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.
Written at the height of the Satanic Panic back in the 1980s, this novel provides us a glimpse into the mindset of today’s Christian culture warriors. It captures the forces that created those culture warriors. Now, we turn our gaze to the stereotypes in the book that concern women. Today, Lord Snow Presides over a rainbow of mischaracterizations and strawmen–er, strawwomen!
We meet an honest-to-goodness demon, learn about the dangers of higher education, see fundagelical parenting in action, and encounter another weirdly-persuasive evil character. Today, Lord Snow Presides over a crash course in more right-wing Christian prejudices in This Present Darkness.
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.
This weekend, much of the world celebrates Easter. This holiday represents a celebration of renewal and rebirth–and not only for Christians! In that vein, enjoy this hand-curated collection of past Roll to Disbelieve posts that relate to this time of year!
From the beginning, I figured Mark Driscoll began blogging to help bury his disgrace. When he arrived to Patheos, he prompted a tempest-in-a-teapot. I figured early on that he probably wouldn’t last long once the novelty wore off. As it turns out, he lasted longer than I expected! But he’s dribbling to a close, it feels like.
Come join me for a weird ride through Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) politics, infighting, and a strange show of defensiveness from one of their biggest names, Thom Rainer. Today, Lord Snow Presides over yet another SBC attempt to make catastrophic failure sound like incoming victories galore.
Nothing brings out the Christian love quite like Christmas. It’s that wonderful time of year when Christians fight over the proper-and-correct way to celebrate their favorite holiday. Gaudy entertainment meets sanctimonious simplified displays meets complete secularization in a Battle Royale to the finish! Come sit in the gladiatorial arena and watch the spectacle! Today, Lord Snow Presides over a whole different kind of tradition beloved by way too many Christians.
I saw a video lately about multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs) and their similarity to classic religious cults. I want to show you this idea in detail–and maybe offer some hope for those who love people who’ve gotten sucked into this predatory business model. Today, Lord Snow Presides over the weird similarity of cults and MLMs!