MANY Americans were shocked last month when a video was posted on YouTube showing a 16-year-old boy being roughly “exorcised” in a Connecticut evangelical church, where the “demon of homosexuality” was said to have been cast out of him.
An American teenager being 'exorcised' in Connecticut
The video shows the boy writhing on the floor as at least ten people at the Manifested Glory Ministries Church circle him and shout, beating him with towels and handling him harshly. A woman in charge yells:
Rip it! Rip it from his throat!
Later, a man drags the boy on his feet by holding him under his arms, while another pushes his hand onto the boy’s forehead and shouts:
Lose your grip! I burn you in the name of Jesus!
It has now come to light that similar exorcism are being performed on homosexuals in the UK – and human rights and Green activist Peter Tatchell is, according to this report, organising protests against the hardline Christian churches which carry them out.
Said Tatchell:
The exorcism rituals involve the casting out of alleged demons and witches that supposedly possess a gay person’s soul and turn them away from heterosexuality.
He is urging people to write letters containing “calm, compassionate, rational arguments” to one pastor involved – but also says that he should be reported to the police and his MP.
There are claims that gay teenagers and young adults are being subjected to exorcisms at the insistence of their parents and pastors, in an attempt to rid them of same-sex attraction. The exorcisms can include traumatic emotional scenes where the victims are surrounded by a group of church elders who scream at them to drive out the evil spirits and who sometimes shake their bodies.
When this is done to youngsters under 18, it is a form of child abuse and the police should intervene to stop it.
Some gay adults have been pressured into exorcisms by their family members or faith communities. Other victims are people with learning difficulties or mental health problems. They have been preyed upon when they are in a vulnerable state and are not capable of giving fully informed consent.
He added:There needs to be a thorough police investigation of all the churches that are doing these exorcisms.
One London church – United Pentecostal Ministry in Harrow, north London – admits it does exorcisms on four or five gay people every year. Its pastor, the Rev John Ogbe-Ogbeide, said he did the ritual to cast out the demons and evil spirits that he believes are responsible for homosexuality. Sometimes people were calm during the process but sometimes their bodies convulsed, he conceded.
Exorcisms can be performed on gay children or on those who are suspected to be gay. There is no minimum age for the exorcism ceremony because a demon could possess a person at any age in life and could incline them to “wrong” sexual thoughts and behaviour, said Ogbe-Ogbeide.
Tatchell points out:
It [the UPM] is just one of hundreds of fundamentalist churches in Britain. Gay exorcisms are likely to be performed in many of them. It is possible that dozens or even hundreds of LGBT people could be subjected to exorcism abuse in the UK. Because it takes place behind closed church doors and is kept secret, it is impossible to give an accurate assessment of the numbers involved.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
July 24th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
I think the practise of exorcism as a whole should be banned wether on children or gay people or people with learning dificulties or mental health problems,the police should be investigating these fundies already and something definetly needs to be done, I'm sick of arseholes hiding behind religion to justify their moronic actions.
July 24th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Witchdoctors are alive and well in Harrow and Connecticut!
Very surprised it was allowed on a 16 year old.
July 24th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
If only there were a way to “exorcise” all the religious and similar mumbo jumbo from the human race.
July 24th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Will Britain also turn a blind eye if organisations attempt to "free" teens unwillingly from the "demons" of being Christian, Islamic, Conservative, or BNP? Could a school devoted to "faith" in rationality do some tests on the teens in order to see which ones need to be cured forcibly of being a Tory (or New Labour)?
July 25th, 2009 at 5:09 am
Well, I agree. Mostly because we, in the UK, are generally not as completely arse-fucking-backwards as our transatlantic cousins.
Oh, yeah, and the whole reality thing helps.
July 25th, 2009 at 6:26 am
'Exorcisms can be performed on gay children or on those who are suspected to be gay.' So the spirit of the old witch-hunt is still alive and well. No proof needed, just suspicion. Something to remember the next time the names Hitler and Stalin are casually hurled at atheists. It was the religious who invented the mindset and methods of the police state.
But here's a thing – why don't they exorcise people (of any age) for greed? If the love of money is the root of all evil, as the Bible says, why do modern Chritsians ignore it? Perhaps because they gave in to Mammon years ago, and are now casting around for lesser 'sins' to root out?
July 25th, 2009 at 8:35 am
If prayer actually worked and gay people really were posessed by demons, thered be no need for all this screaming and violence to get the demon out. But praying's not so good for theartre or group hysteria, is it?
July 25th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
If only people realized the real value of it instead of using it for idiocy like this, and for thinking this sort of idiocy is suitably representative of it.
July 25th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Are you suggesting that there is any value whatsoever in a primitive superstitious act like exorcism? If so, what?
July 25th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
If only they would outlaw this nonsense but unfortunately the whackos will whine about how their "religious freedoms" are being restricted. Always their "religious freedoms" seem to include abusing others.
July 26th, 2009 at 8:40 am
A gay acquaintance of mine often has unearthly beings inside him … but then again he does go to some pretty weird bars on Saturday nights.
July 26th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
I had one of those excruciatingly cringe-inducing religious "newspapers" put through my door the other day by the acolytes of one of these charismatic "city churches". Lo and behold, there was another article about that nutty nincompoop Carrie Prejean (q.v.). Here's the headline (brace yourselves!!):
HATE, BIGOTRY, VILIFYING AND BULLYING…
That's what you get for expressing your beliefs
Yes – it's the bigotted airhead who is the victim here – not the people whom she attacked: they actually use the word – "victimised". YOU COULDN`T MAKE IT UP!!!
July 26th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
I've proposed more than once that we should pull a "religion" out of our backsides. Then each time we make a statement we can say it's part of our "deeply held religious beliefs" and insist nobody can criticize us or deny us what we want or they're restricting our religious freedom.