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Religion Dispatches - Religion Dispatches Religion Dispatches
  • Racial Justice
    • ‘The White Privileged Man’s Burden’: If Jesus Was White Who Are We to Question the ‘Privilege’ That Came With it?
      ‘The White Privileged Man’s Burden’: If Jesus Was White Who Are We to Question the ‘Privilege’ That Came With it?
    • Conservative Evangelical Eric Metaxas, Doing Twitter Theology, Claims ‘Jesus Was White’
      Conservative Evangelical Eric Metaxas, Doing Twitter Theology, Claims ‘Jesus Was White’
    • Tearing Down Evangelical Icons: Why Penn’s Decision to Remove George Whitefield Statue May Be Good for American Evangelicalism
      Tearing Down Evangelical Icons: Why Penn’s Decision to Remove George Whitefield Statue May Be Good for American Evangelicalism
  • Politics/Law
    • The ‘Spiritual Warfare’ Worldview of Trump’s Conspiracy Doctor is Part of a Transnational Movement
      The ‘Spiritual Warfare’ Worldview of Trump’s Conspiracy Doctor is Part of a Transnational Movement
    • The Only Surprising Thing About the ‘Demon Sperm’ Doctor’s Views Is That They’re Shared By Many Evangelicals
      The Only Surprising Thing About the ‘Demon Sperm’ Doctor’s Views Is That They’re Shared By Many Evangelicals
    • ‘The White Privileged Man’s Burden’: If Jesus Was White Who Are We to Question the ‘Privilege’ That Came With it?
      ‘The White Privileged Man’s Burden’: If Jesus Was White Who Are We to Question the ‘Privilege’ That Came With it?
  • Religious Liberty
    • Exclusive: Why Did Chicago Public Schools Just Quietly Drop Transcendental Meditation?
      Exclusive: Why Did Chicago Public Schools Just Quietly Drop Transcendental Meditation?
    • Texas Faith Leaders Say Governor’s Use of Pandemic to Ban Abortion is an Attack on Religious Freedom (Updated)
      Texas Faith Leaders Say Governor’s Use of Pandemic to Ban Abortion is an Attack on Religious Freedom (Updated)
    • Whether it’s Celebrated by CT or Denied in NYC, Evangelical Proselytizing Isn’t in Quarantine
      Whether it’s Celebrated by CT or Denied in NYC, Evangelical Proselytizing Isn’t in Quarantine
  • Sex/Gender/Justice
    • A Devil’s Dozen of the Best ‘New Religion Journalism’ Books of the Decade
      A Devil’s Dozen of the Best ‘New Religion Journalism’ Books of the Decade
    • Books to Give this Holiday Season to Help Understand the World We’ve Found Ourselves in (and to Help Reimagine a Better One)
      Books to Give this Holiday Season to Help Understand the World We’ve Found Ourselves in (and to Help Reimagine a Better One)
    • Catholic Anti-Nuke Activists Looking at 20 Years in Prison a True Test for Religious Freedom
      Catholic Anti-Nuke Activists Looking at 20 Years in Prison a True Test for Religious Freedom
  • New Books
    • Whatever COVID-19 Brings, This Chaplain Wants You to Remember That the Death Rate is Ultimately 100%
      Whatever COVID-19 Brings, This Chaplain Wants You to Remember That the Death Rate is Ultimately 100%
    • How a Powerful ‘Ex-Gay’ Pastor is Chasing the Latino Vote
      How a Powerful ‘Ex-Gay’ Pastor is Chasing the Latino Vote
    • Religious Leaders Need ‘Empty the Pews’ Which Chronicles the Darker Side of the ‘Nones’ Phenomenon
      Religious Leaders Need ‘Empty the Pews’ Which Chronicles the Darker Side of the ‘Nones’ Phenomenon

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, 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, New 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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Archive, Politics/Law, Religious LibertyJanuary 20, 2020

Satanic Temple Attorney Discusses Cancelled Scottsdale Prayer Invite

By Joseph Laycock

This week, on the 22nd and 23rd of January, The Satanic Temple (TST) and the…

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Archive, OMFG, Politics/Law, Religious LibertyOctober 7, 2019

Satanic Temple Considers Legal Action Against School Censorship

By Joseph Laycock

The task of determining which web content students can access is outsourced to an Austin, Texas-based company called Lightspeed Systems, which had manually tagged The Satanic Temple’s website as “mature.”

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Culture, History/Theology, Politics/Law, Religious LibertyMay 3, 2019

Satanic Temple’s IRS Recognition Rekindles Fierce Debate Over What Is ‘Really Real’ Church

By Joseph Laycock

While TST is not the first Satanic organization to obtain this status, it is the first group that clearly intends to deploy this status in legal challenges. TST’s demands for equal treatment under the law are going to be much harder to dismiss from here on out.

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Culture, History/Theology, Politics/Law, Religious Liberty, Sex/Gender/JusticeDecember 21, 2018

What the Hail: Satanists Got Busy in 2018

By Joseph Laycock

From defending reproductive rights to run-ins with several TV shows, the Satanist community had a busy 2018. The only question going forward: Will internal tension sink the movement?

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History/Theology, Politics/Law, Religious LibertyDecember 19, 2018

Will Infamous ‘Candy Cane Memo’ Resurrect Flailing ‘War on Christmas’?

By Joseph Laycock

A principal recently made headlines by banning candy canes. At a time when separation of church and state is facing so many legal challenges, it’s absolutely critical to understand the establishment clause.

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Culture, OMFGNovember 5, 2018

Should Satanic Temple Have Threatened Netflix Over Baphomet Statue in ‘Sabrina’ Series?

By Joseph Laycock

“Would they be as understanding of a fictional show that used a real mosque as the HQ of a terrorist cell? A fictional Blood Libel tale implicating real world Jews?”

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Politics/Law, Religious LibertyAugust 20, 2018

Satanist Religious Freedom Rally Successful Despite Neo-Nazis and Christian Heckler

By Joseph Laycock

When the police chief asked whether a requested garbage can would be used for blood, he was informed that it was for Satanists to pick up any litter after the rally.

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OMFG, Religious LibertyAugust 14, 2018

Neo-Nazis Call on ‘White Christians’ to Oppose Satanic Temple Rally

By Joseph Laycock

The convergence of conservative Christian and White Supremacist groups suggests this is really a struggle over who is a “real” American and who is not.

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