Through sorrow and shock, the nation struggled to find answers to why Cho Seung-Hui went on his killing spree at Virginia Tech.

Was it the result of an uncontrolled mental illness?

Was he an angry young man avenging the wrongs he perceived?

For many, both were plausible explanations. For others, there were no answers.

But some saw evil at work, perhaps an evil force controlling Cho.

Fox News explored this possibility in a segment titled ‘‘Did the Devil Make Him Do It?’’ In it, Richard Roberts, president of Oral Roberts University, said that ‘‘there’s no doubt that this act was satanic in origin.’’ Evangelist Franklin Graham reportedly said he believed Cho was demon-possessed.

The Christian Newswire recently carried an opinion piece by James Sterling of the Troy Beacon in Michigan under the headline ‘‘There’s a Devil Loose in America.’’ Cho ‘‘was just acting like his daddy,’’ Sterling said. ‘‘ . . . Satan, who comes only to rob, kill and destroy.’’

All of this raises the question of whether there is such a thing as demon possession.

The views of area religion leaders range from an unequivocal yes to an unequivocal no. There was even less certainty about what possessed Cho.

Catholicism

The Catholic Church believes it is possible to be demonically possessed, ‘‘but we cannot easily assume that Cho or anyone was,’’ said Monsignor Bradley Offutt, chancellor of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

The Catholic Church has a rite of exorcism, performed by specially designated priests to exorcise demons. But demon possession is rare and often confused with mental illness, Offutt cautions. ‘‘I was skeptical of demonic possession until I went with a priest who deals with this to meet some of the people who claimed to be demonically possessed,’’ he said. ‘‘Many of the symptoms of demonic possession are the same as schizophrenia. They hear voices. They say ‘This is the devil speaking to me.’

‘‘The exorcist described cases of true demonic possession, where people’s persona will change. Their voice will change. They may speak in the opposite gender or speak in other languages. Paranormal events are reported, especially objects moving in the room.’’

But this is ‘‘genuinely rare,’’ he emphasizes.

Judaism

In Judaism there is no teaching of being possessed by evil, said Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn of the New Reform Temple in Kansas City, Mo. Judaism teaches that humankind has two inclinations, one for good and one for evil, he said.

‘‘We have in us the drive and the ability to act in a positive and in a negative way,’’ he said. ‘‘We are bad, evil, when we choose or are driven by our own impulses to act badly.

‘‘Yet normal people have the ability, and the choice, to act decently and for good. There is no evil power out there, but rather our own issues and inclinations, or mental problems as the case of Cho, that make us act badly.’’

Assemblies of God

The Assemblies of God believe it is possible for people to be demon-possessed, said Zenas Bicket, past president of the church’s Doctrinal Purity Commission and former president of Berean University in Springfield, Mo. However, it can’t be known for sure whether Cho was possessed by demons or simply had a mental problem, he said.

People who are demon-possessed have allowed the demons to come in, he said, through such things as Ouija boards or fortune-tellers. But, he said, people who ‘‘see a demon in every situation that goes awry are taking it too far.’’

Christian Church

The Rev. Lee Chiaramonte of Independence Boulevard Christian Church in Kansas City, who doesn’t believe in demon possession, said Cho was influenced by evil but not possessed by it.

‘‘If I were to believe that Cho was possessed by evil or the devil, this would radically undermine his moral accountability for the violence he chose to set loose upon others,’’ she said.

Like goodness, she said, evil is part of the nature of the world. ‘‘However, the balance between evil and goodness is not even because God is the immense source and endless font of goodness, and this is God’s world first and finally.’’

Islam

In Islam one can be under the influence of evil spirits, said Syed Hasan of the Islamic Research Foundation International. The last chapter of the Quran makes reference to possession by evil spirits, but this is interpreted differently by various scholars, he said.

Regarding Cho, Hasan said, ‘‘From what has been reported in the media, I don’t think I can attribute his behavior to possession by demons.’’

Episcopal

The Episcopal Church recognizes the possibility of demonic possession and allows for the ministry of exorcism, said Canon Andrew Grosso of Grace Episcopal Cathedral in Topeka, Kan., and a diocesan canon theologian.

Episcopalians also believe that an event may have both natural and supernatural causes, he said.

‘‘Relative to a situation such as the tragic events that took place earlier this month at Virginia Tech, this means that we would acknowledge that both natural influences (such as psychological and sociological dynamics) as well as supernatural influences may have been involved.’’

The article above was found on Google and was published originally on The Pueblo Chieftain Online