Attempted exorcism brings reproach on the church - 1932
Goya's painting of St. Francis Borgia exorcising a demoniac.
Introduction
When charlatans calling themselves Christians behave unwisely, the world is quick to reproach the entire church. An incident printed in Philadelphia’s The Evening Bulletin, on this day 23 December 1932 gave ammunition to the atheist D. M. Brooks, to blast what he called “ecclesiastical ignorance and bigotry.”
Quote
“Faith Healers Arrested; Two Charged with Choking to Death 5-Year-Old Girl, Linden, Texas, Dec. 23, 1932. Despite a purported confession, officers to-day continued an investigation of the death of a five-year-old girl, allegedly at the hands of two itinerant preachers who sought to ‘drive out the devil’ they believed responsible for her partial paralysis. Murder charges were filed against Paul Oaks and his brother, Coy Oaks, and precautions taken to prevent possible mob vengeance. Sheriff Nat Curtright said the accused men admitted they had choked the child to death in an attempt to cure her. Officers said the preachers had been conducting meetings in rural communities and had preached on the subject of faith healing. George Wilson, a neighbor, officers said, found the two men kneeling over the prostrate form of the child. They ordered him to leave, declaring he was a ‘devil.’ He said the child’s father was in the room.”
Brooks, D. M. The Necessity of Atheism. New York: Freethought Press Association, 1933.