A new trend in the US evangelical and Pentecostal movement known as "spiritual mapping" is gaining popularity.
Its proponents claim to know which geographical locations have been favoured by god and which are the domain of demons. Of course the USA is viewed as being gods special territory but in particular Wisconsin and Alaska enjoy special favour.
It would be laughable if it wasn't so cruel. It also lies behind the kind of comment made by Pat Robertson in the wake of the Haitian earthquake which blamed demonic control of the land for its disaster.
A new phrase, the 10/40 window, describes the part of the globe stretching across North Africa and Asia which is believed to be a "demonic territorial stronghold" under the control of demons that made pacts with previous inhabitants of the territory.
It is the same kind of thinking, if it can be called thinking at all, that leads to christians trying to pray demons out of states, towns or neighborhoods where they believe demons to hold sway. Apparently discovering the particular names of such demons is powerful in defeating them. They are believed to have a legal right to reside in specific places where they were invited to be by previous generations.
Prayer warriors are taking them on with Jericho marches and 24 hour prayer marathons.
Before dismissing all of this as the harmless hobby of a few wing-nuts it is sobering to consider that the same sort of mentality has influenced decision making at the highest level of government. Lieutenant General William G. Boykin, the United States Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence under G.W Bush in 2003 described the war on terror as a war against Satan and declared Mogadishu to be a "demonic stronghold".
This sort of thinking belongs in the dark-ages. It convinces me further that evangelical christianity is an enemy of reason.
In this 43 minute video Elizabeth McAlister, an associate professor of religion at Wesleyan University discusses this in more detail and in particular the relationship” between U.S. evangelicals and Haitian evangelicals.