Demon Possession
Achilles achillesz@usa.net
Tue, 2 Feb 1999 02:00:36 -0500 (00917960436, 06582367115953@unifour.com)
On 2 Feb 99, at 1:42, Brian Dean wrote:
> Achilles
> Personally I think the demon and germ theories of disease are easily
> reconcilable. Aaron Rainwater has posted the harmonization several times in
> his
> signature, I don't remember the exact words but it has to do with a shaman
> being shown some germs through a microscope... :')
>
>
> BRIDEAN
> Actually, they are reconcilable! All you have to do is say that all germs
> are possessed or created by demons to make God fearing people sick
> and lose their faith.
>
Achilles
The signature I was referring to was this (thanks again Aaron):
**********************************************************************
When an Spanish missionary-doctor to the Tojolabal
tribe of mesoamerica sought to convert a local
shaman by explaining the real cause of disease (in
this case amoebic dysentery), he had the shaman
look through a microscope. The shaman saw the
endamoebas frolicking about in their solution and
responded: "Thank you. Now I know what the evil
spirits look like."
**********************************************************************
So there you go. The shaman, without a microscope, just knew that some sort of
little buggers (he called them "demons") were causing the illness. The doctor,
with more sophisticated technology behind him, knew precisely what kind of
buggers they were (endamoebas) and, understanding more about how that
particular type of bugger/demon/germ (pick whichever term you prefer) works, he
also, we may be certain, had more effective tactics to deal with them. But the
shamans more limited knowledge was not incorrect - it is true that some demonic
little buggers are the root of the problem. :')
Regards,
/Achilles achillesz@usa.net
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