University of Southern California
USC Annenberg
  • About
  • Submissions
  • Contact
  • FAQ
Religion Dispatches - Religion Dispatches Religion Dispatches
  • Racial Justice
    • The Problem With An Evangelical Petition Calling White Nationalism ‘Heresy’
      The Problem With An Evangelical Petition Calling White Nationalism ‘Heresy’
    • Why We’re Not Prepared to Prosecute White Nationalist Violence
      Why We’re Not Prepared to Prosecute White Nationalist Violence
    • Rush Limbaugh’s Race-Baiting and Gaslighting of Obama Paved the Way for Trump
      Rush Limbaugh’s Race-Baiting and Gaslighting of Obama Paved the Way for Trump
  • Politics/Law
    • The Problem With An Evangelical Petition Calling White Nationalism ‘Heresy’
      The Problem With An Evangelical Petition Calling White Nationalism ‘Heresy’
    • Why We’re Not Prepared to Prosecute White Nationalist Violence
      Why We’re Not Prepared to Prosecute White Nationalist Violence
    • No, Rush Limbaugh Did Not Hijack Your Parents’ Christianity
      No, Rush Limbaugh Did Not Hijack Your Parents’ Christianity
  • Religious Liberty
    • What Coverage of a Fatal Orthodox Baptism Reveals About Western Media
      What Coverage of a Fatal Orthodox Baptism Reveals About Western Media
    • 2021 National Prayer Breakfast: A Kinder Gentler Christian Capitalism
      2021 National Prayer Breakfast: A Kinder Gentler Christian Capitalism
    • Blinken and ‘Blinkered’: Two Oath-of-Office Stories Embody a Divided America
      Blinken and ‘Blinkered’: Two Oath-of-Office Stories Embody a Divided America
  • Sex/Gender/Justice
    • It’s Time for Democrats to Read the Bible Verses on the Wall and Stop Courting White Evangelicals
      It’s Time for Democrats to Read the Bible Verses on the Wall and Stop Courting White Evangelicals
    • We Can Finally Put the Lie to Trumpism: 5 Myths Debunked By a Biden Victory
      We Can Finally Put the Lie to Trumpism: 5 Myths Debunked By a Biden Victory
    • 11 Election Tweets to Amuse, Infuriate, Enlighten, and Amuse You
      11 Election Tweets to Amuse, Infuriate, Enlighten, and Amuse You
  • New Books
    • Watch: Is The Religious Left a Mirage or Are Journalists Just Missing the Story?
      Watch: Is The Religious Left a Mirage or Are Journalists Just Missing the Story?
    • Pulitzer-Prize Winning Historian’s Latest Reveals the Problem with Today’s ‘Religious Freedom’
      Pulitzer-Prize Winning Historian’s Latest Reveals the Problem with Today’s ‘Religious Freedom’
    • ‘God Made Them Male and Female…and Eunuch’: Why the Biblical Case For Binary Gender Isn’t So… Biblical
      ‘God Made Them Male and Female…and Eunuch’: Why the Biblical Case For Binary Gender Isn’t So… Biblical

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).

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.

Read More
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.

Read More
(A)theologies, Archive, Joseph Laycock, 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…

Read More
(A)theologies, Archive, Science, The CubitAugust 23, 2016

CERN: Where Particle Physics Collides with Human Sacrifice (Apparently)

By Joseph Laycock

Almost no one was fooled last week when footage surfaced of what appeared to be…

Read More
(A)theologies, Archive, Culture, The CubitJune 16, 2016

Satanists Infiltrate a Ritual Abuse Conference in Oakland: Your Guide to What Happened and Why

By Joseph Laycock

In April, a group of Satanists infiltrated a conference for people who believe they’re the…

Read More
(A)theologies, Archive, Joseph Laycock, RD Blog, Science, The CubitApril 6, 2016

Satanic Temple Protests Pseudoscientific Therapies for Satanic Abuse and Witchcraft

By Joseph Laycock

If you happened to walk past San Francisco’s Parc 55 hotel this past weekend, you…

Read More
(A)theologies, Archive, Joseph Laycock, New Books, StoriesNovember 3, 2015

Why Have So Many Fallen for the Rune Stone Hoax?

By Joseph Laycock

Did a group of Christian Vikings from Sweden and Norway travel by river to Douglas…

Read More
(A)theologies, ArchiveSeptember 9, 2015

Back to School at The First Public School In the Country To Require a World Religions Course

By Joseph Laycock

Could a course prevent public schools from becoming battlefields?

Read More
(A)theologies, ArchiveJuly 9, 2015

Can You Make a Comedy About UFO Cult Mass Suicide?

By Joseph Laycock

Austin-based filmmaker David Jones is going to try.

Read More
(A)theologies, Joseph Laycock, OMFG, RD BlogJune 23, 2015

Why Dylann Roof Acted on His Racism

By Joseph Laycock

It’s all about the apocalypse.

Read More
Previous 1 2 3 … 10 Next

Religion Dispatches

Religion Dispatches

Religion Dispatches is your independent, non-profit, award-winning source for the best writing on critical and timely issues at the intersection of religion, politics, and culture.

© Religion Dispatches
Back to top