Demons and possessions are genuine

1. Psychological DisordersPro makes no argument here, and simply states the nature of these types of disorders and how people mistake them for genuine demonic possession.2. Miss-Interpreted PossessionsBasically, this section was just a more intricate rehash of the last. 3. Genuine PossessionsMy opponent lists six things which he believes only occur with regards to genuine possession. First off, he mentions how there are cases where a subject speaks a language they have never been exposed to. Of course, there is no support for this argument involving how knowledge of the languages the subject has been exposed to, has been obtained. Some of these words could have been stored in the subconscious after being exposed to them without conscious awareness accessing this knowledge previously. Also, there is no way to know that any stories of demonic possession haven't been exaggerated to include a scenario where someone speaks a language they have never heard of. Basically, this "different language" claim is not very convincing. Secondly, Pro claims that the subject speaking with anger or hatred would support genuine possession more so than the alternative. Of course, this is false. Anger and intense hatred are shown in patients who suffer from the disorders mentioned by my opponent. Thirdly, my opponent brings up levitation. I would just respond to this by saying that Pro hasn't established a particular case worth looking at with regards to levitation. Even if a moden this was established, why were no pictures taken? In one possession case, a girl supposedly levitated for 30 minutes, and not one person thought to take a picture, or record a video somehow [1]. If someone gets shot in the street and laid there bloody for half an hour, cameras would be out in no time. However, a girl levitates for 30 minutes supernaturally, breaking the laws of physics, and nobody properly documents this? This is rather suspicious. Cases like these should be taken with a grain of salt. Fourthly, Pro makes an assertion that these people sometimes obtain strength beyond their normal capabilities. This is called Hysterical Strength and it happens in times of crisis, without demonic possession being involved at all:"In proper terminology, such a temporary boost of physical power would be called hysterical strength. The stories are almost always in the form of one person lifting a car off of another. In one case in Colorado in 1995, a police officer arrived at a single-car accident where a Chevy Chevette ended up on top of a baby girl and sank into the mud. The officer lifted the car and the mother pulled the girl out. In 2009, a man in Kansas lifted a Mercury sedan off of a six-year-old girl who had been trapped underneath when it backed out on top of her. In 1960, a Florida mom lifted a Chevy Impala so that a neighbor could pull out her son, who had become trapped when he was working on the car and his jack collapsed. There's even the case where the MD 500D helicopter from Magnum, P.I.crashed in 1988, pinning the pilot under shallow water; and his burly friend (nicknamed Tiny) ran over and lifted the one-ton helicopter enough for the pilot to be pulled out. And, of course, the list goes on, and on, and on." [2]Fifthly, the claim of the subjects being angry at religious symbols is brought up does not support genuine posession. The problem is, most of the subjects who demonic possessions supposedly happen to, live/ lived a life soaked in religion (which further supports the assumption that these claims of demonic possession, have psychological roots and not spiritual ones). So, if there was a split personality that was completely different than the subject at hand, then it is not surprising why it would not like religious symbols like the subject normally would. Anneliese Michel (the woman the movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose was based on), was an extremely religious woman for example. She supposedly did not like the cross while "posessed". The sixth claim brought up by my opponent, was that there are cases where someone has knowledge about the past, present, and future that they could not know. However, he never mentions how vague these particular claims are. Even cold readers can get some predictions right. These baseless claims by Pro, in reality, really demonstrate nothing.4. Meaning of PossessionThe argument given here, is that the meaning of possession includes the will of the demons to break the human spirit down, and to have complete control over over the victim at hand. However, without actually demonstrating how demon possessions are genuine, this is about as meaningful as stating that the reason the giant abominable snow man in the icy moon of Europa sneezes so loud, is to attract a mate. Without actually demonstrating the existence of the scenario at hand, the reason for the situation is irrelevant. Since my opponent, so far, has failed to show that demonic possessions are genuine, as it stands, this section here does not really mean much. Maybe the next part of his opening argument, will be more fruitful.5. Possessions Are GenuineUnfortunately, this section should be nothing less than embarrassing for my opponent. It seems he is trying associate all behavioural changes and "evil" doings with demonic possession, which of course is not founded in the slightest. There are tons of reasons for behavioural changes [4], and many reasons for why people do "bad" things [5], that have absolutely nothing to do with the idea of demonic posession. I am positive that nobody with a lick of sense is convinced by my opponent's argument here. Therefore, I do not think I need to delve into this any further. It simply has no basis.6. Analogy of PossessionThis analogy has no bearing on the resolution. 7. ConclusionMy opponent claims that because demonic possession and certain medical disorders share common symptoms, then it is reasonable to believe that there is a link between the two of them. Of course, this only works if you presuppose the notion that demonic possession cases are genuine in the first place. Pro also claims that there is no way to claim that demon possessions do not happen for sure, I would agree. However, this is precisely why my opponent has the burden of proof in this debate. I cannot demonstrate that there is no angels assisting gravity in keeping things connected to Earth, but it is the person who says there is that has the burden of proof. Sadly, Pro clearly did not meet his burden of proof, and I demonstrated that it is not rational to accept the claims of my opponent. In his last statement, pro asserts that in the next round he will provide actual cases and videos. This, obviously, would have helped him in this round. Either way, I look forward to it, and hope he comes more eqquipped than he did in this round. Sources[1] http://www.mindpowernews.com...[2] http://skeptoid.com...[3] http://en.wikipedia.org...[4] http://en.wikipedia.org...[5] http://roxbury.net...