Legal Commentary

Did Bobby Jindal claim to have performed an exorcism?

By Beldar

In comments to a post on Outside the Beltway entitled McCain to Pick VP This Week: Romney or Jindal?, someone commenting under the name "Hal" quipped: "McCain/Jindal '08: Because The White House Needs An Exorcist!"

Now, that's typical moonbat twaddle that I'd ordinarily ignore, but a couple of comments down, another blogger, Dr. Steven Taylor, whose integrity I respect, chimed in with a comment saying: "Not just a belief in exorcism, btw, but as Hal alludes, Jindal claims to have performed one." (Italics his.)

That's completely wrong, and I left a comment saying so. But I became curious, which in turn, led me to track down and read Jindal's entire 1994 article in the New Oxford Review (accessible by subscription or $1.50 one-time fee here), "Physical Dimensions to Spiritual Warfare." In it, Jindal described his presence at, and complex reactions to, an event involving a fellow student who some present concluded had been possessed by a demon which some present attempted to exorcise. In succeeding comments, I added quotes and links ? including some incidental opinions about Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM)'s lack of serious foreign policy credentials and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ? in what turned into a lengthy argument with "Hal," who eventually demonstrated that he can't or won't distinguish a "Hail, Mary" from an exorcism ritual.

Fairly read, Jindal's article is a well-written and moving description of his own confusion, concern, self-doubt, and fears as he was struggling with issues both spiritual and concrete. But as for his participation in ? much less performance of ? a purported exorcism, these paragraphs seemed to me to convincingly refute any such suggestions (boldface mine):

Full post as published by BeldarBlog on July 22, 2008 (boomark / email).