Exorcism Malpractice

A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.  This week’s item is from the Star Telegram, March 24, 2002, with a headline: “Woman gets $300,000 in exorcism suit,” dateline: Ft. Worth, Texas.Six years after Laura Schubert sued members of a Colleyville church for trying to cast demons out of her, a TarrantCounty jury’s award of $300,000 filled her with joy.Because of an earlier court ruling, jurors made their decision without hearing any religious aspects of the case including Schubert’s account of two exorcism attempts in 1996.“This is a situation where religion went real bad,” said Schubert’s father, Tom Schubert, a former Assembly of God minister and missionary.The pastor and some church members were found libel for abusing and falsely imprisoning Schubert, who was 17 at the time.“We are a Bible-believing, Pentecostal church. For this, we make no apologies,” Pastor Lloyd McCutchin said in a statement.He will have to pay 50% of the amount awarded to Schubert.Former youth pastor, Rod Lindsey, his wife Holly Lindsey, and other church members were also found libel.Schubert’s lawsuit filed six years ago, described a bizarre night in which church members anointed the sanctuary with holy oil, rapped on pews, and propped a cross against the church doors to keep or drive demons out.The jurors heard none of that. In 1998 the 2^nd Court of Appeals in Ft.Worth agreed with church attorneys that discussing the denomination’s doctrine on demonic possession would violate the church’s religious freedom.Instead jurors listened for three weeks as 49 witnesses side-stepped the religious aspects.The trial focused on two nights in June 1996 when Schubert said up to eight youth group members restrained her while adult church members watched.“This was not a situation of prayer.They were trying to commit an exorcism on me,” Schubert said.Schubert, now 23, testified that the experience led her to mutilate herself and attempt suicide and finally, to seek psychiatric treatment.Her lawsuit in the 141^st District Court in Ft.Worth had sought more than $500,000.“Before she ever showed up at the church, she had a pre-existing personality disorder,” Presnor told the jury.But Bill Wuster, Schubert’s attorney, said the teenager was a model high school student, who held a job, paid for her car, and looked forward to her senior prom.That changed in June 1996 he told the jury.He reminded jurors that church officials and youth group members testified that they had pinned her to the sanctuary floor.Schubert and other witnesses testified that she had kicked and yelled to try and break free.“I don’t know how many times a woman has to say no before she is believed,” Wuster told the jury.“How many times does she have to say, ‘get away, don’t hold me, let me up, no!’” McCutchin said the verdict would not devastate the congregation.“The church will go on,” he said.

Tom:

Dave, it would have been interesting to sit in on this trial.It’s sort of like the theater of the absurd.On the one hand, you have the church arguing that they didn’t want this put in a religious context and the court’s going along with it.

Dave:

Well they said it wouldn’t be fair to explain their doctrines, which I don’t understand.If their doctrines are biblical then you would want them explained.

Tom:

Yes, and you know the reason I call this absurd is because they are trying to do something that they as you said, they claim is biblical.Certainly the world is not going to go along with a lot of things that are definitely biblical, but they go beyond what the Bible has to say about these sorts of things.

Dave:

Of course, we don’t get the picture.We don’t know, was she demon possessed?Why did they think she was?Was there any success in casting it out? Apparently not.She didn’t think she was—

Tom:

Well, look at the techniques they used.They’ve got a cross barring the door to keep demons from coming in.Where do you find that?

Dave:

That’s not biblical and it has nothing to do with the authority that we’ve been talking about with binding and loosing in the name of Jesus.

Tom:

And then their defense attorney for the church has to articulate these things in terms of psychological problems that this girl has.Now what’s going on here?

Dave:

Well Tom, I’m afraid that this case could be multiplied thousands and thousands of times.It used to be very popular, and it may still be, maybe I’m just not in touch with those circles as I used to be, but demons were being cast out all around the world, out of Christians.The demon of lust, the demon of chocolate cake even.The demon of candy—this was very popular and it may still be.The idea that the lusts of the flesh, the deeds of the flesh, things over which we are to have self control are all blamed on the devil and a demon is cast out that is supposedly making me do this.Christians were going for this.I have listened to tapes—I have never been present when this occurred.I’ve listened to tapes and the—well you have too— the screaming and yelling, I mean it is so frightening, unbiblical, unchristian, and yet this has been going on and is very popular and apparently they felt for some reason that this girl needed to have demons cast out and they imposed this upon her against her will.Others have gone along willingly thinking this might be true.I remember—many of the listeners would know this person if I mentioned his name, and he said that this happened to him.And he even heard voices coming out and so forth.After he thought about this in a rational mood by himself, he said I think they talked me into something.I think I was responding in this voice or that voice to meet their expectations that they had convinced me of something that wasn’t true.I had no demons.This was like play acting.Well Tom, for whatever reason or what may be the explanation of how people react under this situation, it’s not biblical.And yet, it goes on and on and on.

Tom:

Yes, but biblically speaking, demon possession is a reality.

Dave:

Exactly.

Tom:

But we have to—

Dave:

Not for a Christian—

Tom:

No.

Dave:

There’s no demon inhabiting alongside of the Holy Spirit within a Christian.

Tom:

Yes, but you know a lot of people live in fear of this kind of thing as Christians and say, “well I wouldn’t want to be around a person like that and it would just scare me to death.And we’ve seen the Exorcist too many times or whatever.But again, it may not be a common thing today or it may be more common than we actually know, but the point is that we have to go about dealing with these spiritual issues according to God’s Word—according to what the scriptures [say].We can’t go beyond them.

Dave:

And if we don’t know what the scripture says—a person who does not know what the scripture says can be in fear of being demon possessed and could succumb to suggestion and these very fears.If we know the Word of God we are set free.Jesus said, “If you continue in my Word, you are my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.And people need to know the Word of God as you have said. Then they cannot be deceived by these things.