I find this book fascinating still, even after all these weeks of reading and reviewing it! It simply contains so many of the seeds of what we find most tedious and grotesque about evangelicals today. As we dive into Chapter 10, we meet a femme fatale who wants her a piece of Hank. Today, Lord Snow Presides over the worst counselor in the world.
Most of the awful traits we see in evangelicals nowadays began to take shape during the Satanic Panic. One of those traits involves their deep hatred of psychology and higher education. If that antipathy confuses anybody observing their culture, today’s post might be of help. Today, Lord Snow Presides over the orgy of evidence that Frank Peretti uses to paint a professor as evil.
In the first half of the chapter, two Christians play a rousing hand of Happy Pretendy Fun Time Gaming, we learn a bit more about Hank Busche’s church, and Peretti lays out the stakes for an upcoming central conflict. Today, Lord Snow Presides over the accidental pastor of an upside-down church–and what Hank Busche’s entire situation means to Frank Peretti’s target audience.
Today, we examine the second meeting–and see some important truths about the culture warriors who love this book. We’ll see how they see themselves, and more importantly how they see their enemies–which includes not only demons but also you, me, and everybody else who rejects their simple message of control-lust, cruelty, division, and authoritarianism. Hop aboard for a demonic meeting, as filtered through a culture warrior’s lens!
Here, we continue our examination of Frank Peretti’s somehow-bestselling fantasy novel This Present Darkness. In Chapter 5, we discover some startling facts about angels. Today, Lord Snow Presides over an ethnography that Christian culture warriors never forgot.
We’ve talked about all kinds of stuff about the novel and its historical context. Today, we examine the book’s setting: the tiny town of Ashton. As with the book’s other elements, Peretti chose this one–and then set it in undeniable decline–for a reason. And we can tell what that reason was.
From all the Daddy God blathering to the Heavenly Father crowd, Christians can’t resist comparing their imaginary friend to a real live father. And more than that, in their viewpoint, he’s not just exactly like a real live father–he’s better than any human father could ever be. Today, let me show you why that idea is both nonsensical and insulting to decent fathers everywhere.
In this installment, we discover Magical Christian Jesus Powers that only TRUE CHRISTIANS™ can possess–and the mystical evil heathen powers deployed in turn by the Cabal of Satanic Wiccans (or Wiccan Satanists, Whatevs) (CSWWSW). Today, Lord Snow Presides over a pair of confrontations that reveal the insecurities–and the most feverish fantasies–of the Christians who loved this book.
This poorly-written book helped elevate the Satanic Panic in Christian imaginations–and shaped their conceptualization of spiritual warfare for many decades to come. It did even more than that, though! Today, Lord Snow Presides over the way that This Present Darkness drew battle lines for culture warriors through the manipulation of their persecution fantasies.
Today, we begin an epic journey through the Christian movie Facing the Giants. It’s a “heartwarming” story of infertility, Jesus magic, a bizarre lack of understanding of sportsball considering its topic, and more ableism than you can shake a cane at. Enjoy! Today, Lord Snow presides over a terrible Christian movie!