Beelzebub in the Pantry: How the Demon of Gluttony is Devouring America's Soul and Waistline by Jeff Callaway

 

Beelzebub in the Pantry: How the Demon of Gluttony is Devouring America's Soul and Waistline

by Jeff Callaway

Texas Outlaw Poet

Listen closely, because this is not a bedtime story, a feel-good self-help blog, or a calorie-counting sermon you can scroll past while stuffing your face with fast food. This is a thunderclap from heaven’s arsenal, a shotgun blast of truth aimed square at the bloated heart of America. I am not here to comfort you; I am here to confront you. I am here to peel back the veil on the fat gluttony epidemic that has America stumbling, wheezing, and waddling its way toward the grave, bellies ballooning like ticking time bombs, arteries clogged with grease and shame. And make no mistake—this is not just biology or bad luck. There is a spiritual hand at work, a puppeteer pulling the strings of our national sickness. That hand belongs to none other than Beelzebub, the Prince of Gluttony, the foul Lord of the Flies who has slithered from the pits of hell to take up residence in America’s refrigerators, drive-thrus, and all-you-can-eat buffets.

This is spiritual war, not diet advice. Your kitchen has become a battlefield. Your plate is an altar. And every wasted bite of excess is another offering to the demon of gluttony. By the blood of Jesus Christ, we will drag this demon into the light, expose his grip on a nation, and declare with authority: Beelzebub, you are rebuked.

I. Invocation of Darkness: Who is Beelzebub, the Demon of Gluttony?

Beelzebub is not a cartoon villain with a pitchfork. He is not a Halloween costume. He is ancient and real. His name comes from the Hebrew Ba‘al Zəvuv, “Lord of the Flies,” a pagan idol worshiped in the cesspool of Ekron (2 Kings 1:3). When King Ahaziah of Israel lay dying, instead of seeking the true God, he sent messengers to consult this false deity. The prophet Elijah struck him down with a fiery word of judgment: “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?” (2 Kings 1:3). Right there, Scripture identifies Beelzebub as a rival spirit, a corrupter of kings, an enemy of God’s covenant people.

By the time of Christ, Beelzebub had been unmasked for what he truly was: not just a pagan idol, but the prince of demons. When Jesus healed the sick and cast out devils, the Pharisees spat their slander: “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons” (Matthew 12:24). But Jesus declared that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. With that, He exposed Beelzebub as the commander of hell’s armies, second only to Satan himself.

Medieval demonologists later confirmed what Scripture already hinted: Beelzebub is the demonic embodiment of gluttony. Peter Binsfeld, in his classification of the seven deadly sins, named Beelzebub as the demon of overindulgence. He is not merely a tempter of lust or greed, but the demon who fattens nations, corrupts appetites, and enslaves souls through the stomach. He is depicted as a bloated fly-king seated on a throne of filth, surrounded by swarms of corruption, whispering temptation into the ears of the weak-willed: “Eat more. Have seconds. You deserve it. One more bite.”

He is more than an image of grotesque decay. He is the invisible chef stirring your cravings. He is the unholy host waiting at every buffet. He is the phantom whispering in the midnight hum of your refrigerator. He is the curse passed down through families enslaved to compulsive overeating, a generational chain that only the name of Jesus can break. Gluttony is not just bad habits. It is bondage to Beelzebub.

II. The Epidemic Unleashed: The Fat Plague of America

Now let us strip away excuses and lay bare the carnage with cold statistics. This is not an exaggeration. This is a plague by the numbers.

As of the latest surveys, 40.3% of American adults are obese—not overweight, but obese, with a BMI of 30 or higher. That is nearly half the country. Another 33% are overweight, leaving only a fraction still within healthy range. In total, 73.6% of adults are overweight or obese. Three out of every four Americans are shackled to excess weight. Beelzebub has a majority share of our souls.

The crisis deepens when you look at the extreme cases. 9.4% of adults suffer severe obesity (BMI of 40 or higher). Among women, it climbs to 12.6%. Among the middle-aged, the prime of life, it peaks at 12%. This is not normal variation. This is epidemic collapse.

Geographically, the landscape is a map of gluttony’s dominion. Not a single U.S. state or territory reports less than 20% obesity. The Midwest sits at 36%. The South at 34.7%. In West Virginia, Arkansas, and Mississippi, the obesity rate surpasses 40%. Imagine it—nearly half of an entire state enslaved to the demon of gluttony.

And the children are not spared. One in five children and adolescents ages 2–19 is obese. Six percent are already severely obese before they are even adults. We are raising a generation whose first inheritance is Beelzebub’s curse.

The toll is staggering. Obesity is directly linked to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and stroke. It increases the risk of at least 13 different cancers. Obesity-related cancers alone account for hundreds of thousands of new cases a year, and deaths have tripled since 1999. Obesity is slow suicide. It is America’s most accepted addiction, and it is bankrupting our health system, bleeding out billions in medical costs and lost productivity.

This is not a harmless cultural quirk. This is Beelzebub’s harvest.

III. Excuses from the Pit: The Pathetic Parade of Alibis

“I am bored.” “I am stressed.” “It runs in the family.” These are the confessions of captives, not the testimony of conquerors. I have seen it with my own eyes—people told by their doctors: Lose twenty pounds and you can reverse your diabetes. Lose twenty pounds and you can save your life. But they remain powerless. They continue shoveling sugar, grease, and processed poison into their bodies as if under hypnosis. That is not willpower failure. That is spiritual slavery.

Yes, hereditary factors exist. But do not be deceived—those are often just the fingerprints of generational curses. What one generation surrenders to Beelzebub, the next inherits unless the chain is broken in Christ. Without deliverance, children inherit not just their parents’ waistline, but their bondage.

The truth is this: America does not lack diets. America does not lack gyms. America does not lack access to knowledge about nutrition. America lacks fortitude, self-control, and most of all, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

IV. The Spiritual Diagnosis: Your Body is a Temple

The Bible thunders against gluttony. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Yet many treat their temples like dumpsters, filling them with garbage until the walls collapse.

Scripture is plain: “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags” (Proverbs 23:20-21). And again: “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things” (Philippians 3:19).

Gluttony is idolatry. It is making your stomach your god. It is bowing to your cravings instead of bending the knee to Christ. It is a rejection of the fruit of the Spirit, which includes self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). It is a denial of God’s ownership of your very flesh.

As one who was once condemned by Protestants for defiling my body with drugs, I say this plainly: gluttony is just as destructive, just as damnable. Whether through a needle or a fork, sin is sin. Addiction is addiction. Both destroy the temple purchased by Christ’s blood.

V. The Devil’s Poison: Government and Corporate Complicity

Beelzebub has his earthly allies. The American food system is riddled with ultra-processed, chemically altered products engineered to addict and destroy. Fast food corporations, soda giants, and snack conglomerates are not merely selling convenience; they are selling chains. They pump additives, sugar, salt, and artificial chemicals into the nation’s bloodstream with full knowledge of the consequences. The FDA and USDA turn blind eyes, protecting profits instead of people.

Whether or not one believes in conspiracies of population control, the evidence is undeniable: the government allows, even subsidizes, the production of foods that kill. It is slow poison, dressed up as dinner. Beelzebub could not design it better himself.

VI. Call to Arms: Fasting, Prayer, and Repentance

There is a cure, but it is not found in fad diets or miracle pills. The cure is Christ. The cure is repentance. The cure is fasting and prayer.

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

The way out is to deny the demon its power. Fast until your cravings shrivel. Pray until your soul hungers for righteousness instead of sugar. Read the Word until it fills you more than bread. Worship until the Spirit of God strengthens your will beyond what your flesh can manage.

If other nations can practice restraint, so can we. If the saints of old could fast forty days in the wilderness, modern Americans can fast one. Beelzebub trembles at a believer who denies him his feast.

VII. Final Rebellion: Rebuke in the Name of Jesus Christ

So here is the battle cry: Beelzebub, you grotesque lord of gluttony, you foul fly-ridden king of decay—I rebuke you in the mighty name of Jesus Christ! You will not enslave this nation forever. You will not claim another generation. You will not sit at the head of our tables or whisper in our kitchens.

America, rise up. Repent. Resist. Reclaim your temple. Deny your belly and embrace the Bread of Life. Turn from the tyranny of appetite to the freedom of the Spirit. Do not remain a walking altar to excess. Stand as a redeemed vessel of the living God.

The choice is before you: continue feeding the demon, or cast him out by the blood of Christ. One path leads to death, shame, and slavery. The other to life, holiness, and freedom. Choose this day whom you will serve—your stomach, or your Savior.

Amen. And pass not the plate, but the sword of the Spirit.

~ Jeff Callaway

Texas Outlaw Poet

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