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.
Just in case the back-to-school doldrums are leaving you at loose ends, here are some past posts that can help keep you occupied.
In this installment, we get our first real look at one of the other villains in the book–the pastor of the other church in town. Today, Lord Snow Presides over evangelicals’ disgust for one of their tribal enemies: excessive coziness with other denominations and religions.
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.
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.