Even better if you can get the infected to start to recognize their own infection. As a retired college professor, I am almost universally assumed to be a creature of the far left. I am not. I'm actually fairly liberal in some respects, conservative in others. I used to be a Democrat, until the Democratic Party left me (partly because of the kind of infection D'Souza describes). But because people assume I'm liberal, I can criticize some of the more radical ideas that have infected the left without triggering an explosion. More than once, I've seen the wheels inside the heads of those whose radical ideas I'm criticizing begin to turn. I try to leave it there and let the sane side of the person go to work. This is a process you didn't discuss, that is, when those who are on the same side (or should I say, sane side) can put forth the kind of criticism that would trigger an explosion if it came from those on the "other side". However, it is also true that some are so radicalized that any criticism at all is unacceptable (the focus of your essay), perhaps *especially* if it comes from the same side. This is why, I think, mainstream Democrats seem so reluctant to call out the radicals to their left. They are more terrified of the explosion to their left than they are of criticism from the right.
I have seen this possession in play both at the organizational level (universities, non-profits, professional societies) and in individuals. The author argues that the issue is psychological with no actual "demon" present. I am not so sure that is true. My late father, a very corrupt Muslim, definitely showed all the psychological signs discussed here. The psychiatrists claimed he had a delusional disorder in which he expects everyone else to see and live in the world that he wishes to perceive rather than the one that is. Such disorders, they claim are almost impossible to treat because the delusions are very hard to overcome in the patient. In any case, during the court hearing to decide whether my father was mentally incapacitated and needing to have a guardian imposed something odd occurred. He was sitting with his lawyer and the guardian ad litem as my lawyer, my sister and I testified from our side of the court. He did not appear to be paying attention and his face and expression entirely changed. It was almost as if a mask had slipped off and something entirely different were exposed and looking out from his face without realizing we could see it. Most interestingly, his normally hazel eyes and turned bright blue! I saw this while my sister was speaking on the stand. Later when we could speak, I asked her if she had seen anything odd about our father during the hearing. She affirmed and described what I just relayed about his odd look while I was testifying BEFORE I had said anything about what I had seen. This suggests we were both observing something real. I don't know how a psychological condition could change eye color and cause these effects.
In a different instance my father had cataract surgery and was thus on strong medication which took several hours to wear off. While on the medication he was a pleasant person though a bit fumbly as one might imagine. After the surgery back at his house you could see the medication wearing off. As his normal self reasserted the pleasant person disappeared, his expression changed and he become the toxic person he normally was, literally picking up the phone to call the oil company whose technician had tried unsuccessfully to repair the 45 year old furnace the day before with the intent to get the poor kid fired for what was an impossible task. His normal antisemitism also returned. In this case there was no change in eye color and the medication was likely in play...something not true in the courtroom.
Being a scientist, it is difficult for me to believe in "literal demons". However, I definitely have observed events that might be attributed to effective possession by demonic forces. And, at some point, what is the difference?
I have seen drastic changes in personality when a person is awarded power, more than once. I have observed Borderline Personality Disorder in action, in multiple individuals. I have known women besotted with the idea of dating men who would attempt to murder them, literally (is this fantasy something to do with Beauty and the Beast? 50 Shades of Grey?). I have seen grown men, scientists, throw hours-long tantrums like 2 year olds. I have spoken at length to a Sociopath, whose fondest wish was to kill everyone around him. I spoke regularly for years to someone who was raised as a Nazi, and spouted the most outrageous toxic evil nonsense imaginable. I was friends with perfectly nice Palestinian girls for years, and suddenly on certain topics, they revealed a frantic desire to kill everyone else on the planet. I had a meeting with the head of our local library where he spouted complete gibberish for an hour, as I secretly recorded his rantings.
So, the world is quite different from what I had imagined when I was 15 or 20. Many people are severely ill. If you are sane in a world of mentally disturbed people, you stand out. You have a target on you.
Even better if you can get the infected to start to recognize their own infection. As a retired college professor, I am almost universally assumed to be a creature of the far left. I am not. I'm actually fairly liberal in some respects, conservative in others. I used to be a Democrat, until the Democratic Party left me (partly because of the kind of infection D'Souza describes). But because people assume I'm liberal, I can criticize some of the more radical ideas that have infected the left without triggering an explosion. More than once, I've seen the wheels inside the heads of those whose radical ideas I'm criticizing begin to turn. I try to leave it there and let the sane side of the person go to work. This is a process you didn't discuss, that is, when those who are on the same side (or should I say, sane side) can put forth the kind of criticism that would trigger an explosion if it came from those on the "other side". However, it is also true that some are so radicalized that any criticism at all is unacceptable (the focus of your essay), perhaps *especially* if it comes from the same side. This is why, I think, mainstream Democrats seem so reluctant to call out the radicals to their left. They are more terrified of the explosion to their left than they are of criticism from the right.
I have seen this possession in play both at the organizational level (universities, non-profits, professional societies) and in individuals. The author argues that the issue is psychological with no actual "demon" present. I am not so sure that is true. My late father, a very corrupt Muslim, definitely showed all the psychological signs discussed here. The psychiatrists claimed he had a delusional disorder in which he expects everyone else to see and live in the world that he wishes to perceive rather than the one that is. Such disorders, they claim are almost impossible to treat because the delusions are very hard to overcome in the patient. In any case, during the court hearing to decide whether my father was mentally incapacitated and needing to have a guardian imposed something odd occurred. He was sitting with his lawyer and the guardian ad litem as my lawyer, my sister and I testified from our side of the court. He did not appear to be paying attention and his face and expression entirely changed. It was almost as if a mask had slipped off and something entirely different were exposed and looking out from his face without realizing we could see it. Most interestingly, his normally hazel eyes and turned bright blue! I saw this while my sister was speaking on the stand. Later when we could speak, I asked her if she had seen anything odd about our father during the hearing. She affirmed and described what I just relayed about his odd look while I was testifying BEFORE I had said anything about what I had seen. This suggests we were both observing something real. I don't know how a psychological condition could change eye color and cause these effects.
In a different instance my father had cataract surgery and was thus on strong medication which took several hours to wear off. While on the medication he was a pleasant person though a bit fumbly as one might imagine. After the surgery back at his house you could see the medication wearing off. As his normal self reasserted the pleasant person disappeared, his expression changed and he become the toxic person he normally was, literally picking up the phone to call the oil company whose technician had tried unsuccessfully to repair the 45 year old furnace the day before with the intent to get the poor kid fired for what was an impossible task. His normal antisemitism also returned. In this case there was no change in eye color and the medication was likely in play...something not true in the courtroom.
Any thoughts?
sometimes one sees things that are unexplainable by normal physical rules!
Being a scientist, it is difficult for me to believe in "literal demons". However, I definitely have observed events that might be attributed to effective possession by demonic forces. And, at some point, what is the difference?
I have seen drastic changes in personality when a person is awarded power, more than once. I have observed Borderline Personality Disorder in action, in multiple individuals. I have known women besotted with the idea of dating men who would attempt to murder them, literally (is this fantasy something to do with Beauty and the Beast? 50 Shades of Grey?). I have seen grown men, scientists, throw hours-long tantrums like 2 year olds. I have spoken at length to a Sociopath, whose fondest wish was to kill everyone around him. I spoke regularly for years to someone who was raised as a Nazi, and spouted the most outrageous toxic evil nonsense imaginable. I was friends with perfectly nice Palestinian girls for years, and suddenly on certain topics, they revealed a frantic desire to kill everyone else on the planet. I had a meeting with the head of our local library where he spouted complete gibberish for an hour, as I secretly recorded his rantings.
So, the world is quite different from what I had imagined when I was 15 or 20. Many people are severely ill. If you are sane in a world of mentally disturbed people, you stand out. You have a target on you.
A superb essay.
Rod Dreher is an Orhtodox intellectual who sometimes writes on the supernatural, on his substack and elsewhere.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/devils-of-manhattan/
https://www.amazon.ca/Living-Wonder-Finding-Mystery-Meaning/dp/0310369126/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0