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Religion Dispatches - Religion Dispatches Religion Dispatches
  • Racial Justice
    • Why Don’t White People Show Up For Juneteenth The Way They Showed Up For George Floyd?
      Why Don’t White People Show Up For Juneteenth The Way They Showed Up For George Floyd?
    • We Should Not Be Shocked That the Alleged Minnesota Shooter’s Christian School Is Connected to Political Violence
      We Should Not Be Shocked That the Alleged Minnesota Shooter’s Christian School Is Connected to Political Violence
    • Musk v Trump: No matter who wins, the American people lose
      Musk v Trump: No matter who wins, the American people lose
  • Sex/Gender/Justice
    • On the ‘Violent-Prayer-a-Day’ Christian Education of Dr. Vance Boelter, Alleged Killer of Minnesota Democrats
      On the ‘Violent-Prayer-a-Day’ Christian Education of Dr. Vance Boelter, Alleged Killer of Minnesota Democrats
    • ‘Remigration’ is American for ‘Ethnic Cleansing’
      ‘Remigration’ is American for ‘Ethnic Cleansing’
    • Since You’ve Been Gone: The Politics of Hysterectomy and the Impossibility of ‘Choice’
      Since You’ve Been Gone: The Politics of Hysterectomy and the Impossibility of ‘Choice’
  • Christian Nationalism
    • Why Don’t White People Show Up For Juneteenth The Way They Showed Up For George Floyd?
      Why Don’t White People Show Up For Juneteenth The Way They Showed Up For George Floyd?
    • We Should Not Be Shocked That the Alleged Minnesota Shooter’s Christian School Is Connected to Political Violence
      We Should Not Be Shocked That the Alleged Minnesota Shooter’s Christian School Is Connected to Political Violence
    • On the ‘Violent-Prayer-a-Day’ Christian Education of Dr. Vance Boelter, Alleged Killer of Minnesota Democrats
      On the ‘Violent-Prayer-a-Day’ Christian Education of Dr. Vance Boelter, Alleged Killer of Minnesota Democrats
  • Politics
    • We Should Not Be Shocked That the Alleged Minnesota Shooter’s Christian School Is Connected to Political Violence
      We Should Not Be Shocked That the Alleged Minnesota Shooter’s Christian School Is Connected to Political Violence
    • On the ‘Violent-Prayer-a-Day’ Christian Education of Dr. Vance Boelter, Alleged Killer of Minnesota Democrats
      On the ‘Violent-Prayer-a-Day’ Christian Education of Dr. Vance Boelter, Alleged Killer of Minnesota Democrats
    • Praying for God to Snuff Out Judges in the Name of Revival 
      Praying for God to Snuff Out Judges in the Name of Revival 

Joseph Laycock

Joseph Laycock is an assistant professor of religious studies at Texas State University. In addition to Speak of the Devil (Oxford University Press, 2020), his books include The Seer of Bayside: Veronica Lueken and the Struggle for Catholic Tradition (Oxford University Press, 2014) and Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic Over Role-Playing Games Says About Religion, Play, and Imagined Worlds (University of California Press, 2015).

(A)theologies, Archive, Books, New Books, OMFGDecember 20, 2024

Why Scholars Should Take Accounts of Supernatural Phenomena Seriously — And How it Might Save the Humanities

By Joseph Laycock

For a decade and a half, Dr. Jeffrey J. Kripal has been advocating for the…

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Archive, Culture, Media Analysis, OMFGMarch 26, 2024

‘Late Night With The Devil’ Reflects the Role of Talk Shows in Sensationalizing the Satanic Panic of the 1980s

By Joseph Laycock

Late Night with the Devil premiered in select cities this past weekend, allegedly raking in…

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(A)theologies, Archive, Culture, OMFGJanuary 25, 2024

Amid Anticipation of Government Disclosure, ‘We Are Not Alone’ Follows Those Who Claim Alien Contact Through Meditation

By Joseph Laycock

UFOs are in. The current wave of enthusiasm began in 2017 when major newspapers reported…

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(A)theologies, Archive, Culture, OMFG, Politics/LawDecember 5, 2023

Hail Santa! War-on-Christmas Outrage Over Satanic Tree Reveals the Self-Serving Ambiguity of ‘Religion’

By Joseph Laycock

Forget ugly sweater parties, this is our new national Christmas tradition: 1) a public venue…

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Still from the set of “The Exorcist: Believer" shows six people surrounding a bound, possessed girl all attempting to exorcise the demon.
Archive, Culture, Media Analysis, OMFGOctober 24, 2023

Ecumenical ‘Exorcist’ Sequel Reflects Profound Cultural Changes Since the Catholic Original

By Joseph Laycock

Please note: spoilers ahead. Stop me if you’ve heard this one: three evangelicals, an atheist,…

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(A)theologies, Archive, Books, Culture, New Books, OMFG, Sex/Gender/JusticeOctober 20, 2022

La Carmina, Author of ‘The Little Book of Satanism,’ Talks ‘Satanic Panic,’ QAnon, Japanese Satanism, and More

By Joseph Laycock

For most of its existence, religious Satanism has been regarded as either unfit for polite…

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(A)theologies, OMFG, Politics/Law, Racial JusticeMay 2, 2022

Black Satanist Candidate Faces LA Sheriff Shakedown

By Joseph Laycock

Steve Hill is a lot of things: A former marine, a former correctional officer, a…

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(A)theologies, Archive, Sex/Gender/JusticeAugust 8, 2020

Satanic Temple’s ‘Satanic Abortion Ritual’ May Challenge States’ Anti-Abortion Laws

By Joseph Laycock

Last week, The Satanic Temple (TST) introduced “the Satanic Abortion Ritual”—a ritual designed to provide…

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(A)theologies, Archive, OMFGMarch 25, 2020

Satanists Want You to Respond to the Pandemic with Compassion. And Reason.

By Joseph Laycock

The Coronavirus is changing America’s religious landscape as social distancing forces most religious communities to…

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Archive, Books, RD10QFebruary 17, 2020

Is the Satanic Temple Just an Elaborate Prank? 10 Questions for the Author of ‘Speak of the Devil’

By Joseph Laycock

What inspired you to write Speak of the Devil? I started writing on The Satanic…

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