Demons Were Behind the Women's March?

When millions of women demonstrate in marches around the world, what really drives them? A thirst for equality and justice? Disgust over misogyny? A pressing need to have their voices heard by political leaders? According to several commentators from the Religious Right, it's demons!

In a January 23rd video shared at Facebook, Wallnau shared a clip of a flaming vehicle that he claimed was set on fire on Inauguration Day. "This is your brain on liberal, progressive campus and community organizing," he told listeners. At the -21.11 mark, he claimed that inauguration unrest was a "spiritual manifestation" of "the spirit of witchcraft", which was allegedly at work through the Women's March on Washington. He then mocked Women's March protesters as divided and hypocritical, ignoring the actual motivations behind the Women's March. (Hat tip to Right Wing Watch.)

"This is a spiritual manifestation on the inauguration, and notice, this never happened during the Obama administration, not because of the problem with Trump, but because it's the unmasking of the nature of the progressive spirit and its anarchy and its desire to control and intimidate and manipulate.

By the way, any manipulation, intimidation, and control -- those three words are the spirit of witchcraft. Witchcraft is the spirit of Jezebel, so it makes sense to me that there'd be half a million women that would show up the next day, and they don't even know what they're there for. I mean, some of them cried one thing, some of them cried another, but the only thing that they were agreed on was Madonna's goofball statement on blowing up the White House. And some women, of course, were incensed over a comment Trump made a decade ago before he got married. But what's weird is they weren't incensed about Hillary covering up her husband or going on the assault with women that her husband had been involved with and how she destroyed them. So, there's an element of hypocrisy that reveals a root of lawlessness that is the essence of what I'm talking about."

Rick Joyner, co-founder of MorningStar Ministries, was also aghast at the Women's March, blaming it on infernal forces. In a January 23rd video shared on Facebook, Rick Joyner called the Women's March "one of the most blatant manifestations of the Jezebel spirit ever". He called the participants' rage "unattractive" and recoiled at their brazen language, insisting that the marches were not a representation of American women. At the -7:00 mark, he attributed the march to the Jezebel demon, who feels threatened by President Trump. (Hat tip to Right Wing Watch.)

"Why was there such a rage? I think it's because that Jezebel spirit is about to be thrown down in America, and I think much of the world, and it knows its time is short ... I think Trump is a real serious threat to the general Jezebel spirit, I mean, just the way he's attacked the political correct spirit."

The Jezebel demon has been a recurring theme among New Apostolic Reformation commentators with regard to the march. In a commentary piece at Charisma News, Landon Schott was so horrified that the Women's March featured profanity, pro-choice messages, and "anti-purity" content that he concluded the demon Jezebel was at work.

"Then I witnessed celebrities cursing our government and nation, promoting abortion institutions. They carried signs that read, "If Mary (Magdalene) had had an abortion, we wouldn't be in this mess!" I continued to see an anti-God, anti-purity, anti-Christ spirit emerge from the heart of this march. I watched a celebrity curse profanity over our nation and demand the right to have abortions. This wasn't about equal pay; this was about the advancement of an anti-Christ spirit. As I watched, I was grieved, and up in my spirit came, "This is the Jezebel spirit!""

Televangelist and dehydrated bucket food enthusiast Jim Bakker also claimed that infernal forces were present during the march. During the January 30th edition of The Jim Bakker Show, Bakker described his time at the Trump inauguration in glowing terms, calling it "supernatural". By contrast, during the January 31st edition, Bakker's guest Billye Brim described the women at Women's March as "driven by demons". At the 3:52 mark, Bakker described an evil spirit in the lobby of his hotel, allegedly brought to town by the marchers. (Hat tip to Right Wing Watch.)

BAKKER: We went downstairs, and there in that lobby that a few hours before was presence of God was suddenly the most evil spirit I have ever felt. On the big screen -- and I'm not saying Fox News is anointed -- but Fox News was no longer on. They might come for me if I tell you who was on. Somebody else.

BRIM: Liberal media.

BAKKER: One of the other sides was on, and all the places where all the generals of God had been sitting was women, women, women in pink, women with ... cat ears. I studied a little bit of that, and I couldn't tell you what all that means 'cause it's dirty. It's filthy dirty.

Oh, the irony. Bakker and his friends were less offended by Trump's "grab them by the p***y" comment than by pussy hats used to express outrage over said comments.

Even E. W. Jackson brought up demons in the same breath as the Women's March. During the January 23rd edition of Urban Family Talk, Jackson denied that the Women's March on Washington and its sister marches represented American women. He then went on to attribute the D.C. march to demons using the "powers and principalities" language of Ephesians 6:12. At the 6:59 mark, he told listeners that America was the site of a spiritual battle with demons. (Hat tip Right Wing Watch.)

"Our country is really now divided, not as the leftists would have you think, divided [by] gender identity versus those who don't recognize it, and you know, the LGBT movement versus those who don't want same-sex marriage, and the women who want freedom versus those who are engaged in a war on women. That's not what's going on. Folks, America is in the middle of a pitched spiritual battle ... We are in the middle of the equivalent of a spiritual civil war. That’s what’s happening in America right now, and the people represented by those who went to Washington, D.C. to protest are on the godless side in this war. We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places, so what we’ve got to do now is put on the whole armor of God to be able to stand against the wiles, the stratagems, the strategies, the tricks of the devil."

Do these commentators honestly believe that demons were at work at the Women's Marches, or are they merely trying to convince their followers? Either way, attributing the marches to demons shuts down any possibility of rational thought or conversation. If Religious Right followers believe that the marches were the handiwork of infernal forces, they'll be too fearful to think about the issues discussed at those marches. If fundamentalists believe marchers to be angry, lewd harpies who serve the Jezebel spirit, they won't listen to what the marchers have to say. Once again, fear and superstition prevent members of the Religious Right from cultivating reason or empathy.

To read additional commentary, visit the following links.

Feministe: Quick hit: The Women’s March on Washington was driven by demons.

Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Wingnut: Women’s March was ‘ Driven by Demons’

New Apostolic Reformation Preachers Pray for Trump, Pence, and Their Families

Even before the inauguration, Religious Right figures prayed for Trump. On January 12th, several preachers gathered at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. to beseech God to protect and guide the Trump and Pence families. The POTUS Shield Prayer event featured New Apostolic Reformation figures such as Lou Engle, Cindy Jacobs, and Lance Wallnau.

In a video from the event, individual preachers led prayers for members of the Trump and Pence families. Prayers for Melania, Ivanka, and Tiffany asked that the women would know God and declared that no weapon formed against them would prevail. Other prayers were more revealing. For example, at the 1:27 mark, Lance Wallnau prayed that Donald Trump Jr. would have the wisdom to navigate embarrassing media reports.

"We thank you, God, that there is a grace on the entire Trump house and on Donald Jr. right now to be able to step into protecting, discerning where the enemy's entrapments are, where the legal processes and the media would try to trip up or embarrass or accuse the household of impropriety."

At the 9:43 mark, Lou Engle initiated a second prayer for Barron and the rest of the Trump family. At first, Engle seemed to be demonstrating empathy for Barron, who must be drained by all the controversies swarming around his father. As Engle went on, however, he prayed that the Trump family not nurse "offended hearts".

"When they were praying for Barron, I just felt God's heart for him. We need to pray for a shield around them, 'cause they're going to live under the constant criticism of their dad, or their family. We need to pray that their hearts will not be offended ... Lord, I pray, fill them with such encouragement from people all over the nation, from your people the church. We ask, cover them and deliver them from an offended heart. Give them the grace of forgiveness, in Jesus' name."

At the 11:39 mark, Clarence McClendon prayed for Vice President Mike Pence. McClendon likened Pence to the biblical Joseph, who served alongside Pharaoh. Was this comparison a veiled commentary about Trump? McClendon also praised Trump for being "malleable and pliable" in God's hands.

"You said that in a time of crisis and danger, that you sustained Egypt not only because of its Pharaoh, but because it had a covenant man second in command. And I thank you, Lord, that great counsel and great wisdom will come from Vice President-elect Pence into the ears of President-elect Trump. God, President-elect Trump is a man who is seeking you and finding you. He is malleable and pliable in your hand, and you spoke in my heart and in my spirit that his pliability and his malleability in your hand was one of the reasons that you selected him."

Finally, a speaker I did not recognize prayed for Donald Trump at the 14:33 mark, hoping that God would speak to Trump like he did to King Solomon. Revealingly, he also hoped that Trump would not end up like Solomon.

"Father, we pray for President Trump, Lord, that you will give him a knowledge of you, Lord, that exceeds our expectations and hopes. Lord, we thank you that he has surrounded himself with evangelical people. Lord, he's magnified Christianity. We've talked about being a Christian nation. Lord, we pray that you will somehow give him supernatural "download" ... Lord, we pray that you will also speak to him directly, like you spoke to Solomon, but lord, we pray that he will not end up like Solomon."

I'd say that Trump is already like Solomon. Immense wealth? Check. Ambitious architectural projects? Check. Multiple wives? Check. Just as Solomon practiced idolatry, so too does Trump worship his own ego as a false idol.

I found the prayers at the POTUS Shield event revealing. The participants seemed concerned about legal and media snarls, and the references to Pharaoh and Solomon suggested some unspoken anxieties about Trump. Are these New Apostolic Reformation preachers worried about what the future may bring for the Trump administration? Will Trump prove "malleable" and "pliable" not only to the Religious Right, but to other political forces as well?

Hillary Clinton in League with Infernal Forces, Say Some Religious Right Figures

Many Religious Right figures have supported Donald Trump's candidacy and attacked Hillary Clinton's candidacy. Some have done so by arguing that a woman is unfit to be president. Others are doing so by claiming Clinton is knowingly or unknowingly in league with infernal forces. Who can forget Ben Carson's speech at the Republican National Convention, during which he linked Hillary Clinton, Saul Alinsky, and Lucifer? Now, several Religious Right commentators have linked Clinton with Satan and the Antichrist, pandering to the fear and superstition of their audience.

This tactic is nothing new. Fundamentalists have repeatedly claimed that President Obama is the Antichrist, or that he is at least playing a sinister role in Biblical prophesy. The claims began during his run for the 2008 presidential election and have continued ever since. Desperate to unite their followers against Clinton, fundamentalists have started making the same claims about her.

First, Trump supporter and New Apostolic Reformation preacher Lance Wallnau lionized Trump as a "wrecking ball to the spirit of political correctness" during a recent podcast. During the August 17th edition of the Strang Report on Charisma Podcast Network, Wallnau gave a political talk dripping with Seven Mountains Dominionism. He argued that Trump could help the Religious Right gain control of social institutions that are supposedly controlled by Satan.

After reminding listeners about the next president's power to appoint Supreme Court justices, Wallnau spoke of Hillary Clinton and the devil in the same breath. At the 11:14 mark, he claimed that a Clinton victory would play into Satan's "end game" and help him consolidate his control of society. (Hat tip to Right Wing Watch.)

"If Hillary Clinton has the power in this culture to promote radicals to the Supreme Court, that process of redefining the meaning of words I can almost guarantee is going to continue to extend itself right on down to the free speech of Christians to be able to speak biblical truth. That’s the end game the devil’s at. And so, I’m talking to Christians now, we must understand -- Satan wants to wrap up his institutional control of high places in government, media, arts, academia, and business is about to come under assault with Hillary Clinton. And the end game will be a redefinition. The ultimate redefining will be what America is, and it’s going to happen in her administration and it’s going to affect our children. For forty years they’re going to have to live with it."

Radio host Bryan Fischer, who opposes a Clinton presidency on account of her gender, has linked Clinton with the Antichrist. During the August 15th edition of Focal Point, Fischer claimed that Hillary Clinton was animated by an "Antichrist impulse". At the 34:47 mark of the second hour, he said the following. (Hat tip to Right Wing Watch.)

"Hillary Clinton is not a friend of religious liberty. In fact, she is hostile to religious liberty. She's an enemy of religious liberty. There's a profound anti-Christian impulse in Hillary Clinton. I would go so far as to call it an Antichrist impulse. The same spirit that will one day animate the Antichrist is the same spirit that is at work in Hillary Clinton. She opposes Christ. She opposes biblical Christianity. She's hostile to it. She seeks to repress it. She seeks to punish it, and she seeks to stifle it. That is the spirit of the Antichrist and it is at work in Hillary Clinton."

After blasting Hillary Clinton for allegedly siding with the "homosexual agenda" over religious liberty, Fischer repeated his accusation at the 43:10 mark.

"Hillary Clinton is motivated by the spirit of the Antichrist because she is against Christ. She's against Christianity. She is against the free exercise of the Christian faith. She doesn't want the Christian faith to be a part of the public square, to influence public policy in any way. She's against everything that Christianity stands for. She is for same-sex marriage. She is for the promotion of homosexuality. She is against the sanctity of human life. She is against religious liberty."

Anti-abortion activist Alveda King also linked Clinton with the Antichrist. During the August 12th edition of The Jim Bakker Show, King accused Hillary Clinton of asking Americans to abandon their religious beliefs, thereby ushering in the Antichrist. At the 3:02 mark, in the midst of a disjointed diatribe against ISIS, Margaret Sanger, and Planned Parenthood, King had this to say. (Hat tip to Right Wing Watch.)

"Mrs. Hillary Clinton .. said basically Christians and religious people in America need to set aside their religious beliefs and serve secular humanism, and in that point she was saying abortion or the thing with ISIS ... and she really has said we're going to have to learn in America to set aside our religious beliefs ... What's she's really saying is usher in the Antichrist."

Jim Bakker also hosted Don Colbert of the Divine Health Wellness Center on his show, who accused Hillary Clinton of acting under the aegis of the Antichrist. During the June 9th edition of The Jim Bakker Show, Colbert claimed that the "spirit of Antichrist" rested on Hillary Clinton at the 35:00 mark. Colbert's comments followed a pro-Trump segment in which a retired firefighter prophesied that God had chosen Trump to restore America, as well as something about horse races. (Hat tip to Right Wing Watch.)

"That spirit of Antichrist is majorly on one of these candidates, and that’s Hillary Clinton, and Jesus even said there will be many Antichrists in the world. Well, that spirit of Antichrist is on our president right now. And so, as Christians, we have got to turn out and vote. If we don’t turn out and vote, we are electing Hillary Clinton."

After Colbert's comment, Bakker warned listeners against hatred and venom in politics, oblivious to his hypocrisy.

"As I have been speaking to a lot of leaders that know history, really know what's going on, they're saying there is such hatred, there is such venom that they said that--be careful. Pray the power and the blood of Christ over all your leaders, because there will be people falling dead if we're not careful. The hatred right now, and the lust for power--you don't understand how deep this power thing goes."

Literally demonizing a political candidate is a cheap, dirty tactic. Are these Religious Right figures knowingly manipulating their listeners with dire warnings about Satan and the Antichrist? Or do they actually believe their own propaganda as they grow more paranoid about the End Times?

Either way, these tactics may inflame the fears of a small segment of the population, but they will not work with the larger populace. If these fundamentalists are resorting to devils and boogeymen in their fight against Clinton, they're scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Lance Wallnau on Occupy Wall Street

(Click here if you're having trouble viewing the video.)

The Occupy Movement is still active, even if mainstream media coverage has declined. Blogs such as Freak Out Nation have been keeping tabs on the movement, and Religious Right voices are still offering commentary on the Occupiers.

Lance Wallnau, a New Apostolic Reformation preacher and CEO of the Lance Learning Group, mentioned Occupy Wall Street in a recent episode of Prophetic Perspectives. Wallnau and other NAR preachers were at the center of a controversy in 2011 when they were scheduled to speak at Harvard University's Social Transformation Conference (see here and here).

During the January 4th edition of MorningStar TV's Prophetic Perspectives, "Changing Society with the Kingdom of God," Wallnau discussed Seven Mountains theology. Wallnau argued that Occupy Wall Street arose out of frustration with the economic system, which was corrupted by diabolical powers. At the 9:35 mark, he insisted that because the economic system wasn't infused with "kingdom principles regarding fiscal responsibility," the Devil sent his "kings" into the economic world.

"We have focused so exclusively on the mission of getting people saved ... what we've misunderstood is the world system has to have teaching, because the only way you're ever going to see nations made disciples is if we unpack what we've got in these systems. What are these systems? These are the systems that are in chaos right now because they haven't been taught. Right now you've got, depending on when you watch this broadcast, you've got an Occupy Wall Street movement. You know why? Because we didn't occupy Wall Street with kingdom principles regarding fiscal responsibility and discipline. Now we've got people that are frustrated, you know, like Woodstock generation type, next generation people on the streets who are upset because somebody didn't deal with economics, so if you don't deal with economics, guess what? The Devil will send kings into that area who will screw it up."

Wallnau continued, arguing that the Devil would corrupt other spheres of society if believers do not influence them. At the 10:38 mark, he had this to say.

"If you don't deal with the arts and the music and the literature and the songs and the culture that your children are being baptized into, guess what? The Devil will send the influencers into the art world and they'll pervert your kids' thinking. If you don't start to control truth in media and conscience in media, so that there's accountability ... the Devil will send kings who will dominate the information process. If you don't start to get a hold of government responsibility and laws properly framed that have a  Biblical worldview ..."

Wallnau reminded viewers that they must help solve problems instead of point fingers on policy matters. He urged believers to be tactful rather than combative when addressing public officials. "These people that are there, unfortunately they're not only under the influence of darkness, when they meet us, they don't always meet the best of us," he said

Wallnau's talk painted a familiar picture of Seven Mountains theology, one in which Christians must exert control over the spheres of society, lest diabolical powers take control of them. Still, I doubt that many Occupy Wall Street demonstrators would embrace his theory that the Devil's minions scrambled the economic system!

Hat tip to Right Wing Watch. To watch the full episode, click here. 

On Saturday, Demonstrators Protest the Social Transformation Conference

As this blog reported earlier (see here and here), several New Apostolic Reformation figures were scheduled to speak at the Social Transformation Conference at Harvard University on April 1-2. Controversy erupted over past statements from several speakers -- including Lance Wallnau, Os Hillman, and Pat Francis -- demonizing homosexuality, Islam, and witchcraft. Additionally, several speakers embrace Seven Mountains theology, which urges Christians to take dominion over major spheres of society.

Harvard administration has at least acknowledged criticism of the Social Transformation Conference, which was reportedly organized and facilitated by students. In an online statement, the Harvard Extension Student Association stressed that it does not endorse the views of any student group, adding that students and student clubs are welcome to engage in an open and free exchange of ideas.  According to a March 31st article in the Harvard Crimson, the Harvard Extension Service and Leadership Society said that the speakers assured them they have not and would not make hateful statements. In a March 31st commentary at Truth Wins Out, however, Wayne Besen condemned such words as disingenuous.

This is outrageous and totally unacceptable. It is the equivalent of hosting David Duke on campus, but prohibiting him from talking about race. If these anti-everything bigots are going to stand on the soap box, they ought to have the courage to express their radical views — and Harvard should encourage them to do so. If they believe they are superior and have designs on taking over the world by expelling lists of “demonic” people — they ought to express this viewpoint without reservation.

It is infinitely more harmful to have these theocratic “Seven Mountains Movement” presenters sanitize their militancy and madness for public consumption. Sweeping the rougher edges under the carpet will allow these speakers to make the disingenuous claim that are not as extreme as opponents said they were.  And rest assured, there will be gullible students and faculty on the left who attend this event and also conclude that this group is not a dangerous threat to liberty and freedom.

Truth Wins Out and Join the Impact Massachusetts hosted a protest at the Social Transformation Conference on Saturday, April 2nd. According to Truth Wins Out, approximately fifty demonstrators protested at Harvard, holding signs criticizing homophobia and calling for love. Wayne Besen, Ann Coleman of Join the Impact, Sue Hyde of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and Rev. Kapya Kaoma of Zambia spoke at the demonstration, lambasting the speakers' homophobia and support for theocracy.

Talk to Action's Expose on the Social Transformation Conference

Bruce Wilson at Talk to Action recently penned a hard-hitting commentary on the Social Transformation Conference scheduled for April 1-2 at Harvard University. The conference is being billed as a discussion on the role of faith communities in social change, but a quick look at the conference speakers suggests a more fundamentalist tone to the event. Several of the speakers -- including Pat Francis, Lance Wallnau, and Os Tillman -- herald from the New Apostolic Reformation movement and embrace troubling ideas about the LGBT community and non-Christian religions (namely Islam and "witchcraft").