Atheists: How do you explain so called "possessions" in people.....?

Question

And what about recorded accounts of these possessed people speaking in Latin and other languages they've never studied?

Answer 1

It is their soul speaking and trying to warn them and others that things are going on. I am no Christian, but souls do have their own language.

Answer 2

Not an atheist, but I do have degrees in a couple of relevant fields....

"And what about recorded accounts of these possessed people speaking in Latin and other languages they've never studied"
What recorded accounts are these?

As for the demon possession yatta, it's mostly the result of mental illness and social expectations. It occurs in almost every non-literate culture, regardless of the BELIEFS of that culture, so if used to justify theism, it only justifies polytheism.

Answer 3

I've never studied any one particular language in depth, but I guarantee that under certain circumstances I could speak a good amount of French, German, Italian, Latin, and Spanish. I've heard enough in various areas of my life that I would be able to do it if I wanted to fool people. I would also probably be able to speak them pretty well under hypnosis, as you're able to remember things much more clearly under hypnosis. That's how I think it works when someone claims to be "possessed". They're mentally ill, and some mentally ill people are able to have incredible recall abilities for things like languages.

Answer 4

I'm not an atheist, but I'd call it neurosis.
Most often it's not really "Latin" but gibberish people construe to be Latin or French.... whatever. Or maybe the person strung together a Latin word they pulled from the subconscious with some other mumblings & they called it a demon.

Some good therapy & medication is most likely the best fix.

Answer 5

I've never heard of people speaking Latin or other languages they've never studied.

As for possessions: I find it curious that the rate of demonic possession seems to have declined in direct proportion to the increase in mental illness diagnoses.

Answer 6

I think that so called demon possessions have natural causes. In the past, people with mental illnesses were labeled as possessed, while today we can treat such illnesses with medications and therapy, not exorcisms. I doubt anybody spoke fluently in another language without any prior exposure. That's probably an urban legend.

Answer 7

I know...how do we explain all the children in the world that have seen the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and the Tooth Fairy? Oh, and don't get me started on the Boogeyman!

When was I supposed to believe the rantings of the mentally deranged? And the proof? Was that from one of those highly respectable ghost chaser shows on cable?

Answer 8

Perhaps you could cite some examples where these people have been examined under scientific conditions and their backgrounds verified.

I recall a report of one such case where a woman began speaking fluent French although she claimed she had never had a French lesson in her life - which was true... but her grandmother was French and visited her frequently as a child.

Answer 9

As you said yourself, they are "so called possessions". Not true. Bogus. Made up. I know a lot of Latin, and I never studied it.

atheist

Answer 10

How do we explain the possession that seems to take hold of so-called christians? Very funny.

Answer 11

You said it yourself with "so-called". Give me hard scientific fact and I'll address it. Give me heresay, and I'll give you heresy.

I would explain that those people were having psychotic episodes, or were faking it, like those people who speak in tongues.

Edit: To address the Emily Rose argument, she had studied Latin, Greek, Aramaic, and many other ancient languages. Still scared the doody out of me though!