Until very recently, Exodus International featured on its web site two articles claiming homosexuality is caused by demon possession. Exodus has wiped both articles, but one is still available on Google cache and the other, a PDF-file article by Esly Regina Carvalho (translated from Portuguese by Kenneth C. Martin) is still available on other web sites, and some sites still link to the expunged Exodus International web page that featured Carvalho's article, which discusses several distinct evangelical perspectives on the origins of homosexuality, the first of which is that it is caused by demon possession:

Homosexuality and Demon Possession This first approach perceives homosexuality as caused by demons... "Demonic spirits can invade and live in human bodies... upon indwelling a person, they take advantage of that person... when the demons indwell an individual, the person 'has' or 'is possessed by' demons" (Hammond & Hammond, 1973) [...] Hammond & Hammond (1973) make this observation in order to clarify that even though Christians truly can have demons, they cannot be demon-possessed nor be "owned/possessed" by them since their ownership is already in Christ. Demons in a Christian's life can be no more than "tenants" or invaders that must be confronted and cast out. [...] Hammond (1973) also state that there are also distinct types of demons. They list 53 groups of demons (pp. 113-115) which include spirits of bitterness, rebellion, envy, depression, sexual impurity (which include those of homosexuality), and death...."

But you won't learn about this aspect of Exodus from Lisa Ling's woefully-titled "Pray Away The Gay?" documentary, and the segment is sufficiently problematic that Truth Wins Out, "a non-profit organization that fights anti-gay religious extremism", is calling for the Oprah network to pull the segment.

As Mike Airhart, author of Ex-Gay Watch, writes at Truth Wins Out, "the documentary and call-in show portrayed both gay Christians and ex-gays with sensitivity.... But throughout the program and call-in show, no references were made to Exodus' ongoing political and social warfare against sexual minorities." Truth Wins Out founder Wayne Besen is calling on Oprah to withdraw Ling's "Pray Away The Gay?" segment until what Besen describes as factual inaccuracies are corrected. Writes Besen, "Ling... was duped into believing that Exodus does not try to "pray away the gay." She obviously did not do her homework and review substantial evidence to the contrary."

The wider context: demons, demons everywhere!

A few weeks ago I came across a video of Lisa Ling, on a major network talk show, describing her shock at attending numerous megachurches in which she has heard pastors demonizing, from the pulpit, US president Barack Obama. I have no reason to doubt Ling's sincerity, and so her belated realization stands as an abject lesson on how profoundly unaware America's journalists are about the degree to which Christianity has been refashioned, by American conservatives, into a political weapon, for advancing what only a few years ago would have been widely perceived as fringe ideological ideas but which are now migrating into mainstream discourse.

One of the tactics used by the Christian right for advancing its ideology is stealth, and many churches on the evangelical right have PR specialists tasked with handling journalists such as Lisa Ling, who seem all-too-willing to accept what's presented to them at face value. Now, given Ling's apparent surprise, shock even, at the politicization of churches on the evangelical right, its easy to guess that the very possibility that ministries such as Exodus International might promote the doctrine that gayness can be cured by driving out demon spirits wouldn't have crossed Ling's mind.

But doctrines concerning demonic forces and demon-possession are flourishing on the evangelical right in America today and, as Talk To Action contributor Rachel Tabachnick argues, in her article Generational Curses, Deliverance Centers, and the Kingdom Health Care System, there are real-world consequences:

The growing obsession with demons imperils reality-based discourse on issues. With the "Apostles and Prophets" leading the way, much of the Religious Right is becoming increasingly obsessed with a war on demons. In this worldview every obstacle from microphone static to cancer is a manifestation of an attack by the devil. The belief that America is under satanic attack can be seen in dialogue on healthcare, education, foreign policy, and has become integrated into faith-based programming and other social services. Time and money are being spent on holding back and expelling demons from individuals, communities, and nations.

To give an idea of how far these ideas have penetrated into mainstream evangelical culture, consider this: in 2001, giving the benedictory prayer at the inaugural prayer service of president George W. Bush, was one of the leading contemporary proponents of "demon deliverance" ideas, Church On The Way pastor (and former head of the International Foursquare Gospel denomination) Jack Hayford.

It gets worse. My July 2009 Talk To Action story Jack Hayford Backs Odd Theory: Sex With a Demon Drove Down Japanese Stock Market concerned a 1993 video in which Hayford introduced a talk by C. Peter Wagner who proposed that a supernatural mechanism drove down Japanese stock market prices during the early 1990's: the Japanese emperor's alleged sexual intercourse with a "sky goddess" who, according to Wagner, might be a succubus. As I describe in the article,

The exorcism of gay demons and the Jack Hayford-endorsed sex-with-demons economic theory are part of a new evangelical paradigm promoted in the 1990's and into the next decade from Ted Haggard's Colorado Springs New Life Church that centers around practices known as "Spiritual Warfare" and "Spiritual Mapping", in which believers seek to geographically map out and then expel demon spirits held to cause sickness and death, murder and violent crime, lack of church attendance, and traffic accidents, economic fluctuations and even environmental degradation.

Jack Hayford is author of a 1993 booklet on dealing with demonic possession, in which Hayford notes, "Demonic matters seem to incite some to fanaticism." And Ted Haggard? - from 2003 and into 2006 Ted Haggard was president of the 30 million-strong National Association of Evangelicals. During his tenure as NEA head, Haggard claimed to be having weekly calls with the White House. But in spite of his lofty position, Haggard wasn't at the top of the evangelical pecking order.

In his book The Life Giving Church (Gospel Light Publications, 1998), on page 35, Ted Haggard describes a 1992 meeting in Upland, California, that was the genesis of his close partnership with Peter Wagner:

When I arrived, I met Luis Bush, Dick Eastman, Peter and Doris Wagner and several other recognized leaders. From that meeting, New Life Church formed its mission for the 1990s--to support Luis Bush generally and Peter and Doris Wagner specifically... a calling that led to the creation of the World Prayer Center and much more. We as a team coordinated the Prayer Through the Window series that had 22,500,000 participants in 1993; 36,700,000 participants in 1995; over 40,000,000 in 1997.

In effect Ted Haggard was working for C. Peter Wagner and his movement. And who is C. Peter Wagner? Well, here's one point of entry into that question, and I might say that he is one of the most influential religious leaders in Earth, but that's a big claim meriting a major article. So let me leave it at this:

On my desk I have a copy of the 2005 book How To Minister Freedom, an anthology edited by Peter Wagner's wife Doris Wagner, who within their movement is credited as being an expert in casting out demons.

How To Minister Freedom includes chapters such as "Breaking Witchcraft Curses" by Frank D. Hammond, co-author (with his wife Ida may Hammond) of the book cited earlier in this article, "Freedom From Homosexual Confusion", by David Kyle Foster, and "Unveiling the Evil Eye", by Chuck Pierce.

The "evil eye"? Yes, that means just what you think it means - the evil eye.

So: exorcism. Succubi. The "evil eye" -- does this sound like a fast track to the pre-enlightenment Medieval era, with its inquisitions, Auto De Fe's, and burning of alleged witches? Well maybe not: leaders in Wagner's movement, Cindy Jacobs for example, rail against witchcraft but stop short of advocating burning witches themselves. They merely promote burning books, religious artifacts, and native art.

In any case, aren't these fringe figures in a fringe movement? Not at all, explains Rachel Tabachnick, in a 2010 extended interview with journalist Bill Berkowitz, for Alternet. Leaders in Peter Wagner's movement, his 'apostles' and 'prophets', can be found these days onstage blessing Republican presidential hopefuls such as Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee, they're very close to 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and they've fielded other gubernatorial candidates too, such as James "Duke" Aiona.