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Does this look like a happy man? Obviously not. It’s Charles Darwin, whose theory of evolution in The Origin of Species established the idea that all species came from common ancestors, and that humans were not a unique and differentiated creation of God. Though baptized Anglican, he was essentially raised a godless Unitarian and eventually married his own cousin. It has been known that he suffered miserably while writing Origin but a new book My Age of Anxiety, by Scott Stossel. (The strange, off-balance cover of the book is above.) Stossel, the editor of “Atlantic” magazine, tells us just how bad Darwin suffered, described in his own words: *

 

*NOTE: Be advised the following is unpleasant reading.

For 25 years extreme spasmodic daily & nightly flatulence: occasional vomiting, on two occasions prolonged during months. Vomiting preceded by shivering, hysterical crying[,] dying sensations or half-faint. & copious very palid urine. Now vomiting & every passage of flatulence preceded by ringing of ears, treading on air & vision …. Nervousness when E[mma Darwin, his wife] leaves me.

What a miserable man. It would be easy to dismiss his suffering as due to a lack of proper medical attention in the 19th Century. The author of Anxiety suggests that Darwin suffered from emotional illnesses and phobias, a kind of angst-ridden 1800s PTSD. Maybe. But perhaps it was more than that. Demons? (You knew that conclusion was coming!) Quite possibly. However great he was at geology and biology, and to whatever extent some of what he wrote is true, the ultimate conclusion of his theses was, and is, empirically unproven, anti-God, and destructive of faith in Scripture. It may be that the demons who demented his obviously brilliant mind took a physical toll as torment for his blasphemously subversive ideas. It’s true that sometimes “the devil takes care of his own.” I’ve learned in deliverance that it’s also true that once the demons have gotten what they want from an individual they turn the purported benefits of their partnership into a hellish toll on the one who cooperated with them. In the quote above, is Darwin describing a demonic attack? Hmmm.

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In age of foul-mouthed comedians whose stock-and-trade is four-letter expletives to stun already desensitized audiences, Robin Williams could have them laughing with just his quick wit and zaniness. As a clown, an alien, or a genie, he delighted all ages. Those who knew him and have paid tribute have universally said that he was basically a decent man. Sure, they were some foibles, as I mentioned in my Monday blog “Robin Williams’ Demons” (to read CLICK HERE). But on the whole, especially by Hollywood standards, he was a good individual. So why would someone so kind and caring kill himself by hanging from a belt wedged in a closet door? We don’t know yet, and may never know, the exact answer. But you might as well ask that question of hundreds of thousands of friends and loved ones of other inexplicable suicide victims. Suicide kills; more yearly than car accidents, prostate cancer and leukemia. About 39,000 annually and growing. Why? Here are my thoughts. Suicide has become epidemic and results from a variety of causes, including:

• Depression brought on by life circumstances.
• Brain chemistry that is somehow out of balance.
• Long standing and untreated or poorly-treated mental illness.
• Demonization resulting from generational curses or personal occult involvement.

Often it’s a combination of the above. But it’s the latter cause that concerns me because of my calling. There are demons that go by the name Suicide. This is not to suggest that everyone who commits suicide has a demon; but many do. Demons calling themselves “Death” and “Destruction” stalk those who are vulnerable. If you know someone who is suicidal, by all means get them proper medical and psychological help; but also consider that inner healing and exorcism are modalities of spiritual intervention that may be just as necessary. I pray that if any good comes of this tragedy it will be an awareness of insisting that those in profound despair should be forced, by those who care, to get the right kind of help of every kind.

The ritual has begun, Satan’s work is done, 666 the number of the beast.

Sacrifice is going on tonight.

I’ll possess your body and I’ll make you burn . . .

I have the power to make my evil take its course.

Chilling words from a satanic cult ritual? No, the words to a 1982 heavy metal song/album entitled The Number of the Beast, by the British band Iron Maiden. (They named themselves after a bloody, medieval torture device, a coffin with nails embedded inward.) Steve Harris of the band claimed that the lyrics came to him after watching the occult-themed movie “Damien: Omen II.” (Nicko McBrain, the band’s drummer, became a Christian in 1999.) Bruce Dickinson, who screamed the demonic lyrics, causing concern among Christians (including me) thirty years ago, is now an international jet airplane pilot for British world Airlines. (Remind me not to fly them!)  He has his own airplane leasing fleet. As a crafty and successful business executive today he refurbishes old airplanes and leases them.

One certainly can be glad Dickinson has become more mentally mainstream, but for those of us who lived through and survived the satanic-themed songs of decades past (Slayer, Deicide, et al.) there are memories of kids who took bands like Iron Maiden all-too seriously. It may have been make-believe to Dickinson and the boys, but it provided a slippery slope to the demonic world for many impressionable young minds. Those kids, strung out on drugs and flashing satanic salute signs at Iron Maiden concerts, aren’t piloting planes today. Most aren’t entrepreneurs with millions in the bank. Their lives were ruined, at least in some part, because they took such lyrics as a liturgy of evil. Bruce has mellowed. Great. But he should pay back some of his fortune to drug rehab centers and Christian deliverance ministries who are still picking up the pieces of his “Beastly” musical theater.

“We know that he had demons.” I didn’t say that. An E! Entertainment TV channel host said that last night, using a figurative metaphor. I was watching. I’d just heard the news that actor and comedian Robin Williams had been found dead. Suicide. He apparently asphyxiated himself. I quickly turned on the TV, and that’s the first thing I saw and heard. Sadly, it probably wasn’t far off the mark. He had been to drug rehab at least two times to battle a cocaine addiction. The photo above, publically posted years ago, seems somewhat ironic now. To me he was one of the few (along with Steve Martin) genuinely funny people capable of playing any role and making laughter out of any situation. Everyone says he was truly a nice man, and no one can doubt his acting and comic genius. I loved his movies Dead Poets Society (critics did) and Patch Adams (critics didn’t).

Are there any spiritual clues regarding this tragedy? His mother was a Christian Scientist, though it’s not clear if Williams believed in anything particular. He was officially an Episcopalian and founded his own philanthropic organization. His personal life was a little messy. During his first marriage he cheated on his wife and the mistress later claimed that he infected her with herpes. He then married his son’s nanny who was seven months pregnant with his child. He first checked into rehab in 2006 for alcohol problems.

What to make of this? It’s hard to read between the lines beyond his entertainment career. He was clearly troubled, addicted, and depressed. My experience in such cases tells me that this kind of individual is seeking to escape some deep, inner pain. It also seems reasonably clear that he suffered from Dissociative Identity Disorder. I think that’s why he was able to instantly shift character so quickly, completely, and with such improvisational ability — better than anyone has ever done it. Because of my experience, insights, and spiritual gifts from the Lord, I’m confident that if I could have spent 15 minutes with him I would have pinpointed exactly the point of his pain. A well-trained therapist should have done the same. From there on, inner healing and deliverance might have changed the outcome of this terrible loss. Yes, he likely did have demons, as the TV host said; not figuratively but quite literally.

In recent weeks the world has been transfixed on warfare in Ukraine and Gaza. The latter, where the Palestinian Hamas faction has launched destructive missiles toward Israel, has suffered the full force of Jewish retaliation. The result is that nearly 2,000 citizens of Gaza have died and world public opinion has tilted against Israel.  Jewish leaders argue that Hamas deliberately stationed soldiers and arms near schools and hospitals, not caring about their own people, to create collateral damage  and thus outrage public opinion. The Israelis say they have had no choice but to respond to the rocket attacks on innocent civilians. They are determined to wipe out the munitions arsenals of Hamas, as well as the tunnels used to smuggle arms and terrorists. To Israel, Hamas is, plain and simple, a dangerous organization that can’t be allowed to exist with impunity, a mere rocket lob away from raining death down on the people of the Holy Land.

In an article last week in The Atlantic magazine, Amos Oz, a liberal, peace-movement Israeli, spoke out. In the past he has opposed Jewish settlements of disputed territory and lobbied for compromise with the Palestinians. No more. He put it succinctly in terms that Americans should understand: What would you do if your neighbor across the street sits down on the balcony, puts his little boy on his lap and starts shooting machine gun fire into your nursery? What would you do if your neighbor across the street digs a tunnel from his nursery to your nursery in order to blow up your home and kidnap your family?

That’s sobering. And it clearly explains the dilemma that the devil has created through the ancient curses which have fallen on too many of the angry descendants of Ishmael.

It’s something we seldom hear about. What happens to the kids if mom, or dad, is arrested and goes to jail? It’s happening more and more. The statistics are horrifying. In the U. S. 1.7 million children have at least one parents in prison. Include local jails and the number is 2.7 million. Some little ones are traumatized by witnessing the arrest of their parents. Other are immediately abandoned when a parent is marched away to a patrol car. A research study in California found that only 13% of arresting officers even thought about asking if the person they were taking to jail had children.

But it gets a lot worse, from my perspective. As a minister of deliverance, I’m always wary of ways that the devil can get legal access to a person’s life. As unfair as it may seem, this is one such way. The trauma of seeing an officer knock at the door, or worse yet break down the door, and enter with guns pointed at mom or dad can be just the open door the devil is seeking. Then, if the parent is arrested and the child is abandoned, even by a bad parent, because of the arrest, another door is opened. Granted, some of these kids might be better off with a violent or drug-dealing parent gone. What really concerns me is that the number of children with an imprisoned parent is likely to grow larger. That makes a bigger target area for Satan. As a nation, our only hope to stem this tide of children becoming at risk for demonization is to reverse the respect we’ve lost for the family; and restore the ideal of a two-parent home where love is present and crime is absent.