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Bob Larson | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1944-05-28)May 28, 1944 (age 80) |
| Occupation(s) | Evangelist,pastor |
| Website | boblarson.org |
Bob Larson (born May 28, 1944) is an American radio andtelevision evangelist, and a pastor of Spiritual Freedom Church inPhoenix, Arizona. Larson has authored numerous books critical ofrock music andSatanism.
Larson was born inWestwood, Los Angeles, California, the son of Viola (née Baum) and Earl Larson.[1][2] He was raised inMcCook, Nebraska.[1]
Larson playsguitar; he has claimed his early experiences as a musician led to his concerns aboutoccult and destructive influences inrock music.[3] He would later incorporate his guitar playing into some of hissermons. In the 1960s, the focus of Larson's preaching centered mainly on theleftist political ideology,sexually suggestive lyrics, Eastern religiousmysticism, andanti-social behavior of many of the era's rock musicians.
During the late 1980s and into the 1990s, Larson repeatedly debated, interviewed, and confrontedSatanists, during the period known as theSatanic panic. On two occasions he hostedNikolas Schreck (agothic rock musician and lead singer ofRadio Werewolf) andZeena LaVey (once the spokesperson for theChurch of Satan and later a priestess in theTemple of Set). During their first encounter the pair defended Satanism, while in 1997, during their second appearance, they defendedSetianism. Larson debated the pair, and at times attempted to convert them without success.[4]
In 1982, Larson launchedTalk Back, a two-hour weekday call-in show geared mainly towardteenagers and frequently focused on teen-oriented topics such asrole-playing games androck music. By this time Larson had come to embracecontemporary Christian music, including styles such asheavy metal andrap, and actively promoted the music and artists on his show.[citation needed]
By the late 1980s, in what would come to define his later ministry, Larson was often heard performingexorcisms of callers on the air. The subjects ofSatanism andSatanic ritual abuse were frequent topics of discussion.Death metal performerGlen Benton ofDeicide became a regular caller, as didBob Guccione Jr., eldest son ofPenthouse founderBob Guccione and founder of the music magazineSpin. At one point during the 1980s, Guccione Jr. paid Larson to go on tour with Americanthrash metal bandSlayer and write about it.[5]
Deicide frontman Glen Benton said of Larson:
Bob Larson is a fuckingcarny. He's ashowman, like myself. He does what he does for ratings and to sell his fuckingcult-shit videotapes and his cassettes to you, theweak-minded fuck. Okay? [...] Bob Larson has actually admitted this shit it to me. Bob Larson and me are actually kind of friends [...] Bob Larson does what he does to make fucking money to support his prostitute habits.[6]
Larson tried his hand at writing fiction.Dead Air (1991) was largelyghost-written by Lori Boespflug and Muriel Olson, according toKaren Stollznow.[7] His later novelsAbaddon (1993) andThe Senator's Agenda (1995) both linkedSatanic ritual abuse topolitical corruption; the latter was largely written by Larson and his second wife. However, a former vice president of Bob Larson Ministries, Lori Boespflug, said that much ofDead Air, though presented as Larson's work, is allegedly her own. Supporting these claims is a letter from Larson's lawyer that warns Larson of his "potential liability to Lori", anticipating that "the role Lori has played" would lead her to "demand recognition and/or profit participation" in respect toDead Air and its sequels.[3]
In 2013Vice magazine taped a video of Larson's visit in several small towns inUkraine where he performedexorcisms together with three young women – his 18-year-old daughter Brynne Larson and her friends Tess and Savannah Sherkenback (18 and 21 respectively, collectively known as "The Teenage Exorcists").[8] The friend group had asked Larson to train them in performing exorcisms.[9] The Teenage Exorcists consequently published a reply toVice Media's video stating that they "question the journalistic integrity of this Vice Media story and are disappointed by how we were falsely portrayed."[10] The group, later renamed the All-American Exorcists, was also profiled by BBC andPeople, among others.[11][9]
As of 2014[update], Larson offered to perform exorcisms overSkype (for a donation of $295).[12] His Skype exorcisms were featured in a segment on thesatirical programThe Daily Show in 2014, in which he told correspondentJessica Williams, "Skype is a great technology to stare down theDevil, to go after him and to kick him back tohell." Later in the same segment, however, he indicated that "tweeting an exorcism would be ridiculous."[13]
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