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Deliverance ministry
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Schismatics |
Devil's in the details |
“”Merrin: I cast you out, unclean spirit…
Regan: [possessed voice] Shove it up your ass, you faggot! |
—The Exorcist[1] |
Deliverance ministry is a term describing a Christian organisation that attempts to cure people's ills by casting out demons, making it very similar to faith healing. The bible of the deliverance movement (well, aside from the actual Bible, of course) is Pigs in the Parlor: A Practical Guide to Deliverance, written by Frank and Ida Mae Hammond and first published in 1973.
One of the more curious aspects of deliverance ministries to an outsider is the pantheon of oddly-named spirits. Neopagan policeman Kerr Cuhulain sums it up best when commenting on a list of demons posted on the Demonbuster webshite: "You'd think that this would be a list of names like 'Belial' or 'Astartoth', but it isn't. It is a strange, mixed up list of emotions, personal characteristics, mental disorders, world religions and meditation techniques".[2] The general idea is that individual demons are named after their purposes, so that a demon who provokes lust is named Lust. This is taken to comical extremes, as we shall see.
Prominent deliverance ministers[edit]
The Hammonds and Pigs in the Parlor[edit]
“”...we have seen rhythmic and dancing spirits manifest themselves through motions of the body, especially in the swaying of the hips. One young woman whose body vibrated from the manifestation of the rhythmic spirit, disclosed afterward that she had been a professional dancer and worked for a while as a “Go-Go” dancing girl. This spirit proved to be the ruling spirit within her. The devil has his counterfeit and perversion for all that is good and right.[3]
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"Demon spirits can invade and indwell human bodies", states the Hammonds' book. "It is their objective to do so."[3]:1 The book calls for Christians to "put pressure upon the demons and defeat them".[3]:5
This is the basic hypothesis put forward by the Hammonds, and indeed the entire deliverance movement. The book provides a list of demons[3]:113-115 who allegedly cause everything from murderousness and schizophrenia to sleepiness, intellectualism and homosexuality. The only way to cure a person of these conditions, say the Hammonds, is by casting out these demons.
The Hammonds also venture into Exorcist territory by noting, "It is not uncommon for demons to speak through a person who is being delivered."[3]:2
Moody 'n' the Madraks[edit]
Gene Moody, a disciple of the Hammonds, wrote a 700 page screed called simply Deliverance Manual.[4] Building on the basic concepts behind Pigs in the Parlor, the manual includes a chapter entitled "Cleaning Your House (of Demons)" speaking approvingly of a someone chucking out their kid's Big Bird toy in the belief that it gave Satan "legal grounds".[5]
Moody picked up disciples of his own: Stan and Elizabeth Madrak, owners of the Demonbuster webshite, the End-Time Deliverance Ministry. The site reads almost as a parody of Moody and the Hammonds, with words CAPITALISED seemingly at RANDOM and everything from diabetes (excuse me, DIABETES)[6] to financial problems[7] blamed on demons. Stan Madrak claims that people who laugh at him get punished by God,[8] so watch out.
Jay Bartlett and his flock[edit]
Another deliverance minister of note is Jay Bartlett, owner of the Ministering Deliverance webshite. The site contains a lively forum where he posts under the name of "Rescuer" and regales his followers with unhinged ravings about "sadistic cults"[9] and anecdotes about dolls coming to life.[10] Other members of the community include "msproverbs31", who is deeply concerned about her son's interest in Dragonball Z;[11] "nautical999", infamous on Fundies Say the Darndest Things for the Leviathan Bathtub story; [12] [13] and "pastoraal504", whose writing style has to be seen to be believed.[14]
Win Worley[edit]

“”What would have seemed impossible thirty years ago has come to pass, you can receive a message to your mind and never see the message with your conscious mind or physical eyes. This is a subliminal message. We were given a book about subliminal messages. In one ad, very cleverly concealed in the ice cubes, was a woman in a sexual pose with an animal. Although you probably would not see it with your eyes, unconsciously you would get the message: drink - sex - bestiality.
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—Win Worley[15] (emphasis in original) |
Win Worley wrote a number of deliverance-themed books and pamphlets[16][17] and preached a number of sermons, some of which are available on YouTube.[15] He claimed that oral sex demons "reside in the mouth, lips, tongue, taste buds, throat, sex organs and the mind."[18]
Bob Larson[edit]
Bob Larson is a former anti-rock music evangelist and Christian talk radio shock jock who found the exorcisms he performed on the air were the most popular part of his show. Smelling much money to be made, he now has a full time deliverance ministry in Arizona, the Spiritual Freedom Church. Ever the media hound, he has his own "reality TV" show, The Real Exorcist. John Safran visited Bob Larson for an exorcism as part of his John Safran vs. God series.
Rebecca Brown[edit]
Rebecca Brown was a former medical doctor who had her license revoked in part for repeatedly misdiagnosing serious illnesses as "demons, devils, and evil spirits".[19] She became better known when Jack Chick published two of her books at the height of the Satanic panic, including the discredited He Came to Set The Captives Free. Her subsequent books such as Prepare for War and Unbroken Curses are alleged deliverance manuals rehashing material from Pigs in the Parlor with the addition of some of Brown's own unique batshittery.
Greg Locke[edit]
Fresh off of capitalizing on right wing grievances, Pastor Greg Locke decided to get his hands into deliverance ministries.
Owls and frogs[edit]
“”...I have become aware of how many of these unclean creatures are being made into art objects and used for decorations. This is especially true of owls and frogs. It is more than coincidence that both of these are creatures of darkness. They come out at night and hunt their prey. Demons are also creatures of darkness. They cannot operate in the light!
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—Pigs in the Parlor[3] |
Deliverance ministries are obsessed with owls and frogs; this goes back at least as far as Pigs in the Parlor. The Hammonds' book provides an anecdote about a little girl who allegedly suffered from nightmares until toy frogs and owls in her bedroom were thrown out, as the animals in question are "types of demon spirits".[3]:141-142 The Hammonds point to Deuteronomy 14:7-19 as evidence for this weird claim; however, this bit of scripture only forbids eating the animals, along with a number of other creatures which are apparently not seen by the Hammonds as demonic. The Hammonds' comments on owls and frogs were deemed important enough by Gene Moody for him to quote in his manual.[5] The Madraks also follow suit: "Been sick a lot in your life? Can't sleep at night? If you look around your house, you may find pictures and the like of frogs and owls. Oh No! Not my ceramic frogs and owls? YES! The Bible says that owls and frogs are abominable things."[20]
Win Worley provides an interesting anecdote about a woman becoming possessed after collecting owl ornaments. "In a meeting in northern Wisconsin, I mentioned owls and frogs as objects which should not be in your home. The next night a school teacher came for prayer… When I commanded any spirits connected with the owls to manifest, her mouth dropped open and terrible wails came out." It gets weirder from there.[21]
"A couple had a one-eyed stuffed large frog named 'Max'", states the website of Paul Nowlen's Free in the Lord Ministries. "After some period of time they began to talk about him as if he were a family member. Max sat on a bookcase and eventually the couple 'noticed his eye' seemed to be looking at them. God revealed the demonic properties of Max, he was trashed and the curses broken that demons had put on the frog."[22]
Rebecca Brown has the same obsession with toy owls and frogs harboring demons, and extends it to unicorns, wind chimes, immigration papers, some kinds of "tagging" graffiti, and stained glass window ornaments. This line of thought could be taken to ridiculous extremes. If someone becomes convinced their problems are caused by "demons", but they continue to have the same problems after a deliverance or exorcism, the next step might to be clean house and look for anything around the home which might harbor demons. If getting rid of owls and frogs doesn't help, get rid of the wind chimes, fuzzy dice, and toy unicorns. If that doesn't work, your expensive art might be the problem. Of course, if you have gotten to that point, maybe you missed the one obvious thing you really should have chucked out: the Hammond and Brown books.
Names of demons[edit]
These are amongst the more interesting demons that have been identified by deliverance ministries. Jacques Collin de Plancy must be spinning in his grave.
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ The Exorcist on Wikiquote
- ↑ Demonbusters (2). Archived from witchvox.com, 7 April 2003.
- ↑ Jump up to: 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Hammond, Frank and Ida Mae (1973). Pigs in the Parlor. Kirkwood: Impact Books. ISBN 0-89228-027-1.
- ↑ The Complete Deliverance Manual. Deliverance Ministries, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. "Not copyrighted".
- ↑ Jump up to: 5.0 5.1 CLEANING YOUR HOUSE (OF DEMONS) Demonbuster
- ↑ DIABETIC SPIRITS Demonbuster
- ↑ "HOUSECLEANING" IDOLS AND IDOLATRY Demonbuster
- ↑ MOCKERS - THE JUDGMENT OF GOD DOES FALL Demonbuster
- ↑ Resolve of the Sadistic Cult will not Prevail Ministering Deliverance
- ↑ talking doll Ministering Deliverance
- ↑ Effectively Dealing With Witchcraft Ministering Deliverance
- ↑ Liviathian Ministering Deliverance
- ↑ The Quote of Quotes Look on this work, ye Mighty, and despair! Fundies Say the Darndest Things
- ↑ Search found 117 matches Ministering Deliverance
- ↑ Jump up to: 15.0 15.1 15.2 WIN WORLEY COMMENTS ON SEX Demonbuster
- ↑ WRW Publications, "Official Website for Audio, Video, Books and Booklets from Pastor Win Worley and Michael Thierer."
- ↑ Worley books. Impact Christian Books.
- ↑ Playing Russian Roulette with Cursed Objects - Win Worley YouTube
- ↑ The Bizarre Case of Dr. Rebecca Brown
- ↑ "THE MIRACLE OF DELIVERANCE" Demonbuster
- ↑ GROUNDS FOR DEMONIC ATTACK Hegewisch Baptist Church
- ↑ Dolls, Puppets and Stuffed Animals Free in the Lord Ministries (archived from March 8, 2016)
- ↑ Jump up to: 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 23.6 LISTS OF DEMONS TO CAST OUT IN THE NAME OF JESUS Demonbuster
- ↑ Casting Demons Out, in a Hasidic Community, in Brooklyn, NY! Ministering Deliverance
- ↑ Jump up to: 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 LISTS OF DEMONS TO CAST OUT IN THE NAME OF JESUS Page 3 Demonbuster
- ↑ a veritable smorgasbord of demons
- ↑ THE TERMINATOR -- TERMINUS Demonbuster
- ↑ POTTY TRAINED AFTER DELIVERANCE Demonbuster