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In the 18th Century, secret societies were all the vogue, but none more so than Freemasonry. Its adherents shaped our nation’s founding and influenced popular thought, even architecture. Benjamin Franklin became a member of the Lodge in Philadelphia in 1730, a few years after starting his own society, the Leather Apron Club. He also printed the first Masonic publication, “The Constitutions of the Free-Masons,” in the colonies. George Washington was initiated in 1752 at the Fredericksburg Lodge in Virginia, the first President of the United States had a strong relationship with the Masons. He performed Masonic rites at the laying of the U.S. Capitol’s cornerstone on September 18, 1793. He remained a member until death and received a masonic funeral at the request of his widow. On into the 19th Century, Freemasonry still was considered a pathway to success. Literary giant Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens, became a member of the Polar Star Lodge No. 79 in St. Louis in 1861. Within a few months of joining, he ascended to Master Mason. The international scene on into the 20th Century included Winston Churchill, President Harry Truman, the FBI’s J. Edgar Hoover, even Jesse Jackson and John Wayne.

Those who have read what I have to say about Freemasonry in my books LARSON’S BOOK OF WORLD RELIGIONS and CURSE BREAKING (to order CLICK HERE) may be a little surprised that these luminaries belonged to such a nefarious organization founded on Luciferian principles. How can that be? The answer lies in the Freemasonry’s clever adaptability to the temper, times, and geography of its lodges. Freemasonry in the Deep South, for example, may deceptively incorporate biblical overtones. In the 18th Century it was more of a good-ole-boys club. Two hundred years later, it became a social institution to ensure the wealth and business connections of its members. But the blood oaths and vows never changed, and its ultimate allegiance to satanic powers has never been far from the surface. Moreover, its secretive meetings, enforced by genuine threats of reprisal or bodily harm, has maintained a code of silence on true activities. If you have ancestors who belonged to the Masons, get one or both of my books and do your homework. You may suffer spiritual bondage you never knew was rooted in this organization which commands members to swear an oath of death on their own heads should they ever reveal what goes on in the Lodge.

15,500! Get that figure in your mind. It quantifies a crime so heinous that it staggers the mind and almost begs an apology to Hitler for demonizing his deeds by comparison. An investigative report in the U. K. has uncovered that Britain’s National Health Service permitted hospitals to burn the remains of aborted and miscarried babies in incinerators to provide fuel for energy – a total of more than 15,500 victims. (Doesn’t that make you feel “comfortable” about where Obamacare might be headed? Don’t think it can’t happen here too.) Two other hospitals say they did the same. In other words, the heat and electricity to perform life-saving surgical procedures was, in part, supplied by the burning remains of dead babies. Babies slaughtered (in the cases of abortion) so that others might live, in some twisted rationale of England’s increasingly godless culture. Addenbrooke Hospital in Cambridge confirmed burning 797 babies below 13 weeks gestation to power the “waste to energy” plant on their grounds. Ipswich Hospital admitted to doing the same with the remains of 1,101 aborted babies. Mothers of babies were told the remains were cremated. Fortunately, the Department of Health issued an immediate ban on the practice. While the shocked public might be grateful for the Department’s ban, one has to wonder what logic permitted such a crime against humanity in the first place.

Yet, think for a moment how “logical” the practice is: if the unborn is not fully human, what’s the big deal? If the doctor cut a tumor from your body, would you object to it being incinerated? And yet, that’s what some young women are told, that the unborn child is like a tumor, a mere “growth” on their body that can be easily excised. If you are reading this and are pro-choice, no need to be upset. If it’s not a real human being to you, then burning the “fetal remains” should pose no moral dilemma. Relax, Mr. Obama and Ms. Pelosi. Should you decide to take American health care that direction in the name of energy conservation, your ethics wouldn’t be violated in any way. Fuel is fuel, if you don’t believe that from conception human life is in the womb.

Let me apologize in advance for any overtones of this blog that may sound a bit cynical. I don’t mean to demean anyone’s sincere grief, even a moral reprobate like Mick Jagger; but I find all this grieving about the loss of his lover a bit overdone. If you aren’t aware, the Rolling Stones’ head honcho lost to suicide his paramour of the last decade, fashion designer L’Wren Scott. Scott, 49, has been the main woman in the life of Jagger, 70, and her loss has seemingly affected him deeply. Scott was found dead on Monday in her high-rise Manhattan apartment. The six-foot-three Scott hung herself. Hollywood stars and even Michelle Obama wore her clothes, so it’s not clear why she ended her life. Jagger has been so distraught that the Stones have canceled a concert tour of Australia and New Zealand.

For Jagger and Scott, love didn’t go together with marriage. There was never any indication it crossed either of their minds. In the morally rarefied atmosphere of Hollywood and rock ‘n roll, why should it. They were “partners.” Like Oprah and Steadman. Angelina and Brad. In a tribute to Scott, on his web site, Jagger referred to her as a “friend and lover.” Definitely not a wife. You may ask, “What’s marriage got to do with grief?” A lot. Losing a wife of 10 years isn’t the same as losing a sexual companion of 10 years. It doesn’t work that way. God didn’t design it that way, and no amount of verbal gymnastics can change the definition of what that kind of relationship should have looked like spiritually. Marriage is a civil, moral, and spiritual covenant. I’ll grant Jagger sadness, but not the spiritual equivalence of grief. There was no legally-binding, covenant relationship between the two to have ripped apart by death. Say a prayer for the “Can’t Get No Satisfaction” man, he needs it. This just might be what finally wakes him up before it’s too late for him to make amends for his life of licentiousness.

No one else seems to know how Malaysian Airlines flight 370 disappeared and where it is, why not ask a witchdoctor? For more than a week, the Peking-bound aircraft has gone missing. Conspiratorial theories abound. Grieving family members grasp at every new idea of where it might be. Turkmenistan? Somewhere on a Thailand jungle air strip? At the bottom of the ocean? Enter Ibrahim Mat Zin, also known as “bomoh” (Malaysian for shaman/witch doctor), with bamboo poles to use as binoculars for peering into the unseen world and coconuts as spiritual props .To the embarrassment of the Malaysian government, Ibrahim did his thing at the airport where the vanishing aircraft had departed, with the international press looking on. They are likely glad his devices of divination didn’t include animal entrails, like ancient witch doctors used. When all the hocus-pocus was over, the shaman said “I think it is still in the air or has crashed into the sea.” Well, isn’t that profound.

That anyone would believe in the power of coconuts to conjure such unknown information should not seem too much of a surprise. People come to me all the time with tales of what they’ve done, as directed by some Santeria priest or New Age healer, to solve a serious problem: bathe in lemon water each night at 3 a.m. for a week to heal a tumor; bury a chicken’s foot at the western edge of one’s property to get rid of a ghost; sprinkle cayenne powder around your bed each day to ward off tormenting nightmares. I’ve heard it all, except for the coconuts and bamboo binoculars. That’s a new one even for me. A word to the wise. Don’t be duped by agents of Satan who offer exotic answers for life’s problems. Just get a Bible and read it. That will get you on the road to recovery. Isaiah 8:19 warns, When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Whoever called on the bomoh was bamboozled.

It takes a lot of crassness to pull off what Rachel Canning did, but with the help of a lawyer and America’s warped legal system, she did it. The 18-year-old sued her parents for $645 in weekly support (over $33,000 annually) plus future college tuition even though she had moved out of their house because they disapproved of her boyfriend! The suit which was filed Feb. 24 has since been withdrawn and Rachel is apparently back home. Before you rejoice at reconciliation, her lawyer argues that her parents pressured her to withdraw the suit. Ah, justice in the good ole U.S. of A. In the meantime Rachel’s lawyer wants court records sealed and for the narcissistic teen to have a “guardian” other than her parents. All this happening to a girl getting an expensive private education in an exclusive Catholic High School.

To be fair to Rachel, her parents had been fighting and separated for a while. But she wasn’t asking for money to be spent on counseling for her parents to reconcile or that the Catholic Church spiritually intervene. The cheerleader just wanted cold, hard cash and the right to live as she wished with the only parental interference being a regular check in the mail. A lawyer for the parents weighed in saying, “It is the goal of the Cannings to be present at their child’s graduations, her wedding and at the birth of their grandchildren.” Spare me. Sounds like there is enough blame to throw around every direction, but the fundamental farce is the idea of a teen-adult wanting her own way and cash to boot. If one definition of narcissism is arrogant pride, this is one spoiled brat who fits the bill.

Finally, more than a year after the incident, the father of the Sandy Hook Elementary School slaughter has spoken out. Adam Lanza killed himself and 26 others, including 20 children, and his father has been essentially silent until now. This week the elder Lanza told New Yorker magazine, “With hindsight, I know Adam would have killed me in a heartbeat, if he’d had the chance. I don’t question that for a minute.” Peter Lanza says that he hadn’t seen his son for two years. The killer’s dad said he could see changes in his son and knew that something was wrong. He suggests that the tragedy couldn’t have been predicted. “You can’t get any more evil,” Peter Lanza assesses.

I don’t know this father and can’t possibly factually discern what’s in his head. But the resignation of his comments bothers me. I suppose that he sincerely believes his son’s mental illness was out of control, an accident waiting to happen. But whether it could have been averted is debatable. First, Peter laments he wasn’t in his son’s life more. Well, why wasn’t he? Being an absent, divorced dad didn’t help matters. Second, in the excerpt on New Yorker’s web site, there’s no indication that any attempt was made by either him or his murdered ex-wife to include religious instruction of any kind in Adam’s life — or to get spiritual intervention when things went wrong. In fact, there’s no mention of God at any point in his interview. Maybe that wouldn’t have made the difference, but we’ll never know. A crime of this magnitude cries out for reasons and the lack of any biblical context to the killings says volumes. As a society we turn to God with prayers and platitudes AFTER a tragedy. The real tragedy is that we don’t do it before.

Last Friday, a pregnant mother drove her car and three small children into the sea off Daytona Beach, Florida. The woman, Ebony Wilkerson, had told her sister that there were demons in her house and she was trying to keep her children safe. To do that she plunged her minivan into the Atlantic Ocean surf. Alert onlookers rushed toward the vehicle and heard the children crying, “Our mom is trying to kill us.” Eventually the terrified children were pulled from the vehicle averting their certain death. Meanwhile, Wilkerson walked away with, what one witness described as, a “possessed” look on her face. When later arrested by police, she talked to authorities and “jumped from one religious topic to another,” according to a legal affidavit. She is currently charged with three counts of aggravated child abuse in addition to a first-degree murder charge.

Is Wilkerson mentally ill? Most likely. Psychotic? Probably. Demon possessed? Certainly under some kind of demonic attack. Why would I think this was more than religious paranoia? Because she tried to KILL THE KIDS! Crazy people do crazy things. They don’t necessarily attempt murder, especially when it’s a mother with three kids and one more on the way. The psychiatrists will all have their say about this, but as an exorcist, here’s my take. The especially heinous nature of this crime should shake people into acknowledging it is so outside the bounds of irrationality and motherly instinct that’s it’s hard to blame mental illness alone for what happened. Right now Wilkerson is held on a $1.2 million bond, and should be kept beyond bars. She needs a psychiatric evaluation. But she also needs spiritual intervention and an exorcism. She’ll likely get neither because our culture can’t stomach a biblical answer for such murderous behavior. Even most pastors and priests wouldn’t want to blame the devil. Wilkerson did. She said demons drove her to do it, and maybe even in her delusional mind she was closer to truth than most want to admit.

Ellen DeGeneres, wildly popular talk show host and outspoken lesbian, has demons – at least her house does. Now, before you start crying “homophobic” this has nothing to do with her sexual orientation. According to a public report this week, DeGeneres recently purchased and moved into a new home, along with her wife Portia De Rossi. Turns out the $40 million mansion came complete with the “ghost” of a previous owner who died in the dwelling. (It’s also next door to the Playboy Mansion so maybe some of Hugh Heffner’s demons are paying a neighborly visit.) A close source says that Ellen is hearing noises footsteps, and doors opening and closing. Even a woman’s cry in the middle of the night. The source says that Ellen hasn’t had a good night’s sleep since taking occupancy. Now, DeGeneres is thinking of having the house cleansed by an exorcism.

Her house might well be haunted. Just like the possession of a soul, all a demon needs to occupy a building is the legal right to do so. That right can be granted by a prior owner, which underscores how important it is to exorcise any house you purchase or rent if it has been previously occupied. Who knows what might have gone on there? (I even do that with hotel rooms.) If any kind of skullduggery took place in a residence – suicide, murder, occult activity – the demons that were there when the evil happened might decide to stick around. That’s likely what DeGeneres is dealing with. She should waste no time taking spiritual action. I just pray she doesn’t bring in some psychic, which will only make matters eventually worse. (The psychic will bring more demons with them.) Hmmm. I wonder where she could find a good exorcist?

I have a bold proposal. It sounds very libertarian, but hear me out. Yesterday all the news seemed to be about Governor Jan Brewer’s veto of legislation regarding a new Arizona religious rights law, wrongly or rightly interpreted to anti-gay. You’d never know that Ukraine is in a new crisis with Russian troops amassing at its borders. Or that the Venezuela is about the boil over into civil war. All anyone seemed to care about it which side of SB1062 they landed on. And more battles like this are sure to come. What we need is a simple solution, and I just might have it. With the exception of legitimate government functions and other services vital to public welfare, such as emergency rooms and hospitals, why not give the private section the right to refuse service to anyone, except when life is endangered. Before you cry “foul,” think of it this way — let the marketplace decide. If a gay merchant doesn’t want to retail products to a Christian client, so be it. If a baker doesn’t want to make a wedding cake for gays so be it. Either or both enterprise might be out of business fast, by loss of client�le or public outrage. This idea would stop all the posturing on both sides of issues like the Arizona proposal. Sure, such a policy might make things uncomfortable for some in the short run, but as long as it’s not threatening to life and limb, economic forces would prevail in the long haul.

Here’s the problem. As a culture we have fallen into the trap of wanting the government to legislate the rights of every public interest group on the planet. We’re discovering that just isn’t possible without a lot of acrimony and ill will on both sides. The end result is ever more government intrusion into our bedrooms, our places of worship, and even our bakeries. Bureaucracy has become the all-knowing overlord of an increasing nanny state. I think it’s fair to protect LGBT individuals from hateful reprisals. It’s also reasonable that no one should tell a Christian would he should or shouldn’t do with his hard earned resources. As a nation we’ve taken the Golden Rule and made it into a million government laws, all designed to supposedly protect us but gradually eroding all our freedoms. Isn’t it time to avoid all the pitched battles and verbal hyperbole intended to demonize our opponents? If we acted more from our hearts rather than what laws tell us to do, we’d likely have a more just society and it would certainly be less litigious. I’m sure my readers can think of many exceptions to this idea and some possible horrible consequences. Okay, then after starting at zero we could make a few necessary laws the ensure fairness if and when there is an egregious, outrageous complication, like “whites only” segregation. But in the meantime, let’s stop shouting at each other about protecting “our rights” and remember the words of Jesus who said, “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:27-31 NIV) *

*NOTE: The above proposal was intended tongue in cheek but then again . . .