Lady Gaga allegedly left “large amounts of blood” in a hotel bath. The eccentric singer reportedly shocked staff when she checked out of London’s lavish Intercontinental Hotel last summer and they discovered a pool of red liquid in the tub of her suite.

One housekeeper claimed the pop superstar was “bathing in blood as part of a Satanic ritual”.

She told website Truthquake: “Lady Gaga left large amounts of blood in the suite during a stay this summer. The incident was reported to the concierge, who was told to put it out of her mind.”

Other sources believe Gaga could have been using the red liquid as part of a “weird” stage costume or prop.

Read More: Independent’s website (cached version)

Courtesy of Brandt Hardin

Robert Johnson supposedly made a deal with the Devil to obtain his blues licks and Elvis Presley was the televised Son of God. How appropriate that they share a death day at RockStarMartyr.net:

Even after the abolition of slavery, life in the Mississippi cotton fields was brief, brutal, and as boring as an aging preacher’s Sunday sermon. No wonder fieldworkers sought the fleeting comforts of cheap moonshine and loose women at the Saturday night juke joints.

Robert Johnson could mix it up with the best of them, but he was never one for hard work. His bizarre, spider-like fingers weren’t intended for cotton-pickin’ and penny-pinchin’. They were made for crawling across guitar necks, whiskey bottles, and the legs of middle-aged sugar mamas. If Johnson was going to suffer hell to make a dollar, it would be as a wayfaring musician. His road was full of adventure and ecstasy, but ended in hell just the same. On August 16, 1938, Robert Johnson became another silent corpse wrapped in the shrouds of rock n’ roll mythology.

As legend has it, Robert Johnson obtained his profoundly influential guitar licks after trading his soul to the Devil at a dark, isolated crossroads. As usual, Ol’ Scratch came through with the goods, but America was still dragging itself out of the Great Depression and debt-collectors were ruthless. Why should Satan be any different? Johnson had enough time to make his name as a blazing live musician and to record forty-two immortal tracks before Satan came to collect the player’s soul at the prime age of 27.

Like the crossroads myth, Robert Johnson’s handful of recordings would not surface until many years after his death. Also like the myth, these forty-two recordings have been open to interpretation and elaboration ever since. His slick slide guitar style was first taken up by black blues players. Son House, Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker were among the many to follow those smoking hoofprints to notoriety. Ultimately, it was only when Robert Johnson’s work was unearthed and re-released during the Delta blues revival of the 1960s that the man and the myth came into their own. White rock stars—Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Paul McCartney—rode Johnson’s Afro juju to the top of international charts, where the fires he unleashed burned the soul of Western civilization.

As a journeyman guitarist, Robert Johnson was the laughing stock of his juke joint peers. His unorthodox style sounded like a stray cat shaken violently in a metal trashcan. After a brief hiatus, Johnson returned to the scene with a totally unique style in which he would hammer a rhythm with his thumb while picking a slide melody with his fingers. Johnson’s recordings may sound like the goofy meanderings of a slap-happy simpleton to the average listener, but in those days he was the bee’s knees. No one had done anything like that before…

Read the rest at RockStarMartyr.net

In private moments otherwise shrouded in darkness, Christians feel the presence of God looming over their shoulders. The Omniscient Eye bears witness to every messy indiscretion behind closed doors and probes dirty thoughts like a supernatural panty-raider.

In view of their popular images, Marvin Gaye and Rozz Williams seem as different as sly grins and slit wrists, but the camera overlooks their common heritage. They were both children of a church-dwelling God, and His relentless imposition of conscience drove them to the very edge of sanity  — where they promptly jumped into the Abyss.

Both met their Maker on April 1st. No foolin’.

Marvin Gay Jr. grew up under the thumb of the “Hebrew Pentecostal” House of God denomination. His father, Marvin Gay Sr., was an ambitious preacher in the Washington DC congregation, and swung an iron fist on any defiant soul living under his roof.

The rules were simple: No make up, no television, no wine, no swine, no sweethearts, no playing after dark, no bed-wetting, and don’t even think about having fun.

>The ministry brought many blessings to the Reverend Gay — despite his hobgoblin visage — including the loose “sisters” of the congregation who were more than willing to service a man of God under the nose of his timid wife. In his own mind, the pastor was destined to become a big time prophet. His dreams of sainthood were shattered, however, when theological rifts within the House of God left him with a meager flock to tend.

Defeated and disillusioned, the failed spiritual leader retreated into the quiet sanctum of his stank bedroom, where he would slip into his wife’s silky dresses … (Read about Marvin here)

______________________________________

There was nothing gradual about Rozz Williams’ descent into darkness. One day it was Gummy Bears, the next it was bears at the leather bar. The little guy was so precocious, he might as well have been born into an open grave.

Raised by Southern Baptist parents on the outskirts of LA, Roger Alan Painter found his Savior to be repellent at an early age. He had too many questions and the church’s vapid answers were hardly satisfying.

Why is the world so mean?
(Jesus loves you)
Who am I?
(Jesus loves you)
What do I do with all these erections?
(You’ll go to Hell)
Is that all there is?
(Jesus loves you)

The kid was bored to death and willing to try anything to break free. Rock n’ roll was the obvious choice.

In 1979, at the age of sixteen, he founded the seminal goth band from which all black nail-polish still flows: Christian Death … (Read about Rozz here)

Or read the whole article at RockStarMartyr.net

The evangelical cult “Paz do Senhor Amado” (”Peace of the beloved Lord”) in the interior of Brazil forbids its followers to use any USB technology by contending that it uses a symbol that shows sympathy for the devil.

Its founder, the “Apostle” Welder Saldanha, says that this is just another symbol of Satan, which is always present in all Christian homes.

“The symbol of that name [a name which he doesn't even like to pronounce] is a trident, which is used to torture souls that go to hell. Use only a symbol of those shows that all users of that vile technology are actually worshipers of Satan,” explains the” Apostle.”

Measures were taken so that all the USB connections of his followers were exchanged for common connections and even the Bluetooth, which according to Saldanha Welder is permitted, for “Blue was the color of the eyes of our savior Jesus Christ.”

Rep. Bob Inglis

There’s just nothing you can say that will help me come to grips with a belief in global warning being Satanic. Take it away Congressman (via The Hill):

Rep. Bob Inglis, the defeated South Carolina Republican who is attacking climate skepticism in the GOP ranks, says his belief in global warming put him on “Satan’s side” in some voters’ eyes.

The outgoing lawmaker — who lost his GOP primary in a challenge from the right — told ClimateWire that his views damaged him politically in his district, which is in the northwest part of his state.

Inglis said several of his positions led to his primary defeat at the hands Rep.-elect Trey Gowdy, who went on to win the general election. But his belief in global warming had the most effect, he said.

“The most enduring heresy was just saying that climate change was real,” Inglis said in the ClimateWire account. “That was the one that was most damaging, I’m convinced.”

“For many conservatives, it became the marker that you had crossed to Satan’s side — that you had left God and gone to Satan’s side on climate change,” he added, “because many evangelical Christians in our district would say that it’s up to God to determine the length of Earth, and therefore, you are invading the province of God.”…

[continues at The Hill]

Part 1 of The Key to the Secret of the Universe claims the key is the following arithmetic calculation from dates and numbers found in the Bible:

• 1978 – 1290 = 688 A.D. (Historical Event 3 – Israel is at peace with its Arab neighbor took place in 1978)
• 1967 – 1279 = 688 A.D. (Historical Event 2 – the control of the holy of holies. The people of Israel had control of the Temple Mount in 1967)
• 1948 – 1260 = 688 A.D.
(Historical Event 1 – the end of Diaspora. The people of Israel had their own state in 1948) Is Jesus Christ Coming Back to Earth in XXXXIII (2023)?

The following verses identify the Mosque of Omar (the Dome of the Rock), built in 688 A.D. as the  “abomination of the desolation” as spoken of by the messiah Jesus Christ:

But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand). Mark 13:14

And the prophet Daniel:

And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. Daniel 11, v31

The Dome of the Rock was one of the most important events for Christians, Jews and Muslims. [1]

Ian Gurney’s The Cassandra Prophecy, which contained the exegesis that proved the abomination of desolation is the Dome of the Rock, is considered by some to be a work of unparalleled eschatological research and the seminal essay on the future according to ancient prophecy found in the book of Daniel and Revelation (A summary of Gurney’s work can be found in my article, Is Jesus Christ Coming Back to Earth in XXXXIII (2023)?) [2]

There is no possibility the construction of The Dome of the Rock built in 688 A.D. or that the people of Israel had their own state in 1948,was a chance occurrence. [3]

Gurney correctly realized this was impossible without providence or miracles and incorrectly concludes “Ancient prophecy and world events appear to be running in parallel, and mankind’s destiny seems to have already been foretold.”

Put another way, Gurney believes:

1. God, in his omniscience, told the sixth century B.C. prophet Daniel and the father of modern political Zionism, Theodor Herzl, these events would occur by providence or miracle.
2. God was the hidden hand behind the Scofield Bible, WW I, WW II, the Holocaust and the deaths of 70 million people because Jehovah wanted to see his chosen people arrive in Haifa not in 1946, or 1950 but in 1948.

Mr. Gurney did not consider my conclusion that:

1. Satan told Daniel what to write and at the first Zionist conference in 1897, Baron Rothschild told Theodore Herzl that UN Resolution (GA 181) creating the Modern State of Israel would be adopted within 50 years.
2. Satan and the House of Rothschild (TPTB) were the not-so-hidden hand behind the Scofield Bible, WW I, WW II, the Holocaust and the deaths of 70 million people because there was a satanic purpose for the Jews arriving in Haifa not in 1946, or 1950 but in1948. The Modern State of Israel Providence, Miracle, or What Really Happened – Part 1/4 World War I, II – Part 2/4

The prima facie case for my conclusion can be found in Appendix A.

Look for the third and final installment: The Satanic purpose behind The House of Rothschild getting the Jews to The Modern State of Israel in 1948 and how it unlocks The Key to the Secret of the Universe.

Robert Singer writes for The Market Oracle and The Peoples Voice. (http://twitter.com/rds2301)

If you make people think they’re thinking, they’ll love you; but if you really make them think, they’ll hate you.”– Don Marquis

Footnotes:

[1] Omar ibn al Khattab, advisor to Mohammed and the second caliph ordered that a magnificent golden domed mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine, be built… directly over  “the most holy place” in Jerusalem.

[2] Ian Gurney has studied theology and eschatology for the last thirty years and is considered to be one of the foremost authorities on the Biblical Books of Daniel and Revelation, together with the prophecies of Nostradamus and the Papal predictions of Malachy. The Cassandra Prophesy is the result of twelve years of research: “The Cassandra Prophecy” considered by some to be a work of unparalleled eschatological research and the seminal essay on the future according to ancient prophecy.

[3] Experts in probability acknowledge there is no way to calculate the odds of these three events happening because it is impossible.

Appendix A, a Prima Facie Case

Below are 10 allegations, facts and evidence used to prove a Prima Facie Case for:

Satan and the House of Rothschild (The Powers That Be, TBTB) were the not-so-hidden hand behind the Scofield Bible, WW I, WW II, the Holocaust and the deaths of 70 million people because there was a satanic purpose for the Jews arriving in Haifa not in 1946, or 1950 but in 1948.

1. The Modern State of Israel and therefore, the Dome of the Rock portends Armageddon [4]

2. Satan is behind all the secret societies in history.

The Knights Templar: Origins go back to Solomon’s Temple, the Great Pyramid.  Freemasons, Priory of Sion, Illuminati, Templars and Other Groups Explained, by Jotter Scalems. The Amazing Knights Templar, by David Hatcher Childress

[Authors Note: Lest anyone think the material contained herein is historical fiction, watch the History Channel documentary Mysteries of the Freemasons]

The House of Rothschild,  the Illuminati and The Mysteries of the Freemasons

The “Illuminati” was a name used by a German sect that existed in the 15th century.

Dr. Adam Weishaupt, A Human Devil, was born on February 6, 1748, the son of a Jewish (Khazar) rabbi had been indoctrinated into Egyptian occult. He studied the power of the Eleusinian mysteries and the influence exerted by the secret cult of the Pythagoreans. [5]

Weishaupt also studied the teachings of the Essenes, and acquired copies of the Kabal, The Major Key of Solomon and The Lesser Key of Solomon, which revealed how to conjure up demons and perform occult rituals.

On May 1, 1776, under the direction of the newly formed House of Rothschild, he united all the different occult groups and founded the Ancient Illuminated Seers of Bavaria, derived from Luciferian teachings, which became known as the Order of the Illuminati.

In 1776, one of those coincidences that don’t happen very often happened:

• May 10, 1776 the Continental Congress authorized the thirteen colonies to form local (provincial) governments.
• Jul 4, 1776 The Declaration of Independence is signed.

In 1777, Weishaupt joined the Eclectic Masonic lodge “Theodore of Good Counsel” in Munich, and near the end of 1778, he came up with the idea of merging the Illuminati and the Masons.

The Freemasons practiced the occult and professed to have the ‘light’ received from Satan. By the middle of 1779, the Freemasons were under the complete influence of the Illuminati and the Rosicrucian Order.

Rosicrucians believe that “true knowledge of the universe can only be known by the elite”, who in turn have a responsibility to share thisknowledge with the masses.

Freemasonry uses the metaphors of operative stonemasons’ tools and implements, against the allegorical backdrop of the building of King Solomon’s Temple, to convey the knowledge to the masses.

The Mason’s system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols, serve only one purpose. They keep the profane (masses), “who aren’t fornicating and reading the papers” [Albert Camus], busy deciphering the symbols and clues that lead nowhere… until the time of the end. [6]

The House of Rothschild (The Illuminati), responsible for all social cataclysms in the modern history are behind WW I, WW II and The Modern State of Israel because it was a pivotal and a necessary part of their plan for a New World Order. [7]

3.  Satan undoubtedly wrote, or at the very least, influenced the most important book in Western civilization, the Bible.

The followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam who insist on the inerrancy of the Bible also believe in demonic spirits and would agree:

• Satan is not stupid, in fact, he is extremely clever
• Satan can influence people and the writing of books
• Satan has been around since before the creation of the world
• Satan’s mission is to lead us away from the work of God

And since Satan does his best work through religions, it’s obvious he would be present at the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325 when the earlier gospels were gathered up and burned. Satan Wrote the Bible [8] [9]

4.  Psychohistory can explain why professor Bart D. Ehrman, a professor of Religious Studies, considers “the Bible the most important book in Western Civilization.”

Anyone who thinks God wrote the Bible, should read Ehrman’s, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why.

Ehrman says he immerses himself in the Bible, “though he doesn’t believe in its infallibility”, because “ it is the most important book in Western civilization.”

Satan understood “the science of historical motivation,” (i.e. psychohistory – the study of psychology and history) and the principle of methodological individualism (Broadbeck; Danto; Mandelbaum).

Methodological individualism is the theory that  “the ultimate constituents of the social world are individual people.  Every complex situation, institution, or event is the result of a particular configuration and the interactions of groups – nations, political parties, gangs or tribes of individuals, their dispositions and beliefs, and physical resources and environments” (Danto, 267).

All or part of the Bible has been translated into more than 1,200 languages, and every year more copies of the Bible are sold than of any other single book.

It doesn’t matter what you believe about the Bible: The work of God or Satan, it needs to be studied because it shaped the dispositions and beliefs of most of humanity on earth.

1. There are only two possibilities why Satan left the Key in the Book of Daniel (688 A.D.):

[Before you start arguing that you don’t accept Satan wrote the Bible and God left the Key in the book then consider the following: Jehovah put the Key in the book of Daniel (12:9) because he wanted you to find it but then in an earlier verse (12:2) forbids you from touching it or “running to and fro” trying to figure it because if you did manage to unseal it “knowledge shall be increased”, even to the time of the end]

1. Satan is arrogant, inept or just stupid and left the Key in verse 12:9. By the time he realized his mistake it was too late so he added the warning:  You are not allowed to touch it or “run to and fro trying to” figure it because if you unsealed it, “knowledge would increase”, even to the end of time (verse 12:2).

2. Satan is arrogant, but he is neither inept or stupid.

The Key could not have been discovered before 1948.

The Freemasons placed a pyramid, a Pagan temple of Satan worship, on the one dollar bill with the capstone not yet joined upon the top of the pyramid.

Included are the Latin words from the Great Seal of the United States of America, ‘Annuit Coeptis’ which translates to ‘The Birth Of’ and ‘Novus Ordo Seclorum’ the ‘New World Order’.

The symbolism is to signify that the plan is not complete because three milestones on the road to a One World Government and New World Order had not taken place in 1776.

What was left to complete in 1776, 1789 or 1910?

• Historical Event 1 – the end of Diaspora. The people of Israel had their own state in 1948.
• Historical Event 2 – the control of the holy of holies. The people of Israel had control of the Temple Mount in 1967
• Historical Event 3 – Israel is at peace with its Arab neighbor took place in 1978

The Key was not discovered until 1999 when The Cassandra Prophesy was published.

However, the Key could not unlock any secret because Gurney came to the incorrect conclusion that “Ancient prophecy and world events appear to be running in parallel, and mankind’s destiny seems to have already been foretold.”

And to make doubly sure the Key could not unlock anything for as long as possible, Satan is behind the “error” made in 1898.  James Hastings, M.A., D.D. in 1898 published a dictionary of the Bible that analyzes the different interpretations of Daniel 11:31 and ignores the plain language of Mathew 24:15 and inexplicably identified “the abomination of desolation” as 167 B.C. [10]

Appendix Footnotes:

[4] The Modern State of Israel portends Armageddon.

Armageddon, the final battle, will come when someone blows up the Dome of the Rock. That magnificent golden domed mosque built on the site of Solomon’s Temple (the abomination of desolation) is preventing the return of the messiah. Radical Christians and Jews believe Christ will not come back to earth until the Jews rebuild the Temple.

Should the Dome be demolished, then for the first time in history, thanks to Saddam Hussein when he destroyed 90 percent of Iraq’s Wetlands, 200 million people could cross the Euphrates for a holy war in Jerusalem.

A war that will rid the planet of millions of useless eaters.

The Rothschild New World Order only needs 500 million of us for slaves. The Modern State of Israel Series

[5] Gerald B. Winrod wrote in his Upon the Civil Amelioration of the Condition of the Jews wrote in his book Adam Weishaupt is A Human Devil.

[6] Occultists love the number “13″ (thirteen colonies)

1776 was the birth of our nation and in one of those coincidences that don’t happen very often, 1776 is the same year the modern Illuminati was formed.

The Great Seal was designed by the Freemasons, who were given the job of creating the occult and Masonic symbols by the Illuminati (TPTB) to keep the masses busy until the time of the end.

Careful analysis of the seal and the so-called American Eagle discloses: [10]

• 13 leaves in the olive branch
• 13 bars and stripes in the shield
• 13 arrows in the right claw
• 13 letters in the “E Pluribus Unum” on the ribbon
• 13 stars in the green crest above
• 32 long feathers on its right wing representing the 32º in Freemasonry
• 13 granite stones in the Pyramid. (The 13 layers represent the 13 Illuminati bloodlines)
• 13 letters in Annuit Coeptis

[7] TPTB, all members of the occult, are in a struggle to take over the Earth. An Ominous Drilling Sign for the Truth

[8] What is the best evidence that Satan wrote the Bible?

The Apostle Paul has the answer:  Eternal life (Immortality) with God is a free gift.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; Not of works, lest any man should boast.” No man can stand before God in eternity, and boast that they ‘earned’ their way to Heaven. All people in Heaven will be there only because of Jesus’ Free Gift, which He obtained from God because of His substitutionary death sacrifice on the Cross. Rather than punishing each person’s individual sins, God heaped all those sins on Jesus on the Cross Isaiah 53:2-12] In Ephesians 2:8-9

Now, you are probably thinking, ‘How can I obtain this free gift of eternal life’? Again, the Bible is not silent. In Acts 16:25-33, the jailer anxiously asked Paul, “What must I do to be saved”? Paul answered “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved …” verse 31″. You must BELIEVE on Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. To truly believe, you must place your complete faith and trust in Christ and rely upon Him as your only hope of salvation and eternal life. This is a matter of the heart and you cannot hope to deceive God by putting on an act because He knows everything about you. Many people mistakenly think that by merely believing the facts concerning Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, they will be automatically be given the gift of eternal life. But such is not the case. Preachers call that a “head knowledge and not a heart knowledge.” Salvation is freely given, but only to those who are genuine believers.

Only The Bible reveals the truth about Salvation. Did I mention it’s a Free Gift.

[9] The Bible “did not fall from the sky.” The books of the New Testament, written by the apostles, were selected by the Churches in the persons of its bishops and teachers in order to get the “story about Jesus” straight. How do we know that?

Luke 1: 1-4, where Luke, a friend and disciple of the apostle Paul (not jesus), wrote his gospel as “an orderly account” of the life, ministry, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus after having “carefully studied” and consulting “eyewitnesses.”

Until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by his followers as a mortal prophet….a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless.  Then the “eyewitnesses” established Jesus’ officially as the Son of God.

[10] There are four stumbling blocks that have kept mankind and scholars from fully understanding the book of Revelation and the date of the 1st and 2nd Coming of the Messiah.

1.      Believers and Biblical scholars spend their time interpreting and reinterpreting the scriptures to convince themselves they either (a) get the blessings promised to Israel or (b) will be raptured right before the tribulation.

2.      The year of the 2nd Coming could not be verified until the latter half of the twentieth century.

3.      Christians incorrectly believe Mark 13, is a commandment by God that “no one is allowed to know something that “even the angels in heaven don’t know.”  God told Daniel the year, not the day or the hour.

4.      An “error” made over 1400 years ago.

An error made in the seventh century BC concerns an event that ranks as one of the most important in the history Jews, Christians and Muslims: “The abomination of the desolation”.

And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate Dan 11:31

James Hastings, M.A., D.D. in 1898 published a dictionary of the Bible that analyzes the different interpretations of Daniel 11:31 and ignores the plain language of Mathew 24:15:

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand).

Inexplicably he concludes the verse refers to “The setting up by Antiochus Epiphanies of a small idol/altar on the altar of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 167 BC” and the Maccabean revolution.

Jesus contradicts this interpretation in the gospels,

But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand). Mark 13:14

The two verses refer to a conversation between Jesus, Peter, James and Andrew on theMount of Olives.  Before he mentions the abomination Jesus says the following to his disciples admiring the grandeur of the temple.

Seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down Mark 13:2

Here Jesus is prophesying an event that is to take place within the lifetime of the disciples. August 29th in 70 A.D. (the exact same day the Babylonians burned down Solomon’s temple 657 years earlier) the Roman army razed Herod’s Temple to the ground.

As Jesus places the event of the abomination after the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. and uses the words “when ye shall see” (Mark 13:14), he places the event in the future.

It is impossible the abomination spoken of by Jesus could have taken place prior to 70 AD and therefore any exegesis that identifies the abomination, as 167 B.C. is the “error” made over 1400 years ago.

A dictionary of the Bible; dealing with its language, literature, and contents, including the Biblical theology; ed. by James Hastings with the assistance of John A. Selbie, A. B. Davidson, S. R. Driver, H. B. Swete. New York: C. Scribner’s sons, 1898-1904. 5 vols. Humanities & Area Studies Res Ctr BS440 .H5.  The Cassandra Prophecy, Ian Gurney

“Are you afraid of the Devil?” The world’s most famous exorcist levels his gaze at me and then smiles.

“No, it is he who is afraid of me. I work in the name of the Lord. Poor Satan.”

Poor Satan?

“Oh yes. The Evil One shouts and makes noises, but we are made in God’s image, we have the Holy Trinity on our side. There is no need to be afraid of the Devil unless we give in to his temptations.”

We are in the infirmary of the Society of St Paul, the order of Father Gabriele Amorth, in the shadow of St Paul’s Basilica, Rome. The Vatican’s chief exorcist was taken to hospital last autumn with a blood infection and is now convalescing — “they found nothing serious”. Perhaps it was the Devil who laid him low. “Oh no — just an illness. He has more serious evil to perform.”

Father Amorth made headlines this week by suggesting that those who had “given in to Satan’s temptations” included paedophile priests and even some cardinals and bishops who paid only lip service to the Gospels.

The growing crisis over the clerical sex abuse now engulfing Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican, he said, was the work of Satan, who had even “infiltrated the Vatican corridors”.

Is the sex abuse crisis really due to the Devil? “Oh yes. All evil is due to the intervention of the Devil, including paedophilia.”

And the Vatican? “Legions of demons have lodged there…

What makes economies grow? It’s a question that has occupied thinkers for centuries. Most of us would tick off things like education levels, openness to trade, natural resources, and political systems.

Here’s one you might not have considered: hell.

A pair of Harvard researchers recently examined 40 years of data from dozens of countries, trying to sort out the economic impact of religious beliefs or practices. They found that religion has a measurable effect on developing economies – and the most powerful influence relates to how strongly people believe in hell.

That hell could matter to economic growth might seem surprising, since you can’t prove it exists, let alone quantify it. It stands as one of the more intriguing findings in a growing body of recent research exploring how religion might influence the wealth and prosperity of societies. In recent years, Italian economists have presented findings that religion can boost GDP by increasing trust within a society; researchers in the United States showed that religion reduces corruption and increases respect for law in ways that boost overall economic growth. A number of researchers have documented how merchants used religious backgrounds to establish one another’s reliability.

[Read more at the Boston Globe]

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Are Satanic forces aligned to take over the souls of every person on the planet? Do Satanists worship the evil lord himself? Do they really sacrifice babies and puppies? The 25th episode of Out There Radio features our interview with Magus Peter H. Gilmore, the High Priest of the Church of Satan. Mr. Gilmore lays out the beliefs and philisophy of Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan in this entertaining, informative and provocative interview. Satanic fun for the whole family!