A deliverance ministry is a Christian organization that attempts to cure peoples’ ills (perceived or real) by casting out demons. You can probably figure out yourself how this kind of delusion has the potential to cause some genuine harm – despite the fact that the people promoting this stuff are so flagrantly lunatic that you’d think no one would (or even could, given the lack of coherence in what they write) conceivably take them seriously. Well, they do. Gene Moody, for instance, seems to have had some success with books like Deliverance Manual, featuring the chapter “Cleaning Your House (of Demons)”, where he speaks highly of someone who threw out their kid’s Big Bird toy since the toy gave Satan “legal ground”; it’s sort of hard to avoid concluding that people like Gene Moody are the baddies in any story remotely connected to reality. Taking toys from kids and burning them is a trait not usually associated with the heroes in the stories.
Well, Stan and Elizabeth Madrak are among Moody’s disciples. The Madraks own and run the website Demonbusters, a raging black hole of End Times conspiracies and delusional rantings in CAPSLOCK about all sorts of nonsense. Did you know that the condition generally known as “diabetes” is really demon possession? No, you didn’t. “Financial problems” is demon possession, too. And breast cancer is caused by the demon of feminism and gender equality.
An example of their style of advice: “Look through your home as you pray and the Lord will let you know what items need to be destroyed that have become an idol to you. Any type of collection - dolls (roots come from voodoo [I don’t think that’s correct]), owls and frogs (abominations to the Lord, as stated in the Bible), unicorns (lust and financial problems), etc. You may have only one or two of these items, but they are just as deadly as a collection. We have read and heard countless testimonies of what these items can do [more here]. Dolls levitate, walk and talk; owls caused cancer and when destroyed the person was totally healed. Please pray and seek the Lord regarding which items you must destroy. With pictures of movie stars you form a soul tie. One example is of a woman who came to us for DELIVERANCE from men and drugs. As I was praying for her the Lord impressed that the picture of Marilyn Monroe that was hanging above her bed was part of the problem. Marilyn Monroe had trouble with men and drugs and she died because of it.”
You want more? Here is more: “A triangle pointing up or down is a sign of the unholy trinity to satanists, and is revered as a holy symbol. A triangle in a circle is a really high holy symbol of satanism. Notice how many things on the market today are shaped like triangles. Clocks, radios, buildings, the list goes on. Pyramids are triangles. You will find many satanic symbols used on the patches of the boy scouts, girl scouts, and NASA Space program [!].”The boy scouts are a recurring target for the Madraks; it’s apparently an “Indian”-derived, demon-riddled organization. The Madraks don’t like native American stuff.
And “Crystals are the rage today. They are demonic. You get your very own demon in every piece. It is part of the New Age movement. How about unicorns? They are so cute! There are statutes and pictures and stuffed animals and blankets and jewelry of unicorns. Yep! You guessed it! Unicorns are symbols for satanism. Occultism looks at it as a symbol of their god. I’ve read of testimonies where just having a unicorn what-not in the house caused financial, sexual and physical problems. Been sick a lot in your life? Can’t sleep at night? If you look around your house, you may find pictures and the like of frogs and owls. Oh No! Not my ceramic frogs and owls? YES! The Bible says that owls and frogs are abominable things. People laughed at Jesus too for what He taught and did [wheeee]. The people that won were the ones that listened and acted upon His words.”
There’s a nugget of dim self-awareness in the last sentence. However, Stan Madrak claims that people who laugh at him get punished by God.
Candles are demonic, too. You should not use candles. Other items to avoid include “items from other countries such as Africa, China, Japan; American Indian artifacts, carvings, pictures, Buddha statutes,” “stuffed animals,” “Paisley pattern on anything. Nike is a Greek god, according to the dictionary.” Also “Collections[!], Pictures of movie stars, some items passed down from ancestors, Shamrocks, Any kind of good luck charm, Statues, Oriental objects, African items, Indian items, American Indian items, Any items that are used in witchcraft, The Book of Mormon, satanic bible, Books on other religions, Rock and roll music.” These should all be destroyed.
Diagnosis: Yes, there is some post hoc problems with some of the causal inferences they draw from testimonies, but that’s really not the main problem here. Completely insane, and although they won’t be able to harm many, those unlucky few who find themselves under the influence of the Madraks will not get the help they need.