Demon Talk

My wife recently pointed out to me that demon talk seems to be on the upswing in conservative circles in the United States. Recently on a conservative podcast, JD Vance casually tossed off the notion that UFOs and aliens are actually demons. Joel Webbon, an extremely right-wing pastor, posted on Twitter, “I genuinely believe Trump is currently demon possessed.” Some of the biggest weirdoes on the conservative scene — Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones and others — frequently accuse anyone to their left of demonic power in an attempt to dehumanize their opponents.

The rhetoric has become more literal lately. During the last election, Trump ally and blight upon humanity Roger Stone even claimed that a “Satanic portal” had opened over the White House after President Joe Biden took office. I don’t intend to take you further down this rabbit hole, but if you want to explore it further this article is a short take on some recent demonization from conservatives.

What is going on? It seems like conspiracy theories and bad theology are starting to converge as many fundangelical types continue to reject and pervert Christian teaching in favor of white nationalism. Is it a symptom of nationalism? Sure. Is it a parallel movement of thought? Certainly.

It seems to me like the urge to project demons everywhere first comes from anxiety and fear of cultural change. This group believes its influence is slipping, and because it’s been fun and rewarding to be a part of the white privilege that drives this country, they hate to see things like rights, education and higher salaries get spread to other groups. That’s why it’s so common to hear these commentators refer to DEI programs and transgender individuals as demonic. They’re reaching for scapegoats and some kind of cosmic explanation for what they perceive as loss.

The irony is powerful, as this same group elected a rapist madman to run this country into the ground. They are reeling from the chaos that they caused. Rather than take responsibility for their own actions or wrestle with the complexity of a broken world, it is easier to trash all nuance and insist that, “Satan did it.” The echo chambers of their churches and social media algorithms reinforce this demon talk and turn political disagreements into spiritual warfare. Finding self-actualization as a spiritual warrior is more immediately gratifying that embracing the discomforts of pluralism and disagreement. It’s certainly more fun to diagnose other people’s demon possession than explore any process of self-examination.

Is this the only way to talk about evil? Demon-talk may be popular in the fundangelical world, but I think that most mainline protestants prefer to the think of Satan and demons as a metaphorical personification of evil. It is obvious on an almost hourly basis to anyone with smartphone news alerts that evil is very real in this world. Evil seems to be in control of this world (more on that illusion later). Satan and demons are a way to name this dehumanization caused by our state of fear, greed, oligarchy, patriarchy and a culture of violence. When we say someone is facing their demons, we mean some very real forces in our lives like addiction, hatred, racism, shame, despair and even the aforementioned white nationalism.

When someone says that maybe Trump is possessed by demons, I believe it. I believe that greed, insecurity and a drive for power have corrupted him as well or better than any red-horned imp. These are real destructive powers in our life even if they’re not literal creatures. When Paul talks about, “powers and principalities,” he’s talking about a different kind of monster, the systems, ideologies and empires that enslave us, that possess us, that require thoughtful exorcism.

I frequently warn my readers that my degree is in economics, not theology. I am a business consultant, not a pastor. With that in mind, a similar kind of metaphor for me is “the market.” Most people refer to the market or the economy as if they were unique actors in our lives with intentions, agency and even emotions. Does the devil punish us? We often say that the market has punished a company for a misstep. Is the devil emotionally eager to trap us? We often say that the market is nervous, or recovering, or in love with technology. Does the devil take real meaningful action in the world? We often say that the market has fled the country or is pricing in a rate cut or is driving decisions for politicians and CEOs.

I’m here to tell you that the market does none of these things. This is because there is no actual, “market,” that possesses human emotion, intention or bodily action. But these metaphors make sense of an aggregate phenomenon. What happens is the result of a collection of human behavior from many people, firms, funds, banks, governments and others responding to a chaotic world. In this way, no one person really drives prices higher, but the market can through collective action. The intention of the market is simply signal processing of group dynamics, not actual will. We then get stuck in a feedback loop where our interactions create patterns of volatility, herd behavior, bubbles, crashes and more that only seem like the coordinated and possibly emotional action of, “the market.”

Just as, “the market,” is a symbol of our collective actions, “the devil,” is a symbol of our human shadows. Satan is a great way to talk about the parts of ourselves we have difficulty facing, the powers we oppose, the impulses we disown and all the things to which God must say a resounding, “NO!” In this way, talking about Satan is convenient, but also a theologically serious way of understanding the biblical insight that evil is real, evil begins inside the human heart and evil is a powerful lure into separation from God’s loving purposes. I don’t know why we sabotage our own flourishing, but it seems built into our sinful condition, and we might as well call that giant basket of misery by the name Satan.

Perhaps someday I’ll take up why demons are not in fact fallen angels, despite what my Seventh Day Adventist upbringing would claim. And yes, Christ’s disciples probably really believed in actual demons that caused mental anguish and physical illness. We’ve learned a lot about psychology and health since the first century.

For now, I think we can all agree that evil is real. Spiritual struggle is real. The distortion of Christ’s eternal love from the moment of creation is real. Entire societies are usually possessed by forms of fear, hatred and violence. It is healthy to give names to things that break us, even if there is no one figure behind it all. It is important to believe in this collective evil so that we can face it and not lazily outsource it to demons. Let’s not stoop to the spiritual immaturity of the right wingers and turn our neighbors into demonic enemy combatants. Let’s not blame demons for political differences. Use this metaphorical language for its rich ability to describe our collective failings and not to avoid accountability and blame others.

Evil only seems to be in control. This is what it means to say that Satan was defeated, death was defeated and we were ransomed from Satan by Christ on the cross. If demonic powers are our collective fear, anxiety and yield to the power of empire, then absolutely those powers were defeated in the resurrection of Christ. Chaos is defeated, even simply as an idea, because chaos consumed us until Christ’s resurrection showed us that chaos was never part of God’s plan. It was love all along. We are saved from those fears that drive even more demonic evil in the world. God’s loving power and creation is the only, “something.” Demons are the nothing, the no, the absence and we only give them life by lifting them.