Satan Revealed

Death by Firing Squad

John Albert Taylor (c. 1960 – January 26, 1996) was executed by firing squad in Utah on January 26, 1996 at 12:03 a.m.  Mountain Time for the 1988 rape and strangulation of 11-year-old Charla King.  He is currently the last person to have been executed in the United States by firing squad.

Jail Visit

In 1988, I entered the small interview room in the old Weber County Jail in Ogden Utah.  There sat Mr. Taylor, across the desk, waiting for me.  He was fully restrained with shackles and his hands cuffed to his waist.  The guards had just brought him up from “the hole” and then stood watch just outside the door.

Mr. Taylor’s defense attorney had raised a mental defense.  I was the one to assess and report back to the court about Mr. Taylor’s “mental state” at the very moment he raped and strangled Charla.

Knowing Murderers

Over the years, as a forensic psychologist, I’ve gotten to know a lot of murderers:

Moms that killed babies;  Wives that killed husbands; Business partners that killed one another;  Robbers that killed store attendants; Gang members wearing blue that killed gang members wearing red;  and on without end.

I don’t believe there is a method of taking a life with which I haven’t had a personal experience.

Be It Known

Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come – After all of the murderers and rapists whom I have met in all of the prisons, jails, and psychiatric wards I’ve visited  -of this I bear record with words of soberness that – Satan is a reality!

The Spirit of Satan

“In these days of sophistication and error men depersonalize not only God but the devil. Under this concept Satan is a myth … Nothing is further from reality,” (The Miracle of Forgiveness, Spencer W. Kimball, 1969 pg. 21).  Satan does not have horns, cloven hoofs, a pointed tail or carry a pitch fork!  He’s not a cartoon character.  Satan is as much a personal individual spirit being as you and I, but without a mortal body.  Satan wants us to believe that he does not exist! (2 Nephi 28:22).

Testimonies of Satan

Elder David B. Haight said:

“To deny the existence of Satan and the reality of his evil power and influence is as foolish as ignoring the existence of electricity… Do members of this church feel a lack of evidence in the reality of Satan and his power? … I bear witness this day that the devil is real.  I have felt of his influence,” (David B. Haight, “Power of Evil,” Ensign, Jul. 1973).

President Marion G. Romney said:

“Reality of Satan.  We Latter-day Saints need not be, and we must not be, deceived by the sophistries of men concerning the reality of Satan. There is a personal devil, and we had better believe it,” (Marion G. Romney, “Satan, the Great Deceiver,” Ensign, Feb. 2005, pgs. 52–57).

President Spencer W. Kimball said:

Satan will shade meanings, open doors an inch at a time, and lead from purest white through all the shades of gray to the darkest black.  The arch deceiver has studied every way possible to achieve his ends, using every tool, every device possible.  He takes over, distorts, and changes and camouflages everything created for the good of man, … so he may take over their minds and pervert their bodies and claim them his.  He never sleeps—he is diligent and persevering.  He analyzes carefully his problem and then moves forward diligently, methodically to reach that objective.  He uses all five senses and man’s natural hunger and thirst to lead him away.  He anticipates resistance and fortifies himself against it.  He uses time and space and leisure.  He is constant and persuasive and skillful.  He uses such useful things as radio, television, (Internet, cell phones, computer games, music), the printed page, the airplane, and the car to distort and damage.  He uses the gregariousness of man, his loneliness, his every need to lead him astray.  He does his work at the most propitious time in the most impressive places with the most influential people.  He overlooks nothing that will deceive and distort and prostitute.  He uses money, power, force.  He entices man and attacks at his weakest spot.  He takes the good and creates ugliness. … He uses every teaching art to subvert man...” (Chapter 10: Fortifying Ourselves against Evil Influences, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, (2006), pgs. 102–13).

Personal Battle

You don’t have to go to jail or a prison to find your personal battle with evil.  Each of us already has that battle.

Satan knows us and our weaknesses.  He knows what sins to suggest and when to suggest them.

President David O. McKay said:

“Your greatest weakness will be the point at which Satan will try to tempt you, will try to win you; and if you have made yourself weak, he will add to that weakness,” (“The Temptations in Life,” Improvement Era, July 1968, p. 3).

By learning to recognize Satan and then completely resisting evil, he will be bound.  According to President Spencer W. Kimball:

“When Satan is bound in a single home – when Satan is bound in a single life – the Millennium has already begun in that home, in that life,” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, pg. 172).

Gospel Principle
We must recognize the reality of Satan and his methods so that we can better resist his temptations.

The war that began in heaven is still being waged.  Satan continues to fight against God and tries to persuade us to follow him.

dr rick

Additional Information

James J. Hamula, “Winning the War against Evil,” Ensign, Nov. 2008.
MP4 video.  Other formats available at October 2008 Conference talks.

James E. Faust, “The Forces That Will Save Us,” Ensign, Jan. 2007.