big point of saying how mysterious it all is and that he can never be sure exactly what happened, but makes it very clear what he believes the facts of the matter are. It's a cute way of having things both ways -- one can claim to have witnessed proof of supernatural occurrences without having to back them up. A perfect encapsulation of this highly dishonest tactic is to be found in his closing paragraph:


I left that classroom with a powerful belief in Mary's intercessions and with many questions about spiritual warfare; I also learned a lasting lesson in humility and the limits of human understanding. Was the purpose of that night served when so many individuals were inducted into the Church? Did I witness spiritual warfare? I do not have the answers, but I do believe in the reality of spirits, angels, and other related phenomena that I can neither touch nor see.

So in other words, I don't know what happened but I know what happened. He even goes to the trouble of stating his conclusions in the form of questions, as though he were wondering aloud whether these things are true rather than just telling you that they are.

I'm not saying that there isn't weird, unexplainable stuff out there in the world, but ghost stories like this belong around the campfire and not as the centerpiece of a belief system. If I had a nickel for every similar ouji board horror story set in a dorm room, I'd have several nickels and I still wouldn't put any stock in hoodoo mumbo-jumbo like this.

Posted by flamingbanjo | June 28, 2008 1:57 PM
30

There isn't weird unexplainable stuff out there in the world. There just isn't. 99.9999% this shit can be chalked up the fact that at any given time 10% of the population is mentally ill. People lie and hallucinate allllllllllllll the time.

Posted by Big Sven | June 28, 2008 2:09 PM
31

@30: So, 30 people in a room all hallucinated the same experience? Enough that two different people converted to Catholocism over what they saw as the power of the Church/Hail Mary's/The Papal-Bendicted Crucifix? Seems fairly unlikely.

@29: He doesn't express in confusion about the material facts--what he witnessed. It was merely confusion as to what it really means. Did his friend just go crazy from stress? Yet she was able to name very intimate things about the people around her that it seems she didn't know. Of course he doesn't know what happen, in the same someone in New York on September 11th might not see the planes hit the towers, know why the towers fell, or really be able to tell you if it was terrorists, drunken pilots or what. That doesn't change the fact that the towers fell...he doesn't know the exact cause (spiritual warfare) but he still knows what he saw.

Posted by Mr. Joshua | June 28, 2008 3:28 PM
32

Mr. Joshua@30:

So, 30 people in a room all hallucinated the same experience?

What experience? Did you read the account? The only person who had to be delusional in the story is Susan. It's not like 30 people saw her levitate, or spin her head around 360 degrees, or shit a Buick. She talked funny. She fell down. Boo hoo.

Enough that two different people converted to Catholocism over what they saw as the power of the Church/Hail Mary's/The Papal-Bendicted Crucifix?

That two people decided one afternoon to join a particular church tells us *nothing* about *anything*. If you're going to use popularity to prove the existence of god, we're not having the same conversation.

Seems fairly unlikely.

Right. Far more likely that there's an invisible omnipotent sky god that kills 160,000 tsunami victims but takes the time to cure little Susie's nonexistent cancer.

Posted by Big Sven | June 29, 2008 2:42 AM

Comments Closed

Comments are closed on this post.