Dear Mr. Pitts:
I did look into the incident of the Manifested Glory Ministries in Bridgeport, CT exorcising [driving out] the homosexual(??) demon out of a teenage boy that was broadcast over the Internet. As a believing Christian, I am disturbed by the Church's actions but along with that I am also offended by the way you took a very good point and twisted it into something which bordered on the ridiculous; perhaps that was your intention all along. Although the Scriptures do not specifically point to homosexuality and other behaviors as influenced by demons, it does suggest that there are instances in which demonic influence is real.
In I Samuel 16: 15, 23 King Saul suffered some mental instability or irratio-nality as a result of suffering from what was called an "evil spirit." In Mark 5: 2 and onward, there is the account of a madman who was insane, very strong, could not be chained, and lived among the tombs not wearing any clothes. After the man was healed by Jesus in verse 15, it states that the man put on some clothing and what is most instructive, that he was now 'in his right mind.' In Luke 9: 37-42 is the account of a boy whose epileptic seizures were induced by a demon (in this particular case). Finally, there was a woman in Luke 13: 11, 16 who was afflicted by Satan where she could not straighten herself for eighteen years until Jesus unbound her from that infirmity.
Now that you are no longer demon-illiterate and perhaps you got some demonowledge from this response of mine. Yes, you are right, there is no excuse for fear, stupidity, and intolerance; but the remedy to this troubling incident is not more ridicule, insults, cynicism, narrow-mindedness, and being judgmental. You may not agree with the Manifested Glory Church but it doesn't give you the right to demean their beliefs in print; no matter how much their faith practices offends your own moral or spiritual values of what is good, decent, right, and just.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
June 29, 2009
pbks@hotmail.com
