The video above is of a presumably fake exorcism done by a Candomble priest trying to save his client from the "Stone's curse" — whatever that is. I'm noticing a few elements I've found to be requisite with my own experiences.
Some time ago, I had a friend who was exorcised by Bob Larson — perhaps one of the most arrogant individuals I've ever met. His willingness to be exorcised by Mr. Larson, I believe, was because he himself had some personal problems and at the time it was easier to say demons were causing it rather than some other factors. One month after he had been "delivered", my friend wanted me to go to Mr. Larson's live meetings so I could find out myself about the authenticity of these exorcisms. Reluctantly, I agreed. That night is one of my more memorable experiences.
Sitting in the audience, I discovered folks who were actively looking to be exorcised. This wasn't like the movies where the demon-infested body wreaks havoc upon the innocent thereby forcing an exorcist to arrive. These people were looking to be cured of something. People with cancer were hoping to get the cancer-causing demons out of their bodies. Homosexuals were hoping to get their gay spirits out of them. Victims of rape or childhood trauma were hoping — literally — to cast out the evil in their lives.
One by one, an endless stream of raspy-voiced personalities from otherwise well-behaved folk would spew obscenities. Bob would threaten them with the power of the Bible. There would be shrieking and hollering and crying. Whatever could be said, Mr. Larson was a consummate showman and these people were putting on display before a live audience their innermost secrets.
After about an hour of this, Bob Larson with microphone in hand, before a crowd in which he could do no wrong, walked up to me. Why he walked up to me, I don't totally know but it seemed as though he wanted my opinion on things.
"Someone told me you're a skeptic. What do you think of everything now?" he asked.
"Well, I'm open-minded," I replied, "But things may not necessarily be as they seem."
"If you can't see with your eyes that all this is real, you're a bigger fool than you look," he retorted. The audience laughed. Red-faced, I was about to give him a piece of my mind but by that time, he moved on.
My story does not end there. After his big exorcism bash, an older lady approached me. Apparently, I had the demon of confusion living in me. I stood there stunned as she attempted an exorcism — not knowing how exactly to tell her that my opinion was not the result of an evil demon. Finally, after futilely realizing no demon was coming out, she asked simply if she could pray for me. I obliged simply so this whole embarrassing situation would end.
Herein lies my perspective on exorcism and why people seek it out and also how it can do great damage to an individual. Most times I've observed people want exorcism because they can't reconcile the traumatic circumstances of their life with who they actually are as a person. They don't believe they could have had a direct cause in their own personal crisis or that it is caused by natural inanimate factors. It's an evil external force that is creating these conditions and they have to confront this force.
Unfortunately, this perspective may be too simplistic. As was the case of the woman who sought to deliver me from the demon of confusion, she could not imagine that I could arrive at my own thoughts of my own accord. Since the truth of Bob Larson's work was so apparently true to her, how could I have ever thought otherwise except through the influence of a demon? I wasn't a person to relate to, I was a repository of devilish activity.
In the end, my experience with exorcism is an extreme example of what happens when people cease to interact with others as human beings and instead are problems to be solved. That, I believe, is a bloody shame.
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