Could be coincidence, or selective perception, but I’ve come across more reports of violent, usually fatal exorcisms in the past few months than I had in years.

Consider just the ones I recently wrote about:

I don’t even have a Google Alert for “exorcism” or “demons.” These are just stories I came across in my daily browsing.

Here’s another one, courtesy of the Huffington Post:

A Florida man faces multiple charges following a violent encounter with police last week. Bryan Adams, 31, allegedly brought his 11-year-old son to the woods Jan. 16 to perform an exorcism on him, according to Okeechobee County Sheriff’s deputies.

“You are the demon and you know what I must do with you,” Adams told the boy, according to a police report obtained by WPBF.

As was the case with Zakieya Latrice Avery, the Maryland woman who stabbed her four children this week, external factors greatly exacerbated the religious delusion of the “possession” narrative. In Avery’s case, it was mental illness. In Adams’, it was meth abuse:

Following his arrest, Adams told police he had used methamphetamine shortly before deputies arrived.

Police officers arrived just in time to rescue the boy; he suffered only a minor injury to the back of his foot.

(Top image: “Exorcism,” a painting by Dale Grimshaw)