Yeah I am 35 but when I was a kid the whole idea gave me the creeps. When I wrote about the clothing being returned I didn't mean it to be "Look how odd they are." I meant that there is still a belief by some that clothing and personal items can trap sins and spirits to be passed on to others. I can imagine (my own speculation) that if they believe that sins and spirits can be trapped by clothing and personal items I can see how a they believe a sin eater can remove sin from the items. I don't know if there is a link right there or not but I have wondered. A person filled with the spirit of God eating something filled with sin (drink harmful poison and will not hurt you because God is in you) may be able to kill the sin or spirit because God is in them (maybe this was the belief). The sin eater didn't destroy the sin God is in the sin eater and God did? I don't know just speculating. Intercessory prayer is another thing that reminds me of sin eating beliefs. There is alot of different views on this as well. A minority view (mainly Holiness and Pentecostal but not all of these either) think that certain people have the "gift" of intercessory prayer. Views of intercessory prayer are different and drastic. I know of some groups that believe that the person the has recieved "the gift" of intercessory prayer physically and mentally feels the pain of others torn by sin. If I had a headache the intercessor will have a headache and know to pray for you because the Devil is trying to break your bond with God by making you hurt. If I have a toothache the intercessor has a toothache. If I am stressed out over bills or just a bad day the intercessor will be stressed out. Basically the intercessor "takes on the sins and prays them away for you." I put that in quotes because that is what a preacher told me when I asked about a member of his congregation's unusual behavior. He told me that sometimes a person doesn't realize how much they are a sinner so God shows it to the intercessor through pain. The intercessor may not know who they are praying for but God makes them suffer for them until the intercessor prays the sin away. That freaked me out!! I should write a book about this sometime lol.