Does Kathryn Jean Lopez believe the Aurora shooter, James Holmes, was possessed by demons? She does not say so. What she says is that a story by a Catholic priest who says possession is real and posits that James Holmes was in fact possessed by demons, is "interesting." Are RTs endorsements? Of course not, DON'T BE RIDICULOSE! But when something is Catholic and 'tarded, you can bet K-Lo is taking it for her gospel every time:

Here is the work of Fr. Dwight Longenecker, which K-Lo finds "interesting":

Some say the demonic Joker drove Heath Ledger to kill himself.

Now it's getting spooky. There was a weird phone message with bizarre guttural voices and moans. Was he demon possessed? Maybe. It happens.

Demonic infestation is a rare, strange and terrible psycho-spiritual affliction. In simple terms, a malevolent, separate intelligence infests the mind and spirit of a person. It takes over the rational faculties and dominates the personality. The phenomenon is real, but anyone who has ever dealt with the problem realizes that the demonic realm is complex. The human person is an intricate organism in which the physical, mental and spiritual aspects are totally interwoven. Therefore, in most cases, trying to diagnose the possibility of demonic influence is extremely difficult. [...]

Is James Holmes demon possessed? It is impossible to say without a detailed diagnosis. Even then, it is a slippery question. We are dealing with a reality that is rubbery. In many ways this is the wrong question. Better to ask, "Was James Holmes taken over by Evil?"

Yes. Something happened to the mild mannered science geek. He turned into a monster. Something twisted in his mind and heart, and Evil made an entry. Evil infested his life. It took him over. Whether the twist was through mental illness, some inner wound or some terrible dark intelligence, we cannot say. The fact that we can't say what went wrong and don't have a neat and tidy answer is the key to understanding the terrible conundrum of evil.

What else might have happened to the mild mannered science geek, besides turning into a monster? Well, we're just spitballing here, since we are not a psychiatrist or even a Catholic priest so we can't speak to the "evil" that he was possessed by, but we would assume "young man develops schizophrenia at textbook-classic age for developing schizophrenia" was rather more likely than "young man possessed by Beelzebub." Sort of an Occam's Razor kind of situation.

Probably not very interesting, though. Or, for K-Lo, enough brimfire, judgment, and adherence to medieval fanatic versions of sometimes-modern religions. We will try better next time.

[NRO, via Wonkette operative "Maggie"]