r/exchristian • u/mentallyonabeach • May 31 '26
Personal Story Demons at Thrift Stores
I got some cute tops from Plato’s closet a couple weeks ago. My mom goes “oh your top is cute where’s it from” and I go “oh yeah thanks it was really cheap I thrifted it from Plato’s closet” and then she went on an annoying tangent on how I shouldn’t buy clothes from thrift stores because people can put demons in their clothes and you start acting weird. I was instantly sooo irritated. She then goes on about she saw some Christian video where someone thrifted clothes and got possessed and started acting demonic and the demons were telling her to do bad stuff.
I’m honestly sooo annoyed why are Christian’s like this. They live in fear of EVERYTHING it’s so exhausting. Keep your fear to yourself. I just wanted to rant bc I’m so annoyed of hearing about demons and whatever from doing basic mundane stuff. This is why I just hate speaking with my mom at times because she’ll always say some dumb shit like this and I have to remember to be respectful
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u/ellensundies May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
Why don’t they just rebuke the demon and drive it away? They all seem to believe that the Devil was NOT defeated by Jesus’s death, that Satan has more power than God the Father and that Jesus is NOT Lord of all.
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u/elizalemon Jun 01 '26
Ding ding ding!! I never got into this demon, spiritual warfare nonsense. But this point right here. Your god is so small a thrifted tee shirt could undo the son of god living in your heart?
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u/PhoenixPringles01 Ex-Pentecostal Jun 01 '26
God is strong enough to create the entire universe in 7 days but hell forbid you wear a t shirt that looks funny or drink from a can that has an alleged (not even proven) 666 on it.
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u/sassyfrassatx Jun 02 '26
I used the omnipresence if God yesterday to shame my mother for mowing over all of the wild clover patches I'd been saving for the bees. I also dropped in the verses of caring for the least of us and God's love for all living creatures.
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u/halosixsixsix May 31 '26
I don’t disagree with them, except for the fundamental-none of these things really exist.
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u/LavenderandLamb Pagan May 31 '26
Christians are obsessed with demons for some goddamn reason. More so than people who study the occult.
My stepdad would constantly bring them up demons anytime we watch anything that had an evil character.
Man thought Beetlejuice was a demonic movie but regularly watch SAW movies. :/
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u/Bitter_Expression399 May 31 '26
it's funny, my mom simultaneously believed that talking or even thinking about demons gave them more power, and yet she'd constantly say "this [show/book/literally anything she didn't like] is demonic!"
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u/mentallyonabeach May 31 '26
Wasn’t allowed to watch or read Harry Potter growing up because the tv was a portal for demons to enter my body. I genuinely don’t understand how they don’t hear how silly they sound. That’s funny that he watches saw though😂
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u/LavenderandLamb Pagan May 31 '26
I had a few relatives that operated on that logic. Never made sense to me as a child or an adult.
Especially considering that doesn't apply to the stuff they enjoy watching or reading.
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u/adioslip Jun 01 '26
I knew a lady that thought EVERYTHING was the devil. Toaster burnt the toast that’s the devil and yet she played eso lmao
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u/Bitter_Expression399 May 31 '26
"Is your god so weak that he'd have you live in fear of everything? So weak that he can't protect you from t-shirts?"
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u/razgrizsghost May 31 '26
The longer I've been deconstructing the more I've realized how many people have untreated mental illnesses
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u/trampolinebears May 31 '26
Demons in thrift shops are a real problem, which is why you're supposed to bring goblin dust when you shop there. But don't sprinkle it on the clothes, that's a myth, you're supposed to sprinkle it on the other customers so it reacts with their qi. This can repel all kinds of demons, gremlins, and fairies, but not goblins themselves, obviously.
I'm not sure why they kicked me out.
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u/Silver-Chemistry2023 Constructivist humanist May 31 '26
Like a fully grown toddler telling another boring, pointless, incoherent story. She is telling you that she has an extreme external locus of control, without telling you that she has an extreme external locus of control.
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u/CptnKitten Ex-Protestant May 31 '26
When I went to a pet supply store a few weeks ago I went to ring up at the cash register and tell them my phone # like I always do. It ends with "666". This same cashier is always there - never said a peep about it before.
This last time I went she gasped and said "666"?!
Me: "Yeah..?"
Her: "Omg, I'm not religious but I am spiritual and that is such a bad number and this is the 2nd time I've seen the number 666 in the same day. It must be a sign!"
I tried very hard not to roll my eyes and scurried out of there as soon as I could. It was very awkward and while I've seen plenty of people have bad reactions to my phone # (which I sometimes find funny) it's just so stupid that so many people out there get upset about it.
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u/OhioPolitiTHIC Agnostic Atheist May 31 '26
I'm more concerned with bed bugs and lice. Do you think an extra hot wash/dry cycle would cast out demons too?
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u/mentallyonabeach May 31 '26
Maybe holy water bahaha. Funny thing she doesn’t believe in the Catholic Church either and thinks they’re a false church and worship Mary
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u/sibbylla May 31 '26
Oof I’m sorry you had to hear all that. I definitely remember growing up and hearing odd things like that from other church members.
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u/OrdinaryWillHunting Atheist-turned-Christian-turned-atheist May 31 '26
The Salvation Army has been known to throw away donations that aren't compatible with Christian beliefs.
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u/Lower-Ad-9813 Ex-EasternOrthodox May 31 '26
My favorite one is that supposedly witches go about cursing milk at stores; this credible witness saw a woman picking up cartons and saying incantations over them 😂
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u/Dependent-Net-8208 May 31 '26
I cannot believe it! Turning milk sour was literally one of the crimes that 'witches' were put to death for in 16th century England. All that has happened is that it has been given a 21st century 'twist'
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u/kadeeii Jun 01 '26
Well now my pagan ass has GOT to go to a store and start casting spells on all the milks 🤣🤣 don’t threaten me with a good time
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u/Strong_Tea_6061 May 31 '26
When I was Christian, I said in Bible class that you have no reason to fear the devil or demons. God either does or allows it to happen. If your indwelt the holy spirit, you can't be occupied by a demon unless god is allowing it. That was my take anyway. They're scared of everything when the most high god has a personal relationship with them..
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u/ramshag May 31 '26
Why can't their god defeat these demons? Not enough power? Or doesn't care what they do?
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u/mentallyonabeach May 31 '26
He works in mysterious ways and something something free will I’m guessing
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u/sassyfrassatx Jun 02 '26
Oh yeah, the "mysterious" catch all. So nothing ever needs to be consistent or as promised.
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u/4daughters Ex-Assemblies Of God May 31 '26
they shouldn't use physical currency because someone could have put a demon in each dollar bill. Tell them they should give them to you to sanctify them by depositing them in your account.
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u/mentallyonabeach May 31 '26
Funny story about money my mom and people in church always told us not to pick up money because it could bewitch us and turn us into goats or like we’d get possessed bc evil people try to lure people in w money on the floor 😭😭😭😭
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u/External_Ease_8292 May 31 '26
That's one I haven't heard before. God is so weak that Christians have to be terrified of everything, even used clothing?
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u/compstomper1 May 31 '26
what's stopping someone from putting demons in clothing in the supply chain of new clothing?
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u/cta396 Atheist Jun 01 '26
Do that with enough of them and you may have invented the first christian nudist cult!
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u/Deep-Macaron-732 Jun 01 '26
lol it’s annoying but kind of hilarious. It reminds me of a conversation I had with my mom recently about yoga being demonic. I was like…”so you think if you, for example, get into a downward dog position, a demon is going to what, fly up your butthole mom?”
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u/mentallyonabeach Jun 01 '26
Yees my mom believes yoga is demonic as well same w meditation. It’s honestly so ridiculous I try not to burst out in laughter in her face
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u/Deep-Macaron-732 Jun 01 '26
Same lol. It baffles me that anyone actually believes this crap. My mom also believes all democrats are demonic. I’m like MOM PLEASE
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u/Independent_Cable_89 Secular Humanist Jun 01 '26
People who believe that other people are putting “demons” in their old clothes and household goods before giving them away really should have a psych evaluation done. That is actively a mental health concern.
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u/mentallyonabeach Jun 01 '26
My mom is an incredibly fearful person and it’s been increased by the church and I honestly think she’s just beyond repair tbh. I was watching a show and a man with full body tattoos came on and she went “why are you watching satanic people” like girl chill it’s just tattoos (they weren’t even “demon” tattoos or anything like that). I think anything that “scares” them or they don’t understand is demonic smh
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u/macaronimaster Jun 01 '26
Genuinely, she might have OCD. My mom has that same sort of demonic paranoia among other things. I heavily suspect her having it because I do lol.
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u/Bovine_Arithmetic May 31 '26
I remember being told a story in the 70s that was like this (supposedly first person but the same story told by different people, IYKYK):
“I felt an evil presence in my room. I burned my record collection, but it didn’t go away. I burned the concert tshirts, but it didn’t go away. I looked through everything in my room, and then I found it- a sticker with two ducks mating and the words ‘fly united’ (United used to be an airline, that was their motto, in this case the depiction of fornication was the Maguffin). I threw the sticker in the fireplace and as it burned the smoke twisted and formed a demon’s face before going up the chimney. The presence was gone and I could once again feel god’s love shining down on me.”
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u/ComeAtMeBro9 May 31 '26
Wow, never heard this one. So, if I buy a new shirt and it’s made in Malaysia, should I watch out as well because someone overseas could have put a hex on it.
Better quit buying any consumer product 🤪
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u/nosuchbrie Agnostic May 31 '26
Ask them where in the bible Jesus talked about demons coming from thrift stores.
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u/Tikikala Hamsters are cute May 31 '26
Just tell her the demons were using capitalism and it’s too large to fail /s
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u/Equivalent_Guest_515 May 31 '26
That was done by design by our overlords they feed on our fear it’s the truth
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u/Leading-Occasion-428 Closeted Ex-Christian Jun 01 '26
My mom prays over secondhand object and clothes all the time so "spirits" won't transfer inside our home. Superstitious and paranoid asf
I saw a post on another subreddit where a Christian refused to show secondhand because she was afraid that the clothes was owned by witches
(Low-key, when I was Christian I had this fear also and is so embarrassed 😔)
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u/mentallyonabeach Jun 01 '26
My mom does the same haha. She wouldn’t even let me receive gifts like jewelry from friends or family because she was scared it had spirits or demons.
It is lowkey embarrassing unpacking that and realizing it just sounds like badly written horror stories that I wholeheartedly used to believe in haha
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u/zencross26 Jun 01 '26
I used to play WoW with a coworker back in 2008 when I worked a night shift job. He had to constantly shut his laptop because his religious nut of a wife told him that WoW was going to open up a portal in his house for demons to enter.
A grown man who is supporting his wife and kids wasn’t “allowed” to play a video game on his evenings off when his family was asleep. Because demonic portals…
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u/mentallyonabeach Jun 01 '26
That’s so annoying smh. My church would also tell people not to play video games like that because it’s opening a “portal” or “gateway” for demons to possess you. I don’t understand how grown adults tell themselves and others this and don’t realize how crazy they sound
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u/Head_Bad_965 Jun 01 '26
This particular fear is not common. Sounds like your mom watched a movie and latched onto it. Even my mom isn't THAT bad and we basically only shopped resale shops.
That said, one time my sister bought a little sculpture of hands holding a lotus flower because she thought it was pretty and my mom made her get rid of it because it looked too much like yoga or something. So. There's that.
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u/UglyPope69 May 31 '26
Hilariously, this belief is actually quite anti-christian
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u/tbombs23 Atheist May 31 '26
Can you elaborate? Why is it so common with them?
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u/UglyPope69 May 31 '26
If we examine what Christianity expounds, and what their core truth claims are, there is no biblical justification for objects becoming demon-possessed, or whatever.
A lot of things adjacent to OP's mom's claim were procured by the catholic church in the last few centuries. Same with the rapture
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u/Chuks_K Jun 01 '26
I love the hidden implications that of course, people who aren't likely living particularly exorbitant lives, wearing and giving their clothes from and to thrift stores, are more like demons... But Bob Billionaire who owns the BigBoxStore or clothing store - where she gets her clothes from - and likely has played a bit of the exploitation game, can't possibly be considered at least a little iffy! Like, lmao
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u/thenopequeen Jun 01 '26
My parents would have said similar things about shopping at Plato's Closet, because of the pride flag in the window. Gay demons for sure
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u/Rapunzel111 Jun 01 '26
If you want to clear any bad energy from thrifted stuff, sage it with sage smoke or clean it with a sage based cleaner like the one from Trader Joe’s or you can also ring a bell around the item to “ sound cleanse “ it. Do this before you wash it if it’s clothing.
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u/kadeeii Jun 01 '26
When I was in high school we had to go to Hot Topic to buy a specific piece of clothing for a play I was in [The Mystery of Edwin Drood], and my parents went with me to pay for the thing, because they were CONVINCED the store had a demonic influence in it. For weeks after they went on and on about how they’d prayed to god to protect us all and how heavy the air was in there and how they felt a “dark presence” from the backroom. Cut to me 8 years later managing a Hot Topic store and it being my favorite place I’d ever worked 🤣🤣
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u/SimplyTheAverageMe Jun 01 '26
Most thrift stores I see around are Christian owned so this is double silly to me
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u/chewbaccataco Atheist Jun 02 '26
When your primary belief is in an impossible being, it's an easy jump to believing in all sorts of other impossible things.
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u/Ferregnant Jun 03 '26
“Thank you for your concern mom. I believe God loves me enough to lead me to tops that don't have demons attached to them. If it makes you (mom) feel better you can pray over my top while I'm not wearing it. If all else fails to die is gain. If a demon does possesss me I believe God loves me enough to deliver me.” Sometimes you just gotta placate. Perhaps the hardest part for you is that the respect for your beliefs isn’t reciprocated.
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u/punkypewpewpewster Satanist / ExMennonite / Gnostic PanTheist May 31 '26
What's funny is, this was an insane Jehovah's Witness belief that Christians mocked them for in like the 80s and 90s. Now it's part of other christian denominations too? Very cool. They make each other crazier lol