On the morning of Friday, July 16th, 41 year-old Tina Loher walked into the Signal Mountain, Tennessee chiropractic clinic of her ex-husband, who had since re-married, and shot Dr. Terrance Loher in the groin and leg, severing his femoral artery. Dr. Loher was nonetheless able, during the melee, to knock his former wife unconscious.

Several Tennessee news services have reported on the incident, but none has contextualized the incident, which but for the allegation of demon-possession might be a routine crime of passion. However, an increasingly popular religious ideology among not only American evangelical Christians but also among evangelicals worldwide, holds that many physical and psychological ailments, and behavioral problems, are caused by demonic spirits. While exorcism-by-gunshot is an uncommon method, the practice of exorcism has become increasingly popular.

Indeed, the religious denomination US Senator John Ensign belongs to promotes a practice that Associated Press reporter Richard Osling termed, in a 2003 AP story, "do-it-yourself" exorcism. Ensign is a member of the 5-10 million (estimates vary) member International Church of The Foursquare Gospel, which has spun off an international  sub-ministry, "Cleansing Stream Ministries", that promotes the practice of exorcism including the casting out of "gay demons".

This demon-haunted worldview dominates the churches Sarah Palin is associated with, and it pervades the charismatic and Pentecostal "prosperity Gospel" and Word-of-Faith movement.

For over a decade, the demon-haunted worldview was exported from Ted Haggard's Colorado Springs New Life Church, including during the several years that Haggard was head of the 27-30 million-strong National Association of Evangelicals. Unusual practices promoted at Haggard's former New Life Church were the subject of a 1997 This American Life segment, #77 - "Pray", by public radio reporter Alix Spiegel.