Smelly Demons and Gender-Bending Ghosts

Charisma Magazine, having alerted readers to the pressing threat of demon nookie, has posted another commentary on demons. In a January 25th column at the Charisma Magazine website, Mark A. Pearson warns readers about demons occupying houses. In "Can Your House Be Haunted?" Pearson speculates that demons can sometimes be the culprits behind unusual household phenomena, such as strange sounds or odors. Apparently they move furniture too (so remind me to recruit some demon helpers when I move to a new home).

"It could be that demons are present and misbehaving. Sometimes they propel objects at people, move furniture about or make various noises. At other times they create extreme temperatures—generally cold—or nauseating odors, or they may impede one's ability to pray. Satan can come at us physically, emotionally and spiritually."

That's right, folks. Don't blame poor insulation or old windows for those cold drafts. That strange smell in the kitchen isn't from a rotten potato in that bag of Idaho russets on the counter. And those noises you hear at night aren't from your house expanding or contracting due to nighttime temperature changes. Nope! It's Satan!

Pearson argues that demons occupy homes for several reasons, such as revenge for "spiritual warfare" or enticement by curses, tarot cards, or Ouija boards.

"The demons may have taken up residence for several reasons. One is because they were invited, either deliberately by someone who called on them to come or naively through games such as a Ouija board or tarot cards ... Another reason evil spirits may take up residence is because of a curse. Sometimes a curse is placed on a home or other building as revenge for something the occupants have done or as spiritual warfare against believers."

He also theorizes that supernatural disturbances may result from "the presence of the souls of unsaved people who died without being commended to the Lord." Everything from war to abortion (!) can supposedly disorient spirits of the dead.

"... [T]heir souls are trapped here until someone tells them to go to God for their eternal fate. They're not demons trying to harm us or spirits trying to enter into a relationship with us, but souls seeking our help to be freed from being trapped on earth.

In my years in the inner-healing ministry I have worked with numerous women who were troubled with psychological and spiritual ailments. In some cases they had delivered a stillborn child or committed abortion.

Often the remains of their children had been discarded without their naming the child or commending him or her to God. In such cases, when we've named the child and commended him or her to God using the same prayers I use for deceased adults, significant healing has taken place. (In the case of abortion the sin also has to be acknowledged and repented of and God's forgiveness has to be asked.)"

Apparently, such disoriented ghosts can even make people transgender!

"British missionary surgeon Dr. Kenneth McAll was once asked to minister to a man hospitalized with incurable cross-dressing, gender-confusion issues. He researched the family history and discovered the man had a twin sister who was stillborn.

The family never thought a funeral would be necessary for one who was born dead, and the surviving brother was never told of her existence. After the discovery, McAll had a funeral performed for the sister. Some days later the mental hospital called saying the man had suddenly changed and was ready to be taken home."

Superstitions like this are nonsense. Demons and ghosts are the stuff of comic books, not real life. Such superstitions are the products of fearful minds and overactive imaginations, and have no place in the 21st century.

Pearson's column is alarming for another reason. By linking abortion and gender diversity to supernatural hauntings, it makes reasonable discussion of those issues impossible. Abortion and gender diversity cease to be social issues deserving of rational discussion and become just another symptom of spiritual malaise. Sadly, Pearson is not the first person to associate abortion and LGBTQ status with otherworldly influences, as observers of the more colorful voices of the Religious Right know well.

As I've asked so many time before . . . how do you reason with people like this?