The Demonic Forces We Must Exorcise from America

Jesus and the Demons Called Legion

One of the most striking moments in Jesus’ ministry occurred when He encountered a man possessed by a legion of demons (Mark 5:1-20). This man had been ostracized from society, living in the tombs, chained but uncontrollable. No one could provide him with assistance, and his suffering was evident to everyone. When Jesus confronted the demons, they pleaded with Him not to expel them, as they had made their dwelling within the man.

Jesus did what no one else could—He cast the demons out. He restored the man to his right mind and sent him back into his community as a witness to God’s power.

This story is more than just an account of an exorcism. It is a metaphor for what Jesus came to do for all of us. Just like the man tormented by Legion, our world—our nation—is possessed. But instead of seeing and addressing the real demons that oppress us, many American Christians have fallen into the trap of calling everything demonic except for the actual forces of destruction in our world.

What Did Jesus Actually Come to Do?

When Jesus unveiled His mission, He proclaimed:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

— Luke 4:18-19

This is what Jesus came to do:

• Bring good news to the poor—not just spiritually, but materially, by challenging economic injustice.

• Proclaim freedom for the prisoners—not just those in physical prisons, but those trapped in oppressive systems.

• Restore sight to the blind—both physically and spiritually, helping people see the truth.

• Set the oppressed free—to dismantle the forces that enslave and exploit human beings.

• Announce God’s favor—a new kingdom where love, justice, and mercy reign over greed, violence, and corruption.

Jesus’ mission was unequivocal and not about making people feel at ease—it was about liberation. Liberation from sin and death. He came to expel the genuine demons—greed, violence, oppression, and systemic injustice—not to engage in trivial culture wars.

The American Obsession with “Demonic” Things

Ask some Christians today what is demonic, and you will hear about:

• Pokémon cards

• Dungeons & Dragons

• Halloween

• Harry Potter

• Yoga

• Taylor Swift

• Certain music, movies, or fashion

We are quick to label things we don’t understand or personally dislike as demonic while ignoring the actual demonic forces at work in our world. The Bible does not warn us about fantasy card games or pop stars—it warns us about greed, corruption, oppression, and violence. The real demons do not hide in music lyrics or movies—they work in systems of exploitation, injustice, and human suffering.

Jesus never warned His followers about cultural trends. He warned them about the love of money (Luke 16:13), about religious hypocrisy (Matthew 23), about leaders who oppressed the poor (Luke 4:18), and about the violent empires that crushed the innocent. He warned them that the “world” (which he defined as the religious and governmental systems that opposed the Kingdom of God) would attempt to expel them from the synagogues and eliminate them.

Yet, today, many Christians are more concerned with boycotting a coffee chain over its holiday cups than addressing the very real systems of evil that destroy lives.

The Apostle Paul made it clear that our real fight is not against people, but against the forces behind oppression and corruption:

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)

These forces work through human systems, policies, and ideologies that cause immense suffering. They do not hide in pop culture—they thrive in unchecked power, in militarism, in economic exploitation, and in the way societies allow greed to rule over justice.

King emphasized this in his third principle of his six principles of nonviolence: we should not seek to defeat injustice or evil by attacking people.

• Nonviolence acknowledges that evildoers are also victims and are not inherently evil.

• The nonviolent resister aims to defeat evil, not the individuals who are victims of it.

If we truly want to fight demonic forces, we must stop looking for them in children’s cartoons and start seeing them in the systems that crush the poor, exploit the weak, and keep people in bondage.

How Do We Fight? Not With the Weapons of the World

When Jesus was arrested, His disciples wanted to fight back with violence, but Jesus told them:

“Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”(Matthew 26:52)

The world tells us that the only way to defeat evil is to seize power, to crush our enemies, to fight fire with fire. But Jesus shows us another way:

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” (2 Corinthians 10:4)

We fight like Jesus, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., like Gandhi—through nonviolence, through truth, and through radical, sacrificial love.

What Is Truly Demonic?

If we want to talk about what is actually demonic, we need to stop obsessing over pop culture and start confronting the real forces of evil that destroy human lives and defy God’s justice.

These are the real demons we must exorcise:

• Racism – A system that dehumanizes people based on race and denies the image of God in them.

• Sexism – The oppression and abuse of people based on gender, denying their full humanity.

• Homophobia – The demonization and mistreatment of LGBTQ+ individuals, using fear and hatred to justify exclusion and violence.

• Xenophobia – The fear and rejection of immigrants and refugees, treating them as threats rather than neighbors.

• Poverty – A result of greed and oppression, leaving millions without basic needs.

• Militarism – The endless pursuit of war and destruction for profit and power.

• Greed – The love of money and power over the well-being of others.

• Torture – The intentional infliction of suffering as a tool of control.

• Genocide – The mass extermination of people based on race, religion, or nationality.

• Slavery and Human Trafficking – The selling and exploitation of human beings for labor or sex.

• Child Abuse – The corruption and violation of the most vulnerable among us.

• Systematic Oppression – Laws and policies designed to keep people in cycles of suffering.

• War Crimes – The destruction of innocent lives in the pursuit of power.

• Deliberate Starvation – The use of food as a weapon against communities.

• Corruption on a Large Scale – Leaders who exploit their people for personal gain.

• Environmental Destruction with Malicious Intent – The exploitation of God’s creation for profit, harming the poor and future generations.

The world needs more than just new laws and policies. It needs a spiritual awakening. The demonic forces that Jesus confronted are still here, working through greed, oppression, and violence. And just like in the story of Legion, they do not leave willingly.

We must fast and pray.

We must speak the truth in love.

We must fight injustice without becoming unjust.

We must love our enemies while resisting their evil.

We must be willing to suffer rather than cause suffering.

We cannot shoot our way out of this.

We cannot vote our way out of this.

We must love our way out of this.

This is not just about politics.

We are not just called to activism.

We are called to exorcism.