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Religion Dispatches - Religion Dispatches Religion Dispatches
  • Racial Justice
    • Remembering ‘MOVE’ as American religion on the 40th anniversary of Philadelphia bombing its own residents
      Remembering ‘MOVE’ as American religion on the 40th anniversary of Philadelphia bombing its own residents
    • White Smoke, Black Pope? Pope Leo XIV, first US pontiff, has African roots
      White Smoke, Black Pope? Pope Leo XIV, first US pontiff, has African roots
    • HABEMUS PAPAM: New Pope Selection Signals Church’s Concerns about Spread of US, Global Authoritarianism
      HABEMUS PAPAM: New Pope Selection Signals Church’s Concerns about Spread of US, Global Authoritarianism
  • Sex/Gender/Justice
    • HABEMUS PAPAM: New Pope Selection Signals Church’s Concerns about Spread of US, Global Authoritarianism
      HABEMUS PAPAM: New Pope Selection Signals Church’s Concerns about Spread of US, Global Authoritarianism
    • EXPERTS AGREE: what Trump is doing is fascism
      EXPERTS AGREE: what Trump is doing is fascism
    • What The Roman Catholic Church needs is a wholesale reset, not a new Pope
      What The Roman Catholic Church needs is a wholesale reset, not a new Pope
  • Christian Nationalism
    • Catholic Right Support isn’t the Only Reason Trump Believes He Can Get Away with Mockery of Catholicism
      Catholic Right Support isn’t the Only Reason Trump Believes He Can Get Away with Mockery of Catholicism
    • EXPERTS AGREE: what Trump is doing is fascism
      EXPERTS AGREE: what Trump is doing is fascism
    • My Book on The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity Was One of Hundreds Just Banned by the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
      My Book on The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity Was One of Hundreds Just Banned by the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
  • Politics
    • Remembering ‘MOVE’ as American religion on the 40th anniversary of Philadelphia bombing its own residents
      Remembering ‘MOVE’ as American religion on the 40th anniversary of Philadelphia bombing its own residents
    • Catholic Right Support isn’t the Only Reason Trump Believes He Can Get Away with Mockery of Catholicism
      Catholic Right Support isn’t the Only Reason Trump Believes He Can Get Away with Mockery of Catholicism
    • EXPERTS AGREE: what Trump is doing is fascism
      EXPERTS AGREE: what Trump is doing is fascism

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).

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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Christian Nationalism, 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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Culture, Politics/Law, Religious LibertyAugust 13, 2018

Satanic Temple Organizing a Rally for Religious Liberty

By Joseph Laycock

The trouble started in 2015 when Arkansas state Sen. Jason Rapert sponsored a bill to erect a Ten Commandments monument at the capitol.

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(A)theologies, Archive, OMFG, Religious LibertyMarch 20, 2017

Satanists Take Aim at School Spanking

By Joseph Laycock

There’s a connection between hitting children and cultural identity. Growing up in Austin, Texas, I…

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