The other day I read a shocking article about a man who tried to exorcise a demon from a 4 year old boy in a way that was thoroughly disturbing. The man was found with the boy, who smelled of gasoline, stating that “if we can’t get out the demon, I’ll burn it out of him”. The article didn’t elaborate on what the man’s mental state was; if he was on drugs, or if he had a mental disease of some kind. Obviously something was very wrong with his thought process. It’s horrific to think about an innocent child getting set on fire to get rid of a demon, real, or imagined. Thankfully, the man was caught before he was able to execute his version of exorcism on the child.
Biblical Exorcism
If you’ve ever read the first five books of the New Testament in the Bible, you’re aware that there is such a thing as demonic possession, and also a way to get rid of the demons. I’ll state for the record that it NEVER involved burning the possessed individual. I also did a little bit of research to find out if any other religions practice burning people as a means of exorcism, and found none.
The first person you see in the Bible exorcising demons is of course, Jesus. In Matthew 4:24, it says that “they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.” In Matthew 8:16, it tells you how He did it: “When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word…”
The ability to exorcise demons wasn’t exclusively held by Jesus either. In Matthew 10:1 Jesus also gave this power to the apostles, and the apostles would exorcise demons in His name(Acts 16:16-18). There was another example of exorcism performed in Jesus name by someone who was not a disciple, and Jesus was OK with that too (Mark 9:38-40). Essentially, the exorcising of demons in the Bible was always done by speaking, through the power of Jesus Christ, not by fire. There was however, an instance of a certain type of demon that the disciples weren’t able to cast out. When asked why, Jesus informed them they could only exorcise that type through prayer and fasting (Mark 9:14-29).
Demonic Metaphors
I think there’s always more to a story than meets the eye, especially if it evokes some kind of biblical imagery like demon possession. Personally, I think the story about a deranged man trying to burn a demon out of a four year old is a metaphor about the current state of the world. For example, let’s look at what’s going on as I’m writing this post. There is a riotous protest occurring at this very moment, supposedly over the death of a black man at the hands of the police.
Now, the protest part I’m OK with regarding this man’s death. He did not deserve to die for whatever reason he was interacting with the police for. I don’t know why he was on the ground in handcuffs, but he obviously was not a threat at that point. Even if he was a criminal, he had the right to face a trial of his peers, not get executed on the spot. The part of his unfortunate story that is analogous to the burning out of demons comes from the rioting and looting that came after the protest.
I know there are peaceful protesters out there; they’re the ones who came out to help clean up after the posers went crazy. Why would I call the rioters posers? It’s simple; they were only there to take advantage of the protest. What sane protester could ever think that burning and looting innocent businesses would exorcise the demons of what they perceive to be systemic racism? Is that big box store, or small shoe store really racist? Do they have signs in their window stating they will only sell to people of a certain color? Doesn’t looting only reinforce racism in people who were already racist, on both sides of the issue? It appears to me they are exercising demons, not exorcising them. Those rioters and looters were only posing as protesters, looking for an opportunity to inflict economic pain and suffering for some other agenda.
I suppose if the looters and rioters didn’t appear to be hypocrites, their actions might hold some sway with the average law abiding citizen. Why are they hypocrites? If the rioting and looting is a protest about black men being systematically killed by police, why aren’t they angry when black men get systematically killed by other black men. According to an article I read by criminologist and professor of criminal justice, Barry Latzer, statistics are that black men and women are killing each other at 19 times the rate of police interactions. So what’s the message then? It’s OK if we kill each other, but you can’t kill us or we’ll steal from you and burn down your businesses. That sounds like a demon in need of exorcism to me. Like I said before, I’m not against the protest, but when the means can’t be justified then you’re no better than who you’re protesting against.
Political Demons
Speaking of demonic activity, it also appears our politicians feel that anyone on the other side of the aisle is a four year old in need of a good exorcism. Or does it just depend on who they think is watching them, and what they want to accomplish before they decide which one they are, the adult, or the child? Let’s just look at the recent activity surrounding the “virus”. What sane politician would take advantage of the economic disaster we all face, by adding in to their legislation anything other than economic relief for our citizens? When relief bills contain political agenda wish list items for either side, and cost ten times what they should, then politicians are no better than the rioting plunderers. It doesn’t only happen with disasters or pandemics either. It seems every bill that gets passed is held hostage until the opposing side gets something outrageous included, satisfying some anonymous voting bloc. That voting bloc is more likely to be their key donors, helping to keep them in office.
The Demonic Divisions
In case you haven’t noticed, there seems to be an ever widening division between people. Political, racial, and religious are usually the ones that stand out. There’s also growing pressure to be on one side or the other of every division. Fine, let’s all pick a side to be on. Does it have to result in violence or death? Can’t we think differently from one another and still get along? Should I be forced to adopt ideologies I don’t agree with, and vice versa? Do I have to be OK with rioting and looting if I’m not OK with a man being killed because of his skin color? Should it require hate in order for change to occur? I think the method needed to exorcise the demons of our society is the same one Jesus used; through words. Obviously, some people are tired of talking about what to do, but the timing of the right words can have the biggest impact. Do you teach your children to be condescending toward people with a different skin color? Or, do you teach your children that you’ll be treated badly by people of a certain skin color, because of your skin color? Racism isn’t confined to one race; you know that, right? Do you let greed for money, and power, rule your life? Will you twist the words of another to make them look bad? Will you lie and cheat because you think you’re version of the ideal society is better than your opponent’s, and that’s the fastest way to get yours implemented? If you answered yes to any of those questions then you need to exorcise your own demons by first changing your words.
The Prayer and Fasting Type?
It may be that the words we use to attempt the metaphorical exorcism of our societal demons will have no impact. What then? Well, Jesus did say there are demons that will only come out by prayer and fasting. What does that mean? It means we would earnestly, and with sacrifice, ask for intervention from God to cast out the demons. If you don’t believe in God, or demons, what’s your solution?