Jay-Z, Satanism, and Spiritism

I don’t know much about Jay-Z, but it seems that we have several things in common. We agree that, for the most part, God doesn’t answer our prayers immediately. Abraham had to wait 25 years for his promised child, Isaac. Moses had to wait 40 years before his original dream of leading his people, Israel, out of captivity in Egypt was realized.

We also agree about the existence and power of Satan and his demonic hoards. Like any drug dealer seeking to build up his clientele, according Jay-Z,  Satan delivers on the spot:

·       “There is real spirituality and guidance in the Church of Satan that you just don’t get in Christianity, because Christianity is a fake religion, built by assholes,” Jay-Z said. “Hands up, how many Christians here have prayed to God for years and aint gotten nothing back, just silence and emptiness? Be honest. It’s OK.”

·       “I’m telling you this because I know you guys look up to me and want to emulate me. I will give you this one guarantee, if you start following the doctrine of Lucifer, you will taste success. The secret of the universe opens up to you. It is immediate and glorious.” https://newspunch.com/jay-z-jesus-fake-lucifer/

Jay-Z and I are alike in another way. We both want to see immediate results. However, this pursuit overlooks the long-range costs. One immediate cost is deception:

·       For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)

Satan is a master marketer. He presents himself as a compassionate friend, while he is a fiend who delights in deception and destruction.

The way we believe is ultimately the way we will act. The chicagotribune.com had reported:

·       Satanism celebrates human selfishness and violent behavior. Its adherents attempt to subvert Christian values by encouraging sexual experimentation, ritual sacrifice and the seven deadly sins of greed, pride, envy, anger gluttony, lust and sloth. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-04-27-8601300405-story.html

The Tribune then went on to document how Satanism had inspired many acts of violence, especially among the youth who are very drawn to the power and respect Satanism offers. One cite offers parents a list of indications that their youth are heading in this destructive path:

·       Attitudes of extreme isolationism, hatred, vengeance, and personal destructive power, all seemingly without remorse.

·       Obsession with death, violence, evil, the mysterious, and the occult.

·       Concurrent drug, alcohol, and sexual activity.

·       Reputation among peers as someone to be feared or catered to because of his/her personal power. (Or, appears to follow someone with such a reputation.) http://www.answers.org/satan/teens_satanism.html

However, the pop-stars who are captured by Satanism/Demonism are either barely aware or quiet about the side-effects. In “The facts on Spirit Guides,” John Ankerberg and John Weldon sound the alarm about this often ignored world, which carries such a high price tag. They warn of the strong association between Spiritism/Demonism/Satanism and mental illness:

·       “One discovers many mental patients who are mentally ill precisely because they are demonized. This is born out by the research of German psychiatrist and parapsychologist Hans Bender who coined the term “mediumistic psychosis’; by theologian and psychologist Kurt Koch; and by clinical psychologist and Swedenborgian Wilson Van Dusen, who has examined thousands of patients and noted the parallels to spiritistic experiences and phenomena.” (27)

However, the spirits do not gain a foothold by advertising the costs, one of which is suicide. According to Ankerberg and Weldon, there have been:

·       “…innumerable cases where the ‘loving’ spirits have deliberately induced emotional dependence upon their advice and then at a moment of weakness encouraged their contact to commit suicide. And this has been occurring for decades, probably even centuries. In the 1920 text The Menace of Spiritualism, case after case of tragedy is listed.” (37)

The authors have compiled their own list of horrors that have stalked mediums:

·       “Arthur Ford became a morphine addict and alcoholic…Bishop Pike died a tragic death…The biography on [Edgar] Cayce by Joseph Millar reveals the extent of suffering Cayce’s occultic involvement cost him—from psychic attacks to mysterious fires…Many channelers seem to succumb to various vices later in life.” (39)

Although they describe the medium M. Lamar Keene as “fraudulent,” from his book, “The Psychic Mafia,” the authors cite:

·       “All the mediums I’ve known or known about have had tragic endings. The Fox sisters, who started it all, wound up as alcoholic derelicts. William Slade…died insane in a Michigan sanitarium. Margery, the medium, lay on her deathbed a hopeless drunk….Wherever I looked it was the same: mediums, at the end of their tawdry life, dying a tawdry death.” (39-40)

Violence was another price to be paid:

·       “Spiritist and guru Sri Chinmoy, a spiritual advisor at the United Nations observes, ‘Many, many black magicians and people who deal with spirits have been strangled or killed. I know because I’ve been near quite a few of these cases.’” (40)

·       “Dr. Kurt Koch observed after 45 years of counseling the occultly oppressed that from his own experience ‘numerous cases of suicide, fatal accidents, strokes and insanity are to be observed among occult practitioners…Anyone who has had to observe for 45 years the effects of spiritism can only warn people with all the strength at his disposal.” (40)

These observations parallel our more global observations regarding the fate of spiritistic cultures. In “Whence the ‘Noble Savage’,” Patrick Frank, summarizes the research regarding analysis of ancient burial sites of spiritistic cultures. The findings, for instance, demonstrate that the violent death rates of British Columbian Native Americans (27-33%) far exceeded even the violent death rate of 20th century Europe and the US (1%). Frank also adds,

·       “The Southwest is dotted with finds of people killed en masse…These indications of war, violent deaths, mutilations and cannibalism are from tribal societies that experienced no European or modern contact, thus contradicting the idea that peoples who were free from European influence lived relatively peaceful lives.” (Skeptic Mag. Vol 9, #1,2001, 54-60)

Spiritistic societies build no hospitals, establish no universities, and build no enduring institutions. Instead, according to their own reports, they have been spirit-ravaged. Ankerberg and Weldon and also list some books by spiritists who have found refuge in Christ:

·       Victor Ernest, “I talked with Spirits”

·       Ben Alexander, “Out from Darkness”

·       Raphel Gasson, “The Challenging Counterfeit”

They conclude, “What is amazing is that the evidence is there for all to see and yet it is ignored” (38). Even worse, what had once been hidden is now being promoted by our celebrities with alluring glitter and charm.