Vatican Warns That Internet Promotes Satanism

Hugh Pickens writes "The Telegraph reports that the Roman Catholic Church has warned that the internet has fueled a surge in Satanism that has led to a sharp rise in the demand for exorcists. 'The internet makes it much easier than in the past to find information about Satanism. In just a few minutes you can contact Satanist groups and research occultism,' says Carlo Climati, a member of the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome who specializes in the dangers posed to young people by Satanism. Organizers of a six-day conference that has brought together more than 60 Catholic clergy as well as doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, teachers and youth workers, co-sponsored by the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments and the Congregation for Clergy, say the rise of Satanism has been dangerously underestimated in recent years."

Comments

Back at you.

[Anonymous Coward]

The Internet Warns That The Vatican Promotes Stupidity.

Re:Back at you.

[stonedcat]

Hail satan!

Re:Back at you.

[WrongSizeGlass]

They appear to be using "the Internet" as a scapegoat (not to be confused with goatse, but an understandable mistake considering where they often lodge their noggins). People are doing the same shit that they always have but now they can:
* find it easier on the internet
* find others who are doing it on the internet
* blame the internet when they get caught

Meet the new boogeyman, same s the old boogeyman.

Re:Back at you.

[fermion]

Pretty much. And one of the stupid things Catholicism promotes is the idea of Satan. Honestly, one cannot be a satanist unless one is a christian, because Christianity makes it's hallmark the separates the continuity of good and evil into a polarity that is then split into autonomous creations.

Honestly, there is no reason for a scapegoat unless one is going to continuously blame others for your problems. Rational people understand that is necessary to take some control over their own lives. They can't just sit back and wait for a deity to provide for them. They can't just blame the satanist when things are not working out.

If there is anythings that makes christianity in general, and catholicism in particular, a joke to some many people is the externalization of blame. If satanism a problem, then clean up your own backyard. We can start with the focusing of the teaching of the christ in christianity and his directive to be better people, rather than to use any means necessary to force others to behave in ways that we agree. Of course christianity is not unique in it's use of force to promote religion, but it is, IMHO, uniquely positions to promote self discipline over blame.

Re:Back at you.

[Will.Woodhull]

...the number of "posessions" is very small, so is it really worth convening 60 church officials for a week to talk about what he considered to be a small problem?

Of course that is not worth it.

But if you want to begin to mobilize the masses of uneducated and gullible Catholics in every corner of the western world, you need to start somewhere. And a good place to start is by demonizing the Internet, which is the one thing that is doing the most to reduce the number of uneducated Catholics who would be gullible enough to do whatever the Church tells them to do.

This week has seen a couple of dozen killings in Afghanistan because somebody reportedly burned a Koran half a world away. There is no significant difference between an ignorant, gullible Islamist and an ignorant, gullible Catholic. Either can be turned into an explosive terrorist simply by feeding them disinformation about the world. If the Catholic Church is deliberately trying to keep its masses barefoot, pregnant, and in the pews by demonizing the Internet, this is cause for concern.

Re:Back at you.

[davester666]

Hell, the best promotion for Satan appears to be the Catholic church itself.

Re:Back at you.

[RobertM1968]

[quote]The Vatican stated fact: you have more "Satanists" because there is more information about it available to everyone.[/quote]

The Father in the article admits that the number of "posessions" is very small, so is it really worth convening 60 church officials for a week to talk about what he considered to be a small problem? In regards to the demon possessions, I wouldn't be surprised if they're all just untreated severe mental disorders or chemical problems.

I think it's more likely to be a deliberate distraction from the internal problems they are having.

The number of possessions is actually ZERO. I guess that qualifies as "very small". The thinking that people are becoming possessed is simply nonsense that the Vatican is promoting ON the Internet (or promoted on their "behalf" on the Internet) - but it's still nonsense. Part of the problem is that various sects of Christianity promote (in various places, including online) that people can excuse their baser or more vile actions by blaming it on the devil - which leads us right to situations like this.

It's not the Internet that's the problem - it's the church.

Re:Back at you.

[Mindcontrolled]

Lucifer was always the "light bringer" - from latin "lux" the light and "ferre" to carry. So it is the light bringer or the light bearer, but not the light maker. Of course, he was an angel of god, and I completely agree that most of the mythology is not biblical, but derived from Milton and Dante - the whole doctrine of hell is not biblical, but rather heretic, come to think of it. Then you got a lot of conflation if arabic ibis/shaitan demonology to top it off...

Re:Back at you.

[TheRealGrogan]

The catholic church has much to fear about the internet... even worse than satanists, it puts their flock in contact with people who know the truth: There are no such things as gods or devils.

They are losing their means of control.

Internet promotes Christianity

[data2]

The internet says that it also promotes christianity, using the same arguments. Within minutes you can research churches, bible groups and also contact them...

Re:Internet promotes Christianity

[nurb432]

But they want to be the ONLY faith that you can read or talk about.

Re:Internet promotes Christianity

[wonkavader]

They're not protestants. You don't read about religion. That's not your role. You go to church and get information from a priest, who has a greater connection to God through the hierarchy of the Church, which has at it's head God, and right below that the pope, with whom he has conversations daily.

OK, it's a pre-Vatican-two sort of world-view, but it's historically that of the Catholic church.

Well fair is fair

[Dunbal]

If the Catholic church can get away with an apology for the rape of countless young boys and girls on behalf of its members, then please your Holiness, accept this apology on behalf of the internet for our "satanic" practices.

They are afraid of an educated populance

[earthforce_1]

They can't control the flow of information and keep the people in check through ignorance like they used to. Much harder to cover up church scandals like pedophile priests with the internet available to a wide population.

Re:They are afraid of an educated populance

[Sprouticus]

"They haven't had the luxury of ignorance or the power to control information for many, many years"

Tell that to the people in Africa and South America. There is a reason that the Church is growing in areas of low educaiton and high ignorance and poverty. They share their brand of salvation and afterlife to make people feel better about their shitty lives now.

Same thing applies to Islam.

You never grew up in the church, you apparently are not familiar with their tactics. By 'warning' the faithful, they actually intend to scare those who may already be uncomfortable with using the web (older folks, the uneducated or undereducated, etc).

Make no mistake, this is a direct reaction to the sex scandals.

Before you start stomping on others for modding something, perhaps you should do a little legwork. I know this is slashdot, but judging the validity of the opinions of others invites a very negative response.

Re:They are afraid of an educated populance

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

Tell that to the people in Africa and South America. There is a reason that the Church is growing in areas of low educaiton and high ignorance and poverty.

Ignoring the glaringly obvious fallacy of affirming the consequent, I could just as easily have specified "the west", or "america", or whatever. It still proves my point.

You never grew up in the church, you apparently are not familiar with their tactics. By 'warning' the faithful, they actually intend to scare those who may already be uncomfortable with using the web (older folks, the uneducated or undereducated, etc).

I certainly grant that I did not grow up in the church. I am, however, aware of the effects that it has to those completely devoted to the church. However, consider this: censorship only works when a certain critical mass of people are being denied access to the information. All Christians I know (and I know quite a few) are intelligent and know how to use the internet, can quite easily see the benefits of using the internet, and will not be scared out of using the information by the existence of satanic pages in some corners of the internet. So, how can the church suppress such information, when it'such suppression is only restricted to only to the small number of older folks, or the dangerously uneducated, who are unfamiliar with the internet, and have no-one they trust to tell them that it in't dangerous? Something about that plan seems to suggest that it would be woefully ineffective. Not that there's actually any evidence or reason to support the existence of such a plan.

I mean, seriously, I've only touched on a couple of reasons why this train of thought is so obviously stupid. Do a little thinking, and I'm confident that you can come up with your own. As another example, what about journalists for actual papers, or news programs, or whatever else? They won't be scared by the internet, and won't hesitate to publish a big scandal about the church. We've seen it happen before!

Make no mistake, this is a direct reaction to the sex scandals.

Hmm. I'm presented with two options. I can either assume the existence of a conspiracy effected by the church to censor a long-since surfaced scandal, by suggesting that people beware what they read online, in an attempt to scare the tiny minority of radical christians who are unfamiliar with the internet out of reading about the scandal that's been in several offline news outlets for years, and hope that such censorship will magically spread, or I can make a mistake. Excuse me if I choose to make a mistake. *Rolls eyes*

Before you start stomping on others for modding something, perhaps you should do a little legwork.

Well, I was considering doing some legwork, but unfortunately, I'm busy trying to prove that all babies are communists. I figure that I'm more likely to get an affirmative answer for that proposition, than trying to prove something obviously false.

I know this is slashdot, but judging the validity of the opinions of others invites a very negative response.

No, judging the validity of opinions of other people whom slashdot likes invites a very negative response. Since the people generally don't like the church too much, their opinions can be bashed to kingdom come without very negative responses. Well, except mine, but I'm not really defending the church here, more just rationality and reason in general. Who would have thought the active champions of such concepts, so paraded and lauded here on slashdot, can be so reviled?

As far as I'm concerned, this is about as plausible as any other conspiracy theory I've heard. I've seen before so many conspiracy theories debunked here for lack of any supporting evidence, made by fellow slashdotters no less. Why am I suddenly the bad guy here?

Gutenberg

[bill_mcgonigle]

Hrm, where have we heard this one before?

Re:welcoming the enemy?

[SuricouRaven]

This isn't a conference for outsiders. Those doctors-etc are still going to be Catholics, and devout ones too if they are getting an invite. They arn't inviting the enemy into their midst, they are inviting in members of the small intersection of the set of medical professionals and the set of demon-believing Catholics. Probably most of them work at Catholic-run or at least Christian-run schools and hospitals, as those employed anywhere else would be risking their jobs by openly admitting they believe some cases of mental illness are caused by demonic posession.

The Vatican has its own Satan worshippers...

[jenningsthecat]

...who cover up the crimes of baby-raping priests in order to protect their own interests.

Not that I believe any of this God/Satan claptrap, but if you're gonna accuse others of Satanism, it's incumbent upon you to have a long, hard, honest look at yourself before doing so.

BTW, the Catholic church isn't primarily a religious institution, any more than the Mafia is primarily a waste disposal business. It's a huge financial and political entity - soul-saving and Satan-stomping are just tools to help maintain and consolidate the power base.

Internet Warns that Vatican Promotes Pedophilia

[moxley]

Internet Warns that Vatican Promotes Pedophilia

My invisible friend....

[Tanuki64]

...is good. Yours is evil.

Methodology

[retroworks]

Reading the story... the evidence provided is that demand for exorcists has increased. This, according to the Church, suggests that Satanism is on the increase - the same as an increase in sales of flu medicine may indicate increase in illness. To explain the rise in demand for treatment of Satanic possession, they formulate the theory that the internet could have promoted Satanism, increasing demand for exorcists. An alternative explanation would be that exorcists formerly could only advertise in very large markets - not in the yellow pages of rural areas. With the increase in internet, victims of Satan have wider access to exorcists, who defeat Lucifer in areas where he formerly established safe harbors. Therefore the Internet promotes Exorcism, not Satanism. And flu medicine sales may indicate meth labs are also on the increase in rural areas, which could also increase demand for exorcists. Personally, I find crackheads scarier than Satan.

Fuuuuccccccc.....

[Quiet_Desperation]

(facepalm) (headdesk) What fucking year is it? How does any adult take these miseryshit religions seriously?

Been a great week for religion. Between this and grown adults murdering people in a UN embassy because some ass in Florida burned a book, we're really set for the rest of the 21st century.

Re:Naturally,

[Doc Ruby]

Amorth is the guy in the article quoted blaming the current pope's "sex scandals" (widespread baby rape the pope covered up in his job before pope) on "the antichrist". Not on the pope, not on the baby raping priests, not on their local churches and silent congregation of witnesses, and certainly not on "Jesus".

If anyone is interested in exorcism, become a priest and rape a baby. You'll get an exorcism on demand, and the special attention of the pope - and go right to heaven!

Re:Naturally,

[Doc Ruby]

In fact his job heading the Inquisition gave him primary responsibility for covering up the church's baby rapers, shuffling them around the world where they could rape again in secrecy.

That should tell you a thing or three. Like the pope and his church is a fraud.

Re:Actually

[clang_jangle]

I've long thought that Christianity is mislabeled as "monotheistic". In fact they have two gods, a god of light named yaw-eh and a god of darkness named satan or lucifer. Damned heathens...

Re:That Wouldn't Be A Bad Way To Go

[PPH]

Well, I've heard of a few problems with young Muslim girls being married off to older men. But I think this is tribalism, not a feature of the specific faith (the offshoot Mormon cults tend to behave in a similar manner). Isolate a population from the moderating influences of society, and the village elders are free to look for whatever excuse is available to pounce on young tail (boys, girls, whatever).

Re:Actually

[angel'o'sphere]

Don't forget to count int the thousands if not more "Saints" and the dozens of Angels they "pray to".

angel'o'sphere