The Bobby Jindal Exorcism – Was it a true exorcism?
Since this is an exorcism blog written by practicing exorcists, the question I am most interested in considering is: was Bobby Jindal’s experience a true exorcism?
But first, a bit of an introduction…
Recently in the media there has been quite the hubub about a supposed exorcism that US Republican up and coming star Bobby Jindal attended in his university years. Mr. Jindal wrote publicly about his exorcism experience in an article in the New Oxford Review while he was still in university.
I have attached a copy of the full text of the article here.
Much has been made in the media of how this seemingly normal politician, someone who is in fact rising in the ranks of the political world, could have participated in such strange behaviour. Some are pointing to this episode as an example of him somehow being unfit for office, while others dismiss it in the same vein as drinking or doing drugs when young – pardonable as long as those days are long over.
This attitude does no justice to Mr. Jindal or his experience. I am not speaking about politics here; I am speaking about someone’s personal experience with and confrontation with evil.
I believe that what many fail to appreciate is that confrontation with evil – personal and direct confrontation such as documented in Mr. Jindal’s article – is a fact of life for many people on this planet. In the United States, there is a strong base of Christian spiritual warriors who are very clear about the nature of this world, that evil is real, and that it needs to be opposed; they volunteer if you will to do this. I would propose to you, in fact, that the spiritual warrior is not only a Christian thing. In every tribe and every religion there are found the warriors, those who take the power of spirit and use it to fight the forces of evil. This exists in Tibetan Buddhism, in Hinduism, in Shinto, in Christianism and in Islam. If all of these religions and all of these peoples from all over the world have the same notion of evil – that it exists, that it must be countered – does that not suggest that there is something we should pay attention to here?
OK. Off my soap box!
Since this is an exorcism blog written by practicing exorcists, the question I am most interested in considering is: was Bobby Jindal’s experience a true exorcism?
After reading through the full text of his article, I would have to say yes. For the following reasons:
- His friend exhibited many of the symptoms of possession. (I also wrote about these here.)
- These symptoms got progressively worse over a period of time.
- You can see the clash emerge quite clearly. (The clash is a stage in the process of exorcism.)
- The exorcism progresses along lines that I am very familiar with…exorcism is not a straight line, it has ups and downs as the side of evil and the side of light get stronger or weaker. Mr. Jindal’s recount of the exorcism seems very honest; he shares the times when they almost lost as well as the times when they were near victory.
- The recovery of his friend was not linear. This too is normal. She was largely recovered after the first big exorcism, but had at least one smaller relapse. She was shaken and traumatized and needed healing, help, and gentleness afterwards. (As an aside, “healing after exorcism” is something that I hope to write more about in the future.)
- The lives of every person involved changed dramatically after the incident. Universally it appears this change was for the better, bringing them deeper into their faith. This often happens often after a real, true exorcism.
So for all of these reasons, I do believe that the experience Mr. Jindal wrote about was a true exorcism.
What do you think?
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