Bob Larson
Bob Larson (born 1944 - McCook, Nebraska) is a radio and television evangelist, later based in Colorado. Larson has authored numerous books on the subjects of rock music, cults, and Satanism, written from a Christian perspective.
Larson plays guitar; he has claimed his early experiences as a musician led to his concerns about occult and destructive influences in rock music. He would later incorporate his guitar playing into some of his sermons. In the 1960s the focus of Larson's preaching centered mainly on the leftist political ideology, sexually suggestive lyrics, Eastern religious mysticism, and antisocial behavior of many of the era's rock musicians. Less flamboyant than the Peters Brothers and less sensational than Jack Chick, Jeff Godwin, or Jacob Aranza, Larson is still remembered as one of the most vocal fundamentalist Christian critics of rock music.
By the 1970s, however, much of Larson's teachings concerned Satanism. Larson originally rejected Christian rock music based on its similarity in sound and image to secular rock music. Larson frequently appeared as a guest on secular and religious talk shows.
"Talk Back" with Bob Larson
In 1982 Larson launched "Talk Back", a two-hour weekday call-in show geared mainly toward teenagers and frequently focused on teen-oriented topics such as role-playing games and rock music. By this time Larson had come to embrace contemporary Christian music, including styles such as heavy metal and rap, and actively promoted the music and artists on his show.
"Talk Back" was one of the most prank called shows on radio. Groups of telephone pranksters took delight in getting past Larson's call screeners. The subjects of Satanism and Satanic ritual abuse were frequent topics of discussion. By the late 1980s, in what would come to define his later ministry, Larson was often heard performing exorcisms of callers on the air.
In the 1990s, "Talk Back" began losing much of its teen focus - though Satanism and exorcisms remained as the show's cornerstones. The show began incorporating more right wing politically-oriented topics.
Larson tried his hand at writing fiction: Dead Air (1991) was based on his experiences behind the microphone in dealing with the occult. His later novels Abaddon (1993) and The Senator's Agenda both linked Satanic ritual abuse to political corruption.
Today, Larson remains active as a traveling evangelist, still focusing primarily on Satanism and exorcisms. His ministry can be found at [1] where many people who have problems with violence, self mutilation, multiple personality disorders, satanic ritual abuse, or molestation go to in order to find an alternative counseling outlet. His team is called "Doing What Jesus Did" and has branches all over the United States where people who are looking for help can find a contact person to come to their home for intense prayer and/or exorcisims.
In 2004 Larson returned to the radio airwaves after a two-year absence with a daily talk show heard on a network of radio stations and simulcast and archived on the Internet.
John Safran's "Exorcism"
In 2003, Australian film maker John Safran came to do a story on Bob Larson for John Safran vs God, a documentary series on world religions. The final episode was devoted entirely to this encounter. It lacked all the arrogant flair of the previous 7 episodes, starting with a brief introduction to Bob. He talked about his past, and showed John a series of photographs of him with prominent political figures, including Margaret Thatcher, George Bush Senior, John Major and Colin Powell, saying; "No one impressess me more as a human being than Colin Powell".
Soon after this, the exorcism started, with Bob ordering Safran (a Jew - though non-practicing) to speak on behalf on his ancestors and forgive Hitler, which he did. As Larson continued with the exorcism, Safran's behaviour changed rapidly. He lost his characteristic lisp, becaming violent and angry, and he began to speak in the characters of several of the spiritual figures that he had investigated in previous episodes, including the voodoo spirit Papa Gede[2] and the Hindu god Hanuman. The exorcism focused mainly on Biblical Old Testament scripture, however Larson continued to push Safran to an acceptance of Jesus, which Safran apparently did, saying that he accepted Jesus as his saviour. Larson used this television appearance to promote a tour to Australia in 2004.