Spiritual Warfare — Weaponized Religion?
By: Saint Dymphna
Tags: Dangerous Cults, Religion, Theology, Spiritual Abuse, Evangelicals

Hippie-era rehab cult Synanon went even further. Their leader Charles “Chuck” Dederich can be heard in a tape-recorded speech stating: “Our religious posture is: Don’t mess with us. You can get killed dead, literally dead.” About those who leave the group, labeled “splittees”, he goes on to say: “They are draining life’s blood from us, and expecting us to play by their silly rules. We will make the rules. I see nothing frightening about it… I am quite willing to break some lawyer’s legs, and next break his wife’s legs, and threaten to cut their child’s arm off.” Dederich called this a “satisfactory, humane way of transmitting information.”

In its lifetime, Synanon would be accused of over 80 physical attacks and beatings against those it deemed splittees or otherwise detrimental to the group. The sect was also suspected in the unsolved disappearance of a young woman and ultimately attained infamy in the collective memory by placing a derattled rattlesnake in lawyer and cult-adversary Paul Morantz’s mailbox.

While the Evangelicals employing talk of spiritual warfare at times do point out that they are “not wrestling with flesh and blood”, Berger also states in his sermon series ‘Exposing The Enemy’ that “the devil works through people”. With this thin veil of plausible deniability unfurled over the contents of his speech, he has no compunctions demonizing and vilifying individuals in front of his substantial audience.

A source who left the church years ago but is still terrified of its members’ attacks, spoke of a “game of Telephone”, stating that “Steve would let his inner circle know who he was pissed off at in private, and then from the pulpit speak specifically about that person. Their name never had to be mentioned. Everyone already knew the gossip, they had already been told who the target was.”

This type of spiritual warfare rhetoric fulfills the same purpose as Scientology’s denunciation of “suppressive persons” or Synanon’s attacks on “splittees”. It is intended to legitimize violence against dissent, and discourage followers from acknowledging their cognitive dissonance regarding the group. When the end to be achieved is the destruction of the embodiment of evil, all manner of means can be employed, unsavory though they may be.

Likewise, any pattern of facts in the natural world that doesn’t jive with the religious leader’s current narrative can be explained by these demonic entities. For example, a church member does not suffer from depression, anxiety, or grief — their distress is the sign of a demonic attack, perpetrated on them by the enemies of their church. Friends and family members aren’t turning away from them because they are increasingly alienated by incessant proselytizing. They are being whispered to by devilish entities, any disagreement with the church member’s newfound spirituality reveals them to be the tools of Satan. An unwelcome diagnosis by a doctor, public health guideline, election result — whatever it is that upsets the faithful follower can be wiped away by labeling it a satanic attack and proclaiming “No weapon formed against this church shall prosper.” Or some variation thereof.

In doing so, followers and leader agree to form a bond, to become allies in the fight against the enemy. However, that enemy isn’t demonic. The enemy being fought here is simply reality itself or more precisely, anything about reality that makes faith difficult to keep: pain, fear, anger, and the persistent thought of why a benevolent God would let these things happen to a good person.

This strain of belief is well represented in groups like Christian Science, founded by Mary Baker Eddy. Neither Christian, not scientists, the group eschews any form of medical treatment. Members are taught that praying without ceasing will heal their pain and whatever they are experiencing is merely a demonic attack punishing them for sinful behavior. As a result, many Christian Scientists die, although maybe spiritually pure, from completely preventable treatable illnesses like appendicitis and pneumonia.