tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/satan-37806/articlesSatan – The Conversation2023-12-20T13:25:45Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2165942023-12-20T13:25:45Z2023-12-20T13:25:45Z50 years later, ‘The Exorcist’ continues to possess Hollywood’s imagination, reflecting our obsession with evil<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566712/original/file-20231219-29-5tk48y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=964%2C1264%2C2636%2C1671&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The film went on to gross nearly $450 million worldwide.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/poster-for-william-friedkins-1973-horror-the-exorcist-news-photo/504412731?adppopup=true">Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070047/">The Exorcist</a>” premiered 50 years ago, in December 1973, some theatergoers <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1974/01/27/archives/they-wait-hoursto-be-shocked-the-exorcist-got-mixed-reviews-why-has.html">fainted or broke down in tears</a>. A few <a href="https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-exorcist-what-it-was-like-to-see-the-movie-in-theaters">even vomited</a>.</p>
<p>The film, which cast a young <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000304/">Linda Blair</a> as a girl claiming to be possessed by the devil, was an almost instant success, with moviegoers <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/08/12/original-audience-reaction-to-the-exorcist-was-off-the-charts/">waiting in line for hours</a> to secure tickets. It went on to gross <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0070047/">over US$440 million</a> worldwide.</p>
<p>The horror film eventually <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070047/awards/">received two Oscars</a>, for Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay.</p>
<p>In the 50 years since, the cultural fascination with Satan has persisted. <a href="https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2023/07/89371/">But as religiosity has waned</a>, popular portrayals of Satan have also changed. Rather than embody pure evil, Luciferian characters that are complicated – even likable – have emerged. </p>
<h2>Cinema’s dance with the devil</h2>
<p>The devil has never been a stranger to the movies. He appeared as early as 1896, in Georges Méliès’ “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt0w2qP6REg">The House of the Devil</a>, a three-minute silent film. </p>
<p>Just five years before the release of "The Exorcist,” Roman Polanski’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063522/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_7_nm_1_q_rosemary%27s%2520">Rosemary’s Baby</a>” told the story about a young woman, played by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001201/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_1_nm_7_q_mia%2520farrow">Mia Farrow</a>, who was carrying Satan’s child. </p>
<p>That film also took home two Oscars. Still, critics generally credit “The Exorcist” with kicking off a run of movies about Satan and demonic possession. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Movie poster featuring drawings of various actors, young and old." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566722/original/file-20231219-23-ts8rod.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566722/original/file-20231219-23-ts8rod.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566722/original/file-20231219-23-ts8rod.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566722/original/file-20231219-23-ts8rod.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566722/original/file-20231219-23-ts8rod.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1202&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566722/original/file-20231219-23-ts8rod.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1202&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566722/original/file-20231219-23-ts8rod.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1202&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Italian theatrical poster for the 1974 film ‘Beyond the Door.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chi-sei-italian-movie-poster-md.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Imitations appeared all over the world. There was the 1974 Italian film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071212/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_beyond%2520the%2520door">Beyond the Door</a>,” starring <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005236/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_2_nm_6_q_juliet%2520mills">Juliet Mills</a> as a young woman pregnant with the Devil’s baby. The Turkish film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072148/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_seytan">Seytan</a>,” which told a story almost identical to “The Exorcist,” was released that same year. The 1976 film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075005/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Omen</a>” and its sequels imagined the rise of Satan’s son, Damien Thorn. </p>
<p>Other filmmakers showcased the versatility of the subgenre by imagining Satanic encounters everywhere from cruise ships to schoolyards. Jack Starrett’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073600/">Race with the Devil</a>” told the story of vacationers fleeing a Satanic cult. A slew of TV movies also appeared, such as “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073662/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_satan%27s%2520triangle">Satan’s Triangle</a>” (1975) and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077429/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_2_nm_0_q_devil%2520dog%2520hound">Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell</a>” (1978).</p>
<h2>Interest in exorcisms surges</h2>
<p><a href="https://time.com/isgoddead/">Anxiety about social change and growing secularism</a> gave “The Exorcist” influence beyond the box office.</p>
<p>In November 1973, a month before “The Exorcist” premiered, The New York Times reported that among U.S. Catholics, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/12/archives/catholic-churchgoing-still-declining-based-on-samplings.html">attendance at weekly mass</a> had dropped to 48% from 61% between 1972 and 1973.</p>
<p>After the movie came out, curiosity about Catholicism rose significantly.</p>
<p>This was especially true with regard to exorcism, a rite <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/10/20/explainer-exorcism-catholic-priest-halloween">so rarely practiced within the church</a> that the film’s protagonist, Father Damian Karras, says that in order to find someone to perform it, he’d “have to get into a time machine and get back to the 16th century.”</p>
<p>Nonetheless, in January 1974, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1974/01/28/archives/-exorcist-adds-problems-for-catholic-clergymen-hit-film-the.html">The New York Times reported</a> that the Catholic Church was receiving “a wave of inquiries from persons who believe that they, or their acquaintances, are possessed by demons.” </p>
<p>Many of these requests came from people who were no longer, or never had been, churchgoers.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white photo of bundled up people lined up outside of a movie theater." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566714/original/file-20231219-21-i5c7gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566714/original/file-20231219-21-i5c7gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566714/original/file-20231219-21-i5c7gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566714/original/file-20231219-21-i5c7gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566714/original/file-20231219-21-i5c7gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566714/original/file-20231219-21-i5c7gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566714/original/file-20231219-21-i5c7gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A crowd braves frigid weather in New York City to see ‘The Exorcist’ in February 1974.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/scene-from-dantes-inferno-it-might-be-with-stem-rising-from-news-photo/1160965641?adppopup=true">Bettmann Archive/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Fears of satanism snowball</h2>
<p>“The Exorcist” and its imitators were very much still in the zeitgeist <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/31/us/satanic-panic.html">during the satanic panic of the 1980s</a>, which involved thousands of false accusations of Satanic ritual abuse throughout the U.S. and Canada.</p>
<p>In 1980, “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/arts/satan-wants-you-filmmakers-q-a-sean-horlor-steve-j-adams-1.6822213">Michelle Remembers</a>,” a memoir about a young woman’s sexual abuse by a satanic cult, was published. Though it was eventually discredited, the book is thought to have kicked off the panic.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Cover of book featuring sinister devil looming over a girl clutching a doll." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566724/original/file-20231219-17-iyysn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566724/original/file-20231219-17-iyysn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=990&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566724/original/file-20231219-17-iyysn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=990&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566724/original/file-20231219-17-iyysn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=990&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566724/original/file-20231219-17-iyysn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1244&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566724/original/file-20231219-17-iyysn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1244&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566724/original/file-20231219-17-iyysn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1244&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Michelle Remembers’ was eventually discredited – but not before helping to spur the satanic panic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1177037179i/676637.jpg">Goodreads</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Throughout the 1980s, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/satanic-panic-film-movie-michelle-smith-memoir-b2300716.html">reports of satanic rituals and abuse</a> reached hysterical levels, perhaps most famously in <a href="https://rumble.com/vqpqxx-martensville-satanic-scandal-history-of-satanic-movement-in-canada.html">Saskatchewan, Canada</a>, where day care workers were accused of satanism and sexual abuse. Major media networks capitalized on fears of a fallen world, with NBC running a 1988 special entitled “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/26/business/program-on-satan-worship-spurs-controversy-at-nbc.html">Devil Worship: Exposing Satan’s Underground</a>.” </p>
<p>Meanwhile, accusations of satanism were leveled at everything from “<a href="https://theconversation.com/rival-fantasies-dungeons-and-dragons-players-and-their-religious-critics-actually-have-a-lot-in-common-40343">Dungeons & Dragons</a>” to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-fate-of-the-metalheads-44876">heavy metal music</a>. Some people even believed the conspiracy theory that the Proctor & Gamble logo <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/procter-gamble-satan-conspiracy-theory">contained hidden satanic symbols</a>.</p>
<h2>Sympathy for the devil</h2>
<p>By the turn of the 21st century, the panic had run its course, as had representations of Satan as an embodiment of pure evil. </p>
<p>Growing secularism in the U.S. ran in parallel with depictions of a charming, more likable Satan. The public had grown increasingly disillusioned with institutionalized religion, especially with revelations of <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/3-big-us-churches-in-turmoil-over-sex-abuse-lgbt-policy">child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church and other denominations</a>.</p>
<p>This sympathy for the devil was nothing new: It went back at least as far as John Milton’s 1667 epic poem “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20">Paradise Lost</a>.” The poem’s depiction of Satan as the fallen angel Lucifer was so compelling, it caused poet William Blake <a href="https://theamericanscholar.org/the-devils-party/">to famously suggest</a> that Milton was “of the Devil’s party without knowing it.”</p>
<p>“Paradise Lost” has been adapted and reworked for modern audiences. </p>
<p>The television series “<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-a-biannual-gathering-of-1967-impalas-reveals-about-the-blurry-line-between-fandom-and-religion-216890">Supernatural</a>” includes a number of story arcs featuring a dangerous but charismatic Lucifer. The figure is also depicted sympathetically in <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/40372-the-sandman">Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” comics</a>.</p>
<p>The 2015 film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4263482/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_7_nm_0_q_the%2520witch">The Witch</a>” takes a different approach, portraying communion with the Devil as preferable to a life of drudgery and abuse for teenage girls in Puritan New England. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, satanism has emerged as a secular movement. <a href="https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/about-us">According to the Satanic Temple</a>, its members seek to “encourage benevolence and empathy” and “reject tyrannical authority” to protect the separation of church and state.</p>
<h2>Everyday evil</h2>
<p>Still, neither sympathetic narrative portrayals nor secular movements have fully diminished the power of Satan to trouble the popular imagination. </p>
<p>In a society that has become increasingly divided, satanism has once again become a potent source of fear. The internet is rife with rumors about <a href="https://theconversation.com/hell-no-halloween-is-not-satanic-its-an-important-way-to-think-about-death-118391">the supposed satanic origins of Halloween</a> and <a href="https://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleasesbucket/pressreleases200/harrypotterseries.htm">the “Harry Potter” books</a>. Echoes of the satanic panic <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/05/18/997559036/americas-satanic-panic-returns-this-time-through-qanon">can be found in the QAnon movement</a>, which accuses some Democratic politicians of a satanic conspiracy to kidnap and sexually abuse children. </p>
<p>The hysteria expressed by <a href="https://theconversation.com/buying-into-conspiracy-theories-can-be-exciting-thats-what-makes-them-dangerous-184623">groups like QAnon</a> is an extreme example of a long-standing human impulse to label those who are feared and hated as personifications of evil. At the same time, this tendency is a way to understand the horrible cruelties of this world, and why people inflict such harm on each other.</p>
<p>During the original run of “The Exorcist,” many people questioned the impulse to embody all evil within a single supernatural figure. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1974/01/28/archives/-exorcist-adds-problems-for-catholic-clergymen-hit-film-the.html">In a 1974 interview about the film with The New York Times</a>, priest and psychologist Eugene Kennedy noted that it’s important for people to “[come] to terms with our own capacity for evil, not projecting it on an outside force that possesses us.” </p>
<p>This sentiment remains true today. Everyday acts of evil, small and large, may be easy to ignore when measured against the so-called “pure evil” embodied in the character of Satan. Nonetheless, the undiminished cultural fascination with the figure of Satan may be a way of trying <a href="https://home.csulb.edu/%7Eacargile/resources/Evil.pdf">to better comprehend evil</a> – and why people so often choose it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216594/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Regina Hansen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When the film premiered, theatergoers fainted and vomited. It went on to inspire a series of copycat films – while fomenting a cultural panic about the demons in our midst.Regina Hansen, Master Lecturer of Rhetoric, Boston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2059432023-06-06T20:14:32Z2023-06-06T20:14:32ZNature religions are growing in Australia – though witchcraft was illegal in some territories just 10 years ago<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528982/original/file-20230530-39165-6p9ey3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C14%2C4920%2C3238&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mallory Johndrow/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nature religions, commonly described as Paganism (or neo-Paganism), are growing in Australia. In <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/census/guide-census-data/census-dictionary/2021/variables-topic/cultural-diversity/religious-affiliation-relp">the last Census</a>, 33,148 people claimed affiliation with a nature religion: including <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/animism">Animism</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/britannia-druids-and-the-surprisingly-modern-origins-of-myths-89979">Druidism</a>, and the many traditions of <a href="https://theconversation.com/wiccan-celebration-of-summer-solstice-is-a-reminder-that-change-as-expressed-in-nature-is-inevitable-184814">Wicca</a>, the most practised Pagan pathway. </p>
<p>Thirty years <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopaganism_in_Australia#:%7E:text=In%20the%201991%20census%20by,religion%20as%20Wicca%20or%20Witchcraft">earlier</a>, just 4,353 Australians put down Paganism as their religion. Affiliation with Christianity has <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/religious-affiliation-australia#:%7E:text=The%20number%20of%20people%20affiliated,(18%2D25%20years).">decreased</a> over that 30-year period.</p>
<p>Australian laws against practising witchcraft have only been repealed as recently as this century in some states and territories. In the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-17/northern-territory-to-ditch-their-witchcraft-law/4894086">Northern Territory</a>, it was just 10 years ago: 2013. The laws were repealed in 2005 in Victoria, 2000 in Queensland and 1991 in South Australia. New South Wales was the first state to repeal them, in 1969.</p>
<p>The British Witchcraft Act of 1735, which Australia’s laws stemmed from, was repealed in 1951; the <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Hellish_Nell/ehh-AAAAMAAJ?hl=en">last conviction</a> of a witch was in 1944. </p>
<p>There’s never been a recorded conviction for witchcraft in Australia. But many Pagans <a href="https://journal.equinoxpub.com/POM/article/view/3020">remain cautious</a> about practising their faith openly, due to perceptions of believers as Satan worshippers. So, Australia’s Pagan population may be much higher than the figures show: declaring a religion on the Census is optional. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Delinquent_Elementals/OB6vygEACAAJ?hl=en">Satanic panics</a> of the 1980s in the UK and America didn’t help. Nor does the appropriation of Pagan symbols by <a href="https://oxfordre.com/religion/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-681;jsessionid=D9B3C24DFE6CB5A3C53E18CA53905950?rskey=Fjmi7N&result=448">far-right movements</a>, which has a particularly dark history in Germanic and Scandinavian countries.</p>
<p>But Paganism grew rapidly during the 1990s, with the popularity of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40405642?seq=1">Pagan-friendly</a> movies and television like <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115963/">The Craft</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/sabrina-the-teenage-witch-is-back-with-a-darker-look-for-our-times-103915">Sabrina The Teenage Witch</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-would-have-had-her-work-cut-out-in-2017-73311">Buffy the Vampire Slayer</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0158552/">Charmed</a>. And in the early 2000s, the wild success of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/rethinking-harry-potter-twenty-years-on-86761">Harry Potter</a> franchise normalised magic for an entire generation.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/W8HMxRf6ng4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Buffy’s practising witch Willow helped popularise Paganism in the 1990s.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Paganism’s emphasis on nature worship resonates in our increasingly climate conscious society. It also offers an alternative to traditional patriarchal church hierarchies, with its predominately female support base: 66% of Pagans in the 2021 Census identified as women. Significantly, Paganism is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/27/dawn-of-the-new-pagans-everybodys-welcome-as-long-as-you-keep-your-clothes-on">inclusive</a> of people from any background or sexual orientation.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hello-magic-and-witchcraft-goodbye-enlightenment-105720">Hello magic and witchcraft, goodbye Enlightenment</a>
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<h2>What is Paganism?</h2>
<p>Paganism is an umbrella term for people who follow any number of nature-based spiritual pathways. Pagans share a reverence for, and spiritual connection with, the natural world. But they don’t share one single set of beliefs, practices or sacred texts. </p>
<p>The Latin root word “paganus” <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Paganism_A_Very_Short_Introduction/pjP8Cr28GCIC?hl=en">was used by the Romans</a> to denote civilians (non-soldiers), outsiders and country-dwellers. Later, the term was applied to any non-Christian and inferred the worship of false gods.</p>
<p>But Christian civilisation has continually been fascinated by the art and literature of the ancient Pagan world, especially Greece and Rome. This kept the old deities imaginatively alive, preserving a different set of attitudes to the natural world and the divine.</p>
<p>Paganism draws its traditions <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/_/mi6zzQEACAAJ?hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiy5_z0t_P-AhUCcmwGHeiyDu0Qre8FegQIAxAZ">from</a> the ceremonial magic of the ancient world, the group organisation of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Freemasonry">Freemasonry</a> and earlier Pagan cultures. Many Pagans believe individuals persecuted for witchcraft throughout European history were adherents of a surviving Pagan religion.</p>
<p>The modern Pagan movement began in Britain during the 1940s. Influenced by <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-romanticism-rebelled-against-cold-hearted-rationality-100242">Romanticism</a> and <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/31/why-did-so-many-victorians-try-to-speak-with-the-dead">Victorian-era spiritualism</a>, these early practitioners perceived contemporary society as a corrupting influence and recognised nature as a repository of ancient wisdom.</p>
<p>They found receptive audiences in the US and Scandinavia – which, in turn, introduced the faith to other countries.</p>
<h2>What do Pagans do and believe?</h2>
<p>The type of Paganism practised today is a <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Handbook_of_Contemporary_Paganism/rwzttsI9-NwC?hl=en">revival or reformation</a> of European and northern African traditions. </p>
<p>Some Australian Pagans also incorporate the practices of First Nations peoples. Each culture has its own conception of Paganism. Northern Europe’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Heathenry">Heathenry</a> is inspired by the pre-Christian religions of Germanic language nations. <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Profane_Egyptologists/M6NMtAEACAAJ?hl=en">Kemetism</a> is a revival of ancient Egyptian religion.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529047/original/file-20230530-15-opja7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529047/original/file-20230530-15-opja7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529047/original/file-20230530-15-opja7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529047/original/file-20230530-15-opja7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529047/original/file-20230530-15-opja7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529047/original/file-20230530-15-opja7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529047/original/file-20230530-15-opja7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529047/original/file-20230530-15-opja7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Kemetic private altar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:RileyXeon">Riley Williams/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many Pagans are <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Solitary_Pagans/7uujDwAAQBAJ?hl=en">solitary practitioners</a>, though others join covens or similar groupings. Female Pagans tend to gravitate more towards <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Practising_the_Witch_s_Craft/Uc8WwwMFGq8C?hl=en&gbpv=1">group worship</a> than men.</p>
<p>There’s also a thriving online community of Pagans: the hashtag <a href="https://theconversation.com/witchtok-the-rise-of-the-occult-on-social-media-has-eerie-parallels-with-the-16th-century-168322">#WitchTok</a> has exploded in popularity over the last few years. The top <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-63403467">Witch TikTokkers</a> stream rituals and spell tutorials to an audience of millions.</p>
<p>Pagans generally worship multiple gods, or identify god with the universe. Ritual magic is central. Celestial events like <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-moon-bright-is-easter-a-full-moon-how-long-does-a-full-moon-last-your-moon-questions-answered-by-an-astronomer-158061">full moons</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-winter-solstice-matters-around-the-world-4-essential-reads-196344">solstices</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-makes-the-spring-equinox-31962">equinoxes</a> are times of celebration.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529039/original/file-20230530-21-gc3few.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529039/original/file-20230530-21-gc3few.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529039/original/file-20230530-21-gc3few.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529039/original/file-20230530-21-gc3few.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529039/original/file-20230530-21-gc3few.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529039/original/file-20230530-21-gc3few.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529039/original/file-20230530-21-gc3few.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529039/original/file-20230530-21-gc3few.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Francisco de Goya’s 1798 painting, Witches Sabbath.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A horned nature god, such as Pan, is central across Pagan traditions. “With his goat legs, pointed ears, and lascivious face, Pan most likely inspired early Christian images of Satan,” <a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-why-rosaleen-norton-the-witch-of-kings-cross-was-a-groundbreaking-bohemian-154184">observes classics professor Marguerite Johnson</a>, noting the resemblance.</p>
<p>Diana, a Roman goddess of the hunt, fertility, chastity and the moon, is another primary figure of worship. So is Hecate: a Greek goddess of sorcery now associated with witchcraft and Wicca.</p>
<p>Most Wiccan pathways place equal reverence on a goddess and god pairing, though some place particular emphasis on the former. Some Wiccans exclusively follow the feminine divine.</p>
<p>Shamanism, a religious phenomenon centred on <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/shamanism">the shaman</a>, “a person believed to achieve various powers through trance or ecstatic religious experience”, is also undergoing a revival. <a href="https://theconversation.com/shamanism-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-fastest-growing-religion-in-england-and-wales-196438">Shamanism</a> is not yet listed as a separate category in the Census.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-modern-witches-are-enchanting-tiktok-174576">How modern witches are enchanting TikTok</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Australian pagans</h2>
<p>Queensland recorded the largest number of Pagans in the last two Census, followed by New South Wales and Victoria. But the biggest population of Pagans <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-30/tasmania-has-one-of-the-biggest-pagan-populations/11224838">per capita</a> is in Tasmania.</p>
<p>Paganism in Australia was preceded by a significant <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Witchcraft_and_Paganism_in_Australia/-OrWAAAAMAAJ?hl=en">occult and esoteric subculture</a>, the first of which – the Freemasons – <a href="https://www.freemasonsvic.net.au/history-and-heritage/">arrived with</a> colonisation. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Ancient_Order_of_Druids#Australia_and_New_Zealand">United Ancient Order of the Druids</a> established its first lodge in 1851, and the first Australian branch of the <a href="https://theosophicalsociety.org.au/">Theosophical Society</a> opened in 1895. </p>
<p>In the 20th century, the mystical <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rosicrucians">Rosicrucians</a> established their first study group in Australia (1930). They were followed by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordo_Templi_Orientis">Ordo Templi Orientis</a>, originally modelled on Freemasonry, then made infamous through <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley">Aleister Crowley</a>. Under Crowley’s leadership, initiates were no longer Masons, but Magicians.</p>
<p>And then there were the Pagans.</p>
<p>Early adopters like <a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-why-rosaleen-norton-the-witch-of-kings-cross-was-a-groundbreaking-bohemian-154184">Rosaleen Norton</a>, known as the “Witch of Kings Cross” or “Thorn”, were influential in introducing Pagan beliefs to a wider audience. </p>
<p>Norton, a self-proclaimed witch, practised trance magic and, later, sex magic in various flats and squats across inner-city Sydney. She was often accused of being a Satanist: she wasn’t, but was famously photographed with an altar beneath a portrait of Pan resembling Satan.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dWwN9PGGqMo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Rosaleen Norton, worshipping Pan.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since 1997, Australia’s <a href="https://www.paganawareness.net.au/">Pagan Awareness Network</a> has worked to correct misinformation and educate others about the faith. They have lobbied government to grant religious exemptions, such as the use of ceremonial knives in rituals.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-why-rosaleen-norton-the-witch-of-kings-cross-was-a-groundbreaking-bohemian-154184">Friday essay: why Rosaleen Norton, 'the witch of Kings Cross', was a groundbreaking bohemian</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The <a href="https://www.pagandash.org.au/">PAGANdash campaign</a> was started in 2006, to identify fellow Pagan practitioners. It ran in the lead-ups to the 2011 and 2016 Census. The campaign encouraged believers to write Pagan as their prefix on their Census forms, followed by their individual belief (for example, Pagan-Druid). An immediate success, it was soon adopted by UK groups.</p>
<p>The first Census conducted <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114.nsf/Home/Assuring+Census+Data+Quality">primarily online</a>, in 2016, recorded a substantial decrease in Pagans: 27,194, down from 32,083 in 2011. This may have been due to privacy concerns – though of course, numbers were up again, to 33,148, in 2021.</p>
<p>As recognition of Paganism as a genuine faith continues to grow, more practitioners are expected to begin worshipping openly. In this era of rapid technological advancement, increasingly urbanisation, and declining social cohesion, many people are returning to the “old ways”.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>NOTE: The data in this article has been compiled using the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data">Census data tools</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205943/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendan C. Walsh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the last Census, 33,148 Australians identified with a nature religion, or Paganism. Who are the Pagans – and what do they do and believe?Brendan C. Walsh, Sessional Academic, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1628592021-07-15T19:27:46Z2021-07-15T19:27:46ZFriday essay: Satan is back (again) — the Devil in 5 dark details<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410760/original/file-20210712-70634-gwiz64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C4%2C976%2C651&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tom Ellis in Lucifer.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4052886/mediaviewer/rm849500928/">IMDB</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>His title is the Devil, but he goes by a number of names — Satan, Lucifer, Beliar, Beelzebul or Beelzebub.</p>
<p>He was big in 1970s pop culture (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070047/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">The Exorcist</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066993/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Devils</a>) and continues to feature on screen today. A sixth season of the TV show <a href="https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a33795880/lucifer-season-6-release-date-netflix/">Lucifer</a> is in production and new film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7069210/?ref_=ttqt_qt_tt">The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It</a> is showing in cinemas.</p>
<p>Conservative Christianity has a long commitment to the idea of a personal devil. Our Pentecostal Prime Minister Scott Morrison believes the misuse of social media is <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/scott-morrison-calls-social-media-the-work-of-the-devil-during-christian-convention-on-gold-coast/news-story/be601983500f49d97917ac598134969c">the work of the Devil</a>. Pope Francis, meanwhile, maintains Satan <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/41160/satan-is-real-pope-francis-says">still exists</a>. </p>
<p>The Devil’s modern resurgence might explain a reported <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/news/us-exorcists-demonic-activity-on-the-rise">increase in apparent demonic possessions</a> in both conservative Catholic and Protestant churches. The rise has fuelled the growth of church ministries that claim to drive out demons. And the conspiracy theorists of QAnon have notoriously created <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/05/18/997559036/americas-satanic-panic-returns-this-time-through-qanon">baseless moral panic</a> about the imagined sexual abuse of children in Satanic cults.</p>
<p>Given the amount of publicity the Devil is currently attracting, it’s worth reviewing his history. Here are five things worth knowing.</p>
<h2>1. His story is paradoxical</h2>
<p>After the Divine Trinity itself (the Father, Son and Holy Spirit — three identities in one God), the Devil plays the most important role in the Christian story. </p>
<p>He is there before the beginning of the world and he survives its end. He is first and chief among the angels. He is the first to disobey God and, along with his fellow fallen angels, to be expelled from Heaven.</p>
<p>From this moment on, religious history records the conflict between God and his angelic forces and the Devil and his demonic army.</p>
<p>Within the Christian tradition, it was the Devil — in the form of a serpent after his own fall from heaven — who brought about the Fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden. Christ’s death and resurrection signalled the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/whydidjesusdie_1.shtml">victory over Satan</a> and death.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410742/original/file-20210712-13-y5kmvr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="religious painting" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410742/original/file-20210712-13-y5kmvr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410742/original/file-20210712-13-y5kmvr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410742/original/file-20210712-13-y5kmvr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410742/original/file-20210712-13-y5kmvr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410742/original/file-20210712-13-y5kmvr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=947&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410742/original/file-20210712-13-y5kmvr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=947&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410742/original/file-20210712-13-y5kmvr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=947&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Christ refused a banquet offered by Satan. William Blake (circa 1816–1820).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.wikiart.org/en/william-blake/christ-refusing-the-banquet-offered-by-satan-1820">Wikiart</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet this story is deeply paradoxical. For in spite of Christ’s apparent win, the Devil remains for Christians a real and present source of cosmic evil and human suffering. “We should not think of the devil as a myth, a representation, a symbol, a figure of speech or an idea,” <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-devil-idUSKCN1MI10M">declared</a> Pope Francis in 2018, lest we “let our guard down”.</p>
<p>On the one hand, the Devil is God’s most implacable enemy, granted the freedom to rebel against him. Thus, Saint Paul advised the Ephesians “to put on the whole armour of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil” (Ephesians 6.11). </p>
<p>But on the other hand, the Devil is also God’s faithful servant who acts only at God’s command, or at least with his endorsement. So God sends Satan to kill Job’s animals, servants and children and to afflict Job with “loathsome sores” in order to test his faith in God (Job 1-2).</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h9Q4zZS2v1k?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘The court accepts the existence of God every time a witness swears to tell the truth […] It’s about time they accept the existence of the Devil.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/thoughts-and-prayers-miracles-christianity-and-praying-for-rain-125066">Thoughts and prayers: miracles, Christianity and praying for rain</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>2. He is a master magician</h2>
<p>Within the Christian tradition, Satan was a master of illusion. Unlike God, he could not perform miracles because he was bound by natural laws. </p>
<p>Satan was seen as a master of magic. In early Christianity, magic was reprehensible because <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1114.htm">demons were at the heart of it</a>. For Saint Augustine (354-430), the demonic was present within all magic and superstitious practices in other religions.</p>
<p>For Isidore, bishop of Seville (c.569–636), “the foolery of the magic arts held sway over the entire world for many centuries through the instructions of evil angels […] all of these things are to be avoided by a Christian and entirely repudiated and condemned”.</p>
<p>Thus, witches, magicians, and sorcerers (whether acting benevolently or malevolently) were seen as in league with the Devil.</p>
<p>Thus “demonology”, which developed from the middle of the 13th century, was the “science” of determining the powers of the Devil within nature. From the middle of the 15th century, their research was written up in text books for demon hunters — <a href="https://www.bl.uk/the-middle-ages/articles/medieval-monsters-from-the-mystical-to-the-demonic#">Demonologies</a>. </p>
<p>Modern conservative Christianity still views magical practices along with a range of popular occult practices — tea leaf reading, horoscopes, seances, tarot cards, and ouija boards — as <a href="https://www.gcu.edu/blog/theology-ministry/trending-faith-it-okay-visit-psychic-fun">dangerous dabbling</a> with the Devil.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DC_Z4I62e5Y?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Conjecture is useless. We need a professional witch hunter.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-god-good-in-the-shadow-of-mass-disaster-great-minds-have-argued-the-toss-137078">Is God good? In the shadow of mass disaster, great minds have argued the toss</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>3. He can be sexy</h2>
<p>The Devil has been imagined (and pictured) in many forms. In the television series Lucifer he is a handsome, well-built man. </p>
<p>This tradition goes back to John Milton’s depiction of him as a handsome man in the poem <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15997.Paradise_Lost?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=cCLN0j0LPx&rank=1">Paradise Lost</a>: “From his lips/Not words alone pleased her”. Poet and painter <a href="http://blakearchive.org/images/but536.1.1.wc.100.jpg">William Blake</a> depicted the devil as a chiselled Greek god.</p>
<p>In the medieval period, however, because he dwelt on the boundaries between the human and the bestial, he was often depicted in animal form. In Dante’s <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15645.Inferno?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=o8uWtlTNjG&rank=3">Inferno</a> (1265-1321) he was imagined like a dragon with “two mighty wings, such as befitting were so great a bird, sails of the sea I never saw so large. No feathers had they, but as of a bat”. </p>
<p>He was often imagined as goat-like and <a href="https://www.livescience.com/what-does-the-devil-look-like.html">depicted with</a> animal features: cloven hooves, talons, horns, tail, webbed hands.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410744/original/file-20210712-71119-1jlk5wj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Religious painting" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410744/original/file-20210712-71119-1jlk5wj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410744/original/file-20210712-71119-1jlk5wj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410744/original/file-20210712-71119-1jlk5wj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410744/original/file-20210712-71119-1jlk5wj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410744/original/file-20210712-71119-1jlk5wj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=652&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410744/original/file-20210712-71119-1jlk5wj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=652&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410744/original/file-20210712-71119-1jlk5wj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=652&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Satan with creature features. Detail from Jacob de Backer’s The Last Judgement (circa 1580s).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Backer_Judgment_(detail).JPG">Wikiart</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In demonological literature he was portrayed as a spiritual being without any bodily form. A master of illusion, he was a shape shifter. It was believed he could change gender and assume a male (incubus) or a female body (succubus).</p>
<p>As a spiritual being, the Devil was unable to create children. But he could assume a female form, steal semen from a man and then, in a male form, deposit it in a woman.</p>
<p>According to that most famous of all the Demonologies, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Malleus-maleficarum">Malleus Maleficarum</a> (1486), the pleasure to be gained by a woman from sex with the Devil was equivalent or better to that with a man. </p>
<p>But the Devil and his angels gained no such pleasure. For them, it was just part of the job of inciting people to evil. Demons transformed themselves, Malleus authors declared, “not for the sake of pleasure, since a spirit does not have flesh or bones,” but “that humans will become more inclined to all faults”.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-0beFQnB5lY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Lucifer’s come a long way. He does his best when you put a little faith in him.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. He gets around</h2>
<p>As a spiritual being, it was believed the Devil could enter into human beings and possess them. Demonologist <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9781315715292-33/henri-boguet-conduct-witchcraft-judge-1602-brian-levack">Henri Boguet</a> (circa 1550–1619) told of a nun who, in eating a lettuce, swallowed the Devil hidden within it.</p>
<p>Indeed, the Devil most often entered through the mouth. But he could apparently also gain access through other bodily openings or wounds.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410743/original/file-20210712-23-eos517.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Religious painting" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410743/original/file-20210712-23-eos517.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410743/original/file-20210712-23-eos517.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410743/original/file-20210712-23-eos517.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410743/original/file-20210712-23-eos517.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410743/original/file-20210712-23-eos517.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410743/original/file-20210712-23-eos517.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410743/original/file-20210712-23-eos517.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Satan smiting Job with boils. William Blake (1826).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.wikiart.org/en/william-blake/satan-smiting-job-with-boils-1826">Wikiart</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Demonologist Francesco Guazzo listed 47 signs of possession in his <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/477992.Compendium_Maleficarum">Compendium Maleficarum</a> (1608). There were natural signs, like crying, gnashing the teeth, foaming at the mouth, extraordinary strength, and violence to the self and others.</p>
<p>There were also supernatural signs — clairvoyance, knowledge of strange languages, levitation, vomiting of strange objects, speaking without moving the mouth in different tones from the normal and the inability to feel pain when pricked.</p>
<p>In the “golden age” of demonic possession, from 1500–1700, experts arose within Catholicism and Protestantism who could cast out demons.</p>
<p>By the year 1600, do-it-yourself exorcism manuals were available. The most successful collection of these, the <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=jgDaPgAACAAJ&pg=PP13#v=onepage&q&f=false">Thesaurus Exorcismorum</a> (1608) <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=-9OLDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PP135&ots=OacTaaNzvX&dq=evil%20spirits%2C%20demons%20and%20all%20evil%20spells%20are%20driven%20from%20obsessed%20human%20bodies%20as%20if%20expelled%20by%20whips%20and%20clubs&pg=PP134#v=onepage&q=evil%20spirits,%20demons%20and%20all%20evil%20spells%20are%20driven%20from%20obsessed%20human%20bodies%20as%20if%20expelled%20by%20whips%20and%20clubs&f=false">promises</a> “evil spirits, demons and all evil spells are driven from obsessed human bodies as if expelled by whips and clubs”.</p>
<h2>5. He can be defeated (sort of)</h2>
<p>According to the Christian understanding of history, the Devil, his son the Antichrist and his army of demons will be finally defeated on Judgement Day and sent to hell. </p>
<p>But within the confines of hell, the Demonic paradox continues. </p>
<p>The Devil and his evil angels will be tormented eternally for their rebellion against God. But they still remain God’s enforcers. There is no Biblical source for the idea of Satan and his demons torturing the damned in hell. But from the fourth century, Satan was believed to be the ruler of the underworld, as told in <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=LROv2bibZ60C&lpg=PA90&ots=CIoO9-hN_o&dq=satan%20as%20ruler%20of%20the%20underworld%20fourth%20century&pg=PA90#v=onepage&q=satan%20as%20ruler%20of%20the%20underworld%20fourth%20century&f=false">stories of Christ’s descent into Hell</a> before his resurrection. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410750/original/file-20210712-15-1ko4zag.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Religious painting" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410750/original/file-20210712-15-1ko4zag.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410750/original/file-20210712-15-1ko4zag.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=646&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410750/original/file-20210712-15-1ko4zag.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=646&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410750/original/file-20210712-15-1ko4zag.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=646&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410750/original/file-20210712-15-1ko4zag.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=811&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410750/original/file-20210712-15-1ko4zag.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=811&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410750/original/file-20210712-15-1ko4zag.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=811&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Detail from Luca Signorelli’s The Damned (circa 1500).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Luca_Signorelli_-_The_Damned_(detail)_-_WGA21227.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/five-things-to-know-about-the-antichrist-148172">Five things to know about the Antichrist</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The role of Satan and his demons punishing the damned in hell was to become a common image in medieval art.</p>
<p>English philosopher <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/henry-more/">Henry More</a> (1614-87) wrote of gratuitous torture, with demons looking to “satiate their lascivient cruelty with all manner of abuses and torments they can imagine”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410754/original/file-20210712-23-dvq5v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Actor Jack Nicholson" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410754/original/file-20210712-23-dvq5v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410754/original/file-20210712-23-dvq5v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410754/original/file-20210712-23-dvq5v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410754/original/file-20210712-23-dvq5v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410754/original/file-20210712-23-dvq5v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410754/original/file-20210712-23-dvq5v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410754/original/file-20210712-23-dvq5v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jack Nicholson plays a charming devil in The Witches of Eastwick.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094332/mediaviewer/rm697617920/">IMDB</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But by the end of the 19th century, this demonic story had lost its central role in Western intellectual life. The Devil had largely become a figure of myth.</p>
<p>Ironically, the marginalisation of the Christian story of the Devil in the modern West and in liberal Christianity allowed for a <a href="https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/satan/giving-the-devil-his-due-satans-25-best-appearance/#5-h%C3%A4xan">proliferation of devils and demons</a> in popular culture — from <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118971/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Devil’s Advocate</a> to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063522/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Rosemary’s Baby</a> to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094332/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Witches of Eastwick</a>.</p>
<p>The Devil is metaphorically, if not literally, the “evil” within all of us. As a result, the Devil has new domains, new territories, and new borders in which he “walks about, as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5.8).</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162859/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip C. Almond does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>By the end of the 19th century, the Devil had become a figure of myth. Ironically, that helped his image proliferate in popular culture.Philip C. Almond, Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1585862021-04-09T12:18:41Z2021-04-09T12:18:41ZLil Nas X’s dance with the devil evokes tradition of resisting, mocking religious demonization<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394040/original/file-20210408-15-jzwfqj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C0%2C1363%2C778&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Looking for the meaning of Lil Nas X's latest video? The detail is in the devil.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6swmTBVI83k">SME on behalf of Columbia/Sony ATV Publishing/UMPG Publishing/Youtube</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Musician Lil Nas X’s video for his new single “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” is a defiant expression of queer sexuality. Filled with Christian imagery, it offers a complex criticism of religious institutions that <a href="https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/lil-nas-x-call-me-by-your-name-queer-blasphemy-in-music">some have applauded</a>. For <a href="https://religionnews.com/2021/03/31/satanic-panic-is-back-thanks-to-satan-shoes-and-lil-nas-x/">others</a>, however, the video <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/03/29/lil-nas-x-prompts-satanic-panic-with-new-video-montero/">is sacrilegious</a>.</p>
<p>The video is certainly not subtle. It is erotic and provocative, depicting Lil Nas X sensually licked by a mythical character in the Garden of Eden and later giving the devil a lap dance. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6swmTBVI83k?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>As a heterosexual white man, I must acknowledge significant limitations to what I can understand and say about this work.</p>
<p>But as <a href="https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/mcas/departments/theology/people/grad-students/johnson--s--kyle.html">a scholar who researches Christian thought beliefs regarding the demonic</a>, I am struck by the significance of Lil Nas X’s work as an example of the ways that marginalized peoples have resisted demonization. </p>
<p>Despite the temptation to interpret the video as a flashpoint in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X18818169">culture wars between religious conservatives and the LGBTQ community</a>, “Montero” is, I believe, best understood by comparing it with other creative works by demonized peoples that critique, mock and reject societal misconceptions about what is truly evil. </p>
<h2>Coming out and breaking through</h2>
<p>Montero Lamar Hill, known artistically as Lil Nas X, is no stranger to disrupting restrictive categories. His breakthrough hit “Old Town Road,” received as a crossover between country and rap, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/old-town-road-lil-nas-x-forcing-billboard-country-music-ncna992521">unleashed the specter of racism</a> within the institutions of country music.</p>
<p>Lil Nas X publicly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/01/arts/music/lil-nas-x-c7osure.html">came out as queer</a> in 2019. The story he tells of his early life as a gay teen is, sadly, all too familiar. As a young <a href="https://toofab.com/2019/09/30/lil-nas-x-spent-his-teenage-years-praying-being-gay-was-just-a-phase/">Christian boy, he was conflicted over his sexuality</a> and wondered if it meant he was beyond redemption and <a href="https://twitter.com/LilNasX/status/1375857638869585922">damned to hell</a>. </p>
<p>Lil Nas X’s experience mirrors that of many LGBTQ people who grew up in conservative religious households. It also speaks to Western Christianity’s <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Saracens_Demons_Jews/pkcnIXxClUUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Saracens,+Demons+%26+Jews:+Making+Monsters+in+Medieval+Art&printsec=frontcover">long tradition</a> of <a href="https://go.openathens.net/redirector/bc.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/befriending-medieval-queer-pedagogy-literature/docview/236963305/se-2?accountid=9673">demonizing</a> queer, Black, Jewish, Indigenous and other people. In Christian art, literature, and spirituality, beliefs in evil spiritual beings have informed, and been informed by, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=zC_3DAAAQBAJ&newbks=0&hl=en&source=newbks_fb">xenophobia and antipathy</a> toward particular groups. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Demons_and_the_Making_of_the_Monk/QjSnrtJ4OKkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=ethiopian">Blackness and what is considered to be “deviant” sexuality</a> are frequently demonized in Christian history. Demons regularly and intentionally appear in the form of Black bodies throughout Christian traditions, and Black persons are also regularly associated with <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/new-testament-studies/article/neither-male-nor-female-the-ethiopian-eunuch-in-acts-82640/6AF2FBE57399BDC835FC11A56274936D">sinful sexuality</a>, influenced by Greco-Roman beliefs that people with dark skin were “hypersexual.” </p>
<p>These associations continue to inform Christian belief and practice today. Some contemporary Christian communities, for example, perceive homosexuality to be demon possession and <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/05/gay-exorcisms-are-horrifying.html">seek remediation through violent and psychologically terrifying exorcisms</a>. </p>
<h2>Dancing with the devil</h2>
<p>The song “Montero” comes across, at first, as a straightforward expression of sexual and romantic desire. However, it also includes biblical references in the lyrics – such as the line “If Eve ain’t in your garden” – alongside more explicit references to gay sex.</p>
<p>The video evokes an <a href="https://time.com/5951024/lil-nas-x-montero-video-symbolism-explained/">impressive number</a> of religious and classical motifs that intersect with questions of queer identity, marginalization and religion. Throughout the video, Lil Nas X explores what it means to celebrate his identity and desires. </p>
<p>The video takes place in three acts, bookended by a seduction of Lil Nas X in the Garden of Eden and a dance with the devil in the underworld. In the middle section, Lil Nas X is executed – ostensibly as a queer martyr – after which he pole dances to hell. The irony is not lost on viewers. As comments on Twitter and YouTube <a href="https://twitter.com/SadPplDancing/status/1376214743111831555?s=20">point out</a>, Lil Nas X defiantly goes exactly where he was always told he would end up. Once in hell, Lil Nas X gives the devil an energetic lap dance. He then swiftly kills Satan and dons his horns. </p>
<p>Some conservative Christians see the video as a <a href="https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1376233608868986882?s=20">celebration of evil</a> and implicit promotion of Satanism. As religion scholar <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=anthea+butler&PC=U316&FORM=CHROMN">Anthea Butler</a> <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/the-week/watch/lil-nas-x-s-music-video-sparks-outrage-109655621856">points out</a>, the film pushes “every button that … conservative Christians have.”</p>
<p>However, these interpretations, I believe, misread the video. It instead should be understood in the context of marginalized peoples parodying demonizing rhetoric. It also isn’t without precedent. Just as the history of Christianity is punctuated with the demonizing of numerous groups, so too is there a tradition of victims creatively rejecting and mocking such demonization. </p>
<p>In Panama, <a href="https://theconversation.com/panama-celebrates-its-black-christ-part-of-protest-against-colonialism-and-slavery-122171">for example,</a> some people engage in annual rituals that turn the tables on the Spanish colonists’ use of “evil” to suppress rebellion. According to ethnographer <a href="https://comm.unc.edu/people/department-faculty/renee-alexander-craft/">Renée Alexander Craft</a>, European colonists <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/When_the_Devil_Knocks/BY-lDAEACAAJ?hl=en">scared enslaved persons into submission</a> by claiming that the devil would harm them if they rebelled.</p>
<p>To this day, many citizens of Panama, who trace their cultural heritage to these enslaved people, critique this language as they memorialize the <a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/10609164.2010.520951">famous slave rebellion</a> that earned their freedom. </p>
<p>Around the time of Easter, they dramatize the rebellion while wearing costumes as angels and demons. The former represents the slaves and the latter their European masters. This performance mocks the demonizing language and actions of the colonists. Observers and participants in the ritual are provoked by the ritual to reflect upon the true nature of evil. </p>
<h2>Grasping by the horns</h2>
<p>Lil Nas X seems to explicitly evoke a very similar tradition in Black American music. Religion scholar <a href="https://www.anthonypinn.com/">Anthony Pinn</a> <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Embodiment_and_the_New_Shape_of_Black_Th/7148Np5j8QMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=anthony+pinn+embodiment&printsec=frontcover">argues</a> that, in traditional blues music, the devil is often depicted as a potential ally against white supremacy. </p>
<p>For some, this might have reflected an irreverent rejection of Christianity itself, in light of its <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-catholic-enlightenment-9780190232917?cc=us&lang=en&">promotion of slavery</a> and failure to promote liberation. But for others, these motifs offer more complex parody and critiques of (white) Christian categories.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://english.olemiss.edu/adam-gussow/">Adam Gussow</a>, a scholar of Southern studies, a song like Clara Smith’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZflmdYxm9s">Done Sold My Soul to the Devil</a>” <a href="https://libarts.olemiss.edu/adam-gussow-examines-the-devil-in-the-blues-for-new-book/">satirizes</a> the way that a white racist society perceives Black people as demonic, and playfully embraces that identity as an act of defiance. Other songs more explicitly reverse the language by instead identifying white supremacist society with the devil. The blues disrupt categories of good and evil and reveal the victims of demonizing rhetoric.</p>
<p>Lil Nas X’s video stands in this long tradition of demonized peoples mocking those who call them demonic. When he apparently becomes the devil in the final shot, looking straight at the camera, he provokes the viewer to confront and question their assumptions about the nature of evil. His portrayal in the video embodies the epitome of evil, ironically, in order to reject that label.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158586/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>S. Kyle Johnson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The video for Lil Nas X’s latest track is provocative and erotic. It also fits into a tradition of turning the tables on those seeking to oppress marginalized groups through religious dogma.S. Kyle Johnson, PhD Candidate/Teaching Fellow in Systematic Theology, Boston CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1528832021-01-08T23:14:45Z2021-01-08T23:14:45ZA scholar of American anti-Semitism explains the hate symbols present during the US Capitol riot<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377789/original/file-20210108-21-lkk5io.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=67%2C33%2C5540%2C3631&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Crowds carrying hate symbols as they stormed the U.S Capitol on Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/trump-supporters-near-the-u-s-capitol-on-january-06-2021-in-news-photo/1230476983?adppopup=true">Shay Horse/NurPhoto via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>One of the many horrifying images from the Jan. 6 rampage on the U.S. Capitol shows a long-haired, long-bearded man <a href="https://forward.com/fast-forward/461617/auschwitz-shirt-capitol-mob-nazi-antisemitism/">wearing a black</a> “<a href="https://nypost.com/2021/01/06/neo-nazis-among-protesters-who-stormed-us-capitol/">Camp Auschwitz” T-shirt emblazoned with a skull and crossbones</a>, and under it the phrase “work brings freedom” – an English translation of the Auschwitz concentration camp motto: “Arbeit macht frei.” </p>
<p>These and related images, captured on television and retweeted on social media, demonstrate that some of those who traveled to Washington to support President Donald Trump were engaged in much more than just a doomed effort to maintain their hero in power. </p>
<p>As their writings make clear to me as <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VKv2qFsAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">a scholar of American anti-Semitism</a>, some among them also hoped to trigger what is known as the “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Turner_Diaries.html?id=y9KswQLAFQEC">Great Revolution</a>,” based on a fictionalized account of a government takeover and race war, that, in its most extreme form, would exterminate Jews. </p>
<h2>Extreme anti-Semitism</h2>
<p>Calls to exterminate Jews are common in far-right and white nationalist circles. For example, the conspiracy theorists of QAnon, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-qanon.html">who hold</a> “that the world is run by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles who are plotting against Mr. Trump,” traffic in it regularly. </p>
<p>The anonymous “Q” – the group’s purported head who communicates in riddles and leaves clues on message boards – once approvingly <a href="https://i.insider.com/5f92faf22121130018740726?width=2500&format=jpeg&auto=webp">retweeted the anti-Semitic image of a knife-wielding Jew</a> wearing a Star of David necklace who stands knee-deep in the blood of Russians, Poles, Hungarians and Ukrainians and asks with feigned innocence, “Why do they persecute me so?” </p>
<p>Images of long-nosed Jews dripping with the blood of non-Jews whom they are falsely accused of murdering have a long and tragic history. Repeatedly, they have served as triggers for anti-Semitic violence. </p>
<p>More commonly, including in recent days, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sethcohen/2020/09/12/the-troubling-truth-about-the-obsession-with-george-soros/?sh=68534b264e2e">QAnon has targeted Jewish billionaire philanthropist and investor George Soros</a>, whom it portrays as the primary figure shaping and controlling world events. A century ago, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/retropod/how-the-antisemitic-conspiracy-theories-about-the-rothschilds-began-1/">Rothschilds, a family of Jewish bankers</a>, was depicted in <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4465515?seq=1">much the same way</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="QAnon supporters, US Capitol" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377795/original/file-20210108-17-1v54iqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377795/original/file-20210108-17-1v54iqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377795/original/file-20210108-17-1v54iqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377795/original/file-20210108-17-1v54iqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377795/original/file-20210108-17-1v54iqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377795/original/file-20210108-17-1v54iqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377795/original/file-20210108-17-1v54iqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Among the crowd that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 were QAnon supporters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/supporters-of-us-president-donald-trump-including-jake-news-photo/1230468102?adppopup=true">Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>QAnon members also mark Jews with triple parentheses, <a href="https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/echo">a covert means of outing</a> those whom they consider usurpers and outsiders, not true members of the white race. </p>
<h2>‘White genocide’</h2>
<p>Another website popular in white nationalist circles <a href="https://www.thejustice.org/article/2019/08/photos-of-brandeis-students-staff-found-on-white-nationalist-forum">displayed photographs</a> of Jewish women and men, downloaded from university websites, so as to help readers distinguish Jews from the “Aryan Master Race.” “<a href="https://me.me/i/europeans-are-the-children-of-god-they-are-the-children-ce16e7ab8e1e4b08ba9d30832045ea3c">Europeans are the children of God</a>,” it proclaims. “(((They)))” – denominating Jews as other without even mentioning them – “are the children of Satan.” </p>
<p>The website justifies rabid anti-Semitism by linking Jews to the forces supposedly seeking to undermine racial hierarchies. “White genocide is (((their))) plan,” it declares, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/6/6/11860796/echo-explained-parentheses-twitter">again marking Jews with triple parentheses</a>, “counter-(((extermination))) is our response.”</p>
<p>Members of <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys">the Proud Boys</a>, another group that sent members to Washington, likewise traffic in anti-Semitism. One of the group’s leaders, <a href="https://www.good.is/proud-boys-new-antisemitism">Kyle Chapman, recently promised to</a> “confront the Zionist criminals who wish to destroy our civilization.” The West, he explained “was built by the White Race alone and we owe nothing to any other race.”</p>
<p>Chapman, like many of his peers, uses the term “<a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/glossary-terms/white-genocide">white genocide</a>” as a shorthand way of expressing the fear that the members of the white population of the United States, like themselves, will soon be overwhelmed by people of color. The popular <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20191001213058/https://www.davidlane1488.com/whitegenocide.html">14-word</a> white supremacist slogan, visible on signs outside the Capitol on Wednesday, reads “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” </p>
<p><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/david-lane">Composed by David Lane</a>, one of the conspirators behind the 1984 assassination of Jewish radio host Alan Berg, this slogan originally formed part of a larger document entitled “The White Genocide Manifesto.” Its 14 planks insist that Jews are not white and actually endanger white civilization. “All Western nations are ruled by a Zionist conspiracy to mix, overrun and exterminate the White race,” the manifesto’s seventh plank reads.</p>
<p>While influenced by the infamous anti-Semitic forgery known as <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Lie_that_Wouldn_t_Die.html?id=V8ltAAAAMAAJ">The Protocols of the Elders of Zion</a>, the document goes further, blaming members of what it euphemistically calls the “Zionist occupation governments of America” for homosexuality and abortion as well.</p>
<p>QAnon followers, the Proud Boys and the other far-right and alt-right groups that converged on Washington imagined that they were living out the great fantasy that underlies what many consider to be the bible of the white nationalism movement, a 1978 dystopian novel, “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/how-the-turner-diaries-changed-white-nationalism/500039/">The Turner Diaries</a>,” by William Luther Pierce. </p>
<p>The novel depicts the violent overthrow of the government of the United States, nuclear conflagration, race war and the ultimate extermination of nonwhites and “undesirable racial elements among the remaining White population.” </p>
<h2>Symbolism outside the Capitol</h2>
<p>As opinion writer Seyward Darby <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/opinion/white-supremacists-capitol-riot.html">pointed out in The New York Times</a>, <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/noose-hung-outside-capitol/">the gallows erected in front of the Capitol</a> recalls the novel’s depiction of “the day of the rope,” when so-called betrayers of their race were lynched. Unmentioned in The New York Times article is that the novel subsequently depicts “a war to the death with the Jew.”</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/how-the-turner-diaries-changed-white-nationalism/500039/">book warns Jews</a> that their “day is coming.” When it does, at the novel’s conclusion, mass lynchings and a takeover of Washington set off a worldwide conflagration, and, within a few days “the throat of the last Jewish survivor in the last kibbutz and in the last, smoking ruin in Tel Aviv had been cut.” </p>
<p>“The Turner Diaries"’ denouement coupled with the anti-Semitic images from the Capitol on Wednesday serve as timely reminders of the precarious place Jews occupy in different corners of the United States. Even as some celebrate how Jews have become <a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/how-jews-became-white-folks-and-what-that-says-about-race-in-america/9780813525907">white and privileged</a>, others dream of Jews’ ultimate extermination. </p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to remove an unsubstantiated reference to a T-shirt with an anti-Semitic acronym.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152883/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan D. Sarna has consulted for the Anti-Defamation League and, as a member of the Jewish community, is particularly concerned with the issue of antisemitism. He teaches the course on American Antisemitism at Brandeis University. </span></em></p>The crowds that stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6 were not just engaged in an effort to support Trump. The symbols they carried were of an extreme form of anti-Semitism.Jonathan D. Sarna, University Professor and Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1481722020-10-19T19:00:21Z2020-10-19T19:00:21ZFive things to know about the Antichrist<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363859/original/file-20201016-15-5el5wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C0%2C999%2C789&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Luca Signorelli's Sermon and Deeds of the Antichrist ( c. 1499 and 1502). </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Luca_Signorelli_-_Sermon_and_Deeds_of_the_Antichrist_-_WGA21202.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the history of the West over the last 2000 years, there has never been a time when someone hasn’t been <a href="https://www.insider.com/apocalypse-end-of-world-predictions-theories-2019-1">predicting the end of the world</a>. </p>
<p>And now, with a seemingly insoluble <a href="https://www.who.int/health-topics/climate-change#tab=tab_1">climate crisis</a>, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-26/coronavirus-climate-change-disasters-2020-hell-of-a-year/12696260">pandemic surges</a>, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/6a6bab93-21fc-4bd6-b309-86e394e3869b">savage wildfires and hurricanes</a>, and a renewed <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-06-18/this-nuclear-arms-race-is-worse-than-the-last-one">nuclear arms race</a>, seems no time to stop.</p>
<p>Many of us feel, as poet John Donne put it in <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44092/an-anatomy-of-the-world">The Anatomy of the World</a> in 1611, “Tis all in pieces, all coherence gone”. </p>
<p>The Christian tradition tells us to be on the lookout for the Antichrist, who will appear <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1John%202:18">shortly before the big finish</a>. Vast amounts of Christian ink have been used to try and work out when he will come and just how we might identify him when he does.</p>
<p>Here, then, are five things to know just in case:</p>
<h2>1. He is the Son of Satan</h2>
<p>The Antichrist was the perfectly evil human being because he was completely opposite to the perfectly good human being, Jesus Christ. </p>
<p>Just as Christians came to believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, so they thought that the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Antichrist">Antichrist was the Son of Satan</a>. Jesus was born of a virgin. So the Antichrist would be born of a woman who was apparently a virgin, but was really a whore. Where Christ was God in the flesh, the Antichrist was Satan in the flesh.</p>
<p>In The Christian New Testament there are only three passages that mention the Antichrist, all in the letters of John (I John 2.18-27, I John 4.1-6, 2 John 7). They suggest the end of the world should be expected at any moment. </p>
<p>Over the first several centuries of the Christian tradition, the scholars of the early Church started to pore over an array of other Biblical characters, finding references to the Antichrist within them: the “abomination of desolation” in the books of Daniel and Matthew; “the man of lawlessness” and “<a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/4/1/77/htm">the son of perdition</a>” in a letter of Paul.</p>
<p>The book of Revelation <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Revelation-to-John">describes a singular figure</a> as “the beast from the earth” and “the beast from the sea” whose number is 666. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363861/original/file-20201016-23-f0d5fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Religious painting of the antichrist with many heads." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363861/original/file-20201016-23-f0d5fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363861/original/file-20201016-23-f0d5fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=742&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363861/original/file-20201016-23-f0d5fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=742&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363861/original/file-20201016-23-f0d5fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=742&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363861/original/file-20201016-23-f0d5fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363861/original/file-20201016-23-f0d5fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363861/original/file-20201016-23-f0d5fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">William Blake’s The number of the beast is 666 (1805-1810).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.wikiart.org/en/william-blake/the-number-of-the-beast-is-666">Wikiart</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-things-to-know-about-the-traditional-christian-doctrine-of-hell-119380">5 things to know about the traditional Christian doctrine of hell</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>2. He is an earthly tyrant and trickster</h2>
<p>By the year 1000, the main outlines of the first of two narratives about the Antichrist was in place thanks to a noble-born Benedictine monk and abbot named <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110810104321108">Adso of Montier-en-Der</a> (c. 920-92) who wrote a treatise on the subject. </p>
<p>According to him, the Antichrist would be a Jew from the tribe of Dan and born in Babylon. He would be brought up in all forms of wickedness by magicians and wizards. He would be accepted as the Messiah and ruler by the Jews in Jerusalem. Those Christians whom he could not convert to his cause, he would torture and kill. </p>
<p>He would then rule for seven years before being defeated by the angel Gabriel or Christ and the divine armies, prior to the resurrection of the dead and the Final Judgement. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-god-good-in-the-shadow-of-mass-disaster-great-minds-have-argued-the-toss-137078">Is God good? In the shadow of mass disaster, great minds have argued the toss</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>3. Past popes have been accused</h2>
<p>By the year 1400, another narrative of the Antichrist had arisen. Now he was no longer the tyrant outside of the Church but the deceiver within it. In short, he was the Pope or even the institution of the papacy and the Church themselves. </p>
<p>As the English religious radical <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/philosophy-and-religion/early-christianity-biographies/john-wycliffe">John Wycliffe</a> (c. 1329-84) put it, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>… the Pope may obviously be the Antichrist, and yet not just that sole single individual… but rather the multitude of popes holding that position … along with the cardinals and bishops of the church.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This was the position on the Antichrist adopted by Protestants at the time of the 16th century <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/reformation/reformation">Reformation</a>. <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/theologians/martin-luther.html">Martin Luther</a> (1483-1546) was convinced that he was living in the last days. For him, the Pope fitted all the criteria for the Antichrist. The Pope, he declared, “is the true end times Antichrist who has raised himself over and set himself against Christ”. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363866/original/file-20201016-21-q7kfdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A papal figure from behind." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363866/original/file-20201016-21-q7kfdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363866/original/file-20201016-21-q7kfdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363866/original/file-20201016-21-q7kfdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363866/original/file-20201016-21-q7kfdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363866/original/file-20201016-21-q7kfdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363866/original/file-20201016-21-q7kfdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363866/original/file-20201016-21-q7kfdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Popes, old and new, have been targets for those on the lookout for the Antichrist.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1476461386254-61c4ff3a1cc3?ixlib=rb-1.2.1&ixid=eyJhcHBfaWQiOjEyMDd9&auto=format&fit=crop&w=2389&q=80">Unsplash/Nacho Arteaga</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/apocalypse-now-why-the-movies-want-the-world-to-end-every-year-11496">Apocalypse Now: why the movies want the world to end every year </a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>4. He is one and many</h2>
<p>Within conservative Christianity over the last century, Antichrists have multiplied. “The Antichrist” has become a general category available for application to an array of individuals, collectives, and objects as the demonic “other”. </p>
<p>Generally, predictions of a tyrant outside the church now dominate the idea of a deceiver within it. </p>
<p>American presidents are <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2011/11/white-house-shooter-and-obama-the-antichrist-were-other-presidents-called-the-antichrist.html">well represented</a>. When it comes to accusations of being the Antichrist, usually from the conservative religious right, Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, and Barack Obama have all been mentioned. Donald Trump is gaining popularity as <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/religion/stephen-long-should-we-call-trump-antichrist/12335450">a worthy candidate</a> with ethics scholar D. Stephen Long suggesting he represents: “not a single person but a political pattern that repeats itself by taking on power to oppress the poor and the just”. </p>
<p>American evangelist Jerry Falwell, known for <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/jerry-falwell-polarizing-preacher-merged-religion-politics-dies-at-73/">his controversial views on apartheid, homosexuality, Judaism, climate change and the Teletubbies</a>, <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2007/05/did-jerry-falwell-think-i-was-the-antichrist.html">once said</a>: “The Antichrist will be a world leader, he’ll have supernatural powers”.</p>
<p>Hilary Clinton is, to the best of my knowledge, the only <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/197138-montana-gop-house-front-runner-calls-hillary-clinton-the-anti-christ">female candidate</a>. US Republican politician Ryan Zinke who was US Secretary of the Interior in the Trump Administration from 2017 until his resignation in 2019, threw the accusation in 2014. She later <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/hillary-clinton-ryan-zinke-antichrist_n_59b87e38e4b02da0e13d4666?ri18n=true">reassured him</a>, at Trump’s inauguration, that she wasn’t.</p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057%2F9780230610354_7">Osama bin Laden</a> was a favourite until his death, as was Saddam Hussein. </p>
<p>Marks of the beast have even been discerned by some in supermarket <a href="https://www.wired.com/2012/12/upc-mark-of-the-beast/">barcodes</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-your-pets-microchip-has-to-do-with-the-mark-of-the-beast-114493">pet microchips</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363865/original/file-20201016-23-13hfzlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Firewalker amid blaze." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363865/original/file-20201016-23-13hfzlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363865/original/file-20201016-23-13hfzlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363865/original/file-20201016-23-13hfzlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363865/original/file-20201016-23-13hfzlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363865/original/file-20201016-23-13hfzlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363865/original/file-20201016-23-13hfzlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363865/original/file-20201016-23-13hfzlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How close are we to a fiery end?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/9ByGZyc1nIo?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditShareLink">Unsplash/Alexandre Boucey</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fact-over-fiction-on-the-apocalyptic-super-blood-moon-47916">Fact over fiction on the 'apocalyptic' super blood moon</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>5. He dies in the end</h2>
<p>According to the Christian tradition, the Antichrist will finally be defeated by the armies of God under the leadership of Christ with the Kingdom of God (on earth or in heaven) to follow. </p>
<p>So, in spite of current appearances, Christianity holds firmly to the hope that evil will be finally overcome and that goodness will ultimately prevail. </p>
<p>The core idea of the Antichrist — of evil at the depths of things — lays upon all of us the ethical imperative to take evil seriously. Whether the end is nigh or not, we should work to minimise harm and maximise the good in the here and now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148172/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip C. Almond does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Christian tradition says the Antichrist will come before the end of the world as we know it. So it’s good to know some background on him … or her … or them.Philip C. Almond, Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1408092020-07-02T12:26:45Z2020-07-02T12:26:45ZThe invention of satanic witchcraft by medieval authorities was initially met with skepticism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344310/original/file-20200626-104484-1dbzjs6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C10%2C3344%2C2773&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Woodcut, circa 1400. A witch, a demon and a warlock fly toward a peasant woman.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/circa-1400-a-witch-a-demon-and-a-warlock-fly-towards-a-news-photo/51240919">Hulton Archive /Handout via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On a midsummer day in 1438, a young man from the north shore of Lake Geneva presented himself to the local church inquisitor. He had a confession to make. Five years earlier, his father had forced him to join a satanic cult of witches. They had flown at night on a small black horse to join more than a hundred people gathered in a meadow. The devil was there too, in the form of a black cat. The witches knelt before him, worshiped him and kissed his posterior.</p>
<p>The young man’s father had already been executed as a witch. It’s likely he was trying to secure a lighter punishment by voluntarily telling inquisitors what they wanted to hear.</p>
<p>The Middle Ages, A.D. 500-1500, have a reputation for both heartless cruelty and hopeless credulity. People commonly believed in all kinds of magic, monsters and <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/15568.html">fairies</a>. But it wasn’t until the 15th century that the idea of organized satanic witchcraft took hold. As a historian who <a href="https://history.iastate.edu/directory/michael-bailey/">studies medieval magic</a>, I’m fascinated by how a coterie of church and state authorities conspired to develop and promote this new concept of witchcraft for their own purposes.</p>
<h2>Early medieval attitudes about witchcraft</h2>
<p>Belief in witches, in the sense of wicked people performing harmful magic, had existed in Europe since before the Greeks and Romans. In the early part of the Middle Ages, authorities were largely unconcerned about it. </p>
<p><a href="https://pages.uoregon.edu/dluebke/Witches442/PaganTraces.html">A church document</a> from the early 10th century proclaimed that “sorcery and witchcraft” might be real, but the idea that groups of witches flew together with demons through the night was a delusion. </p>
<p>Things began to change in the 12th and 13th centuries, ironically because educated elites in Europe were becoming more sophisticated.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344356/original/file-20200626-104489-1x8hg5c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344356/original/file-20200626-104489-1x8hg5c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344356/original/file-20200626-104489-1x8hg5c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344356/original/file-20200626-104489-1x8hg5c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344356/original/file-20200626-104489-1x8hg5c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344356/original/file-20200626-104489-1x8hg5c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=609&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344356/original/file-20200626-104489-1x8hg5c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=609&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344356/original/file-20200626-104489-1x8hg5c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=609&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Henricus de Alemannia lecturing students at the University of Bologna in the second half of the 14th century – one of the earliest illustrations of a medieval university classroom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laurentius_de_Voltolina_001.jpg">Laurentius de Voltolina/Kupferstichkabinett Berlin</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Universities were being founded, and scholars in Western Europe began to pore over ancient texts as well as learned writings from the Muslim world. Some of these presented complex <a href="https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-08213-4.html">systems of magic</a> that claimed to draw on astral forces or conjure powerful spirits. Gradually, these ideas began to gain intellectual clout.</p>
<p>Ordinary people – the kind who eventually got accused of being witches – didn’t perform elaborate rites from books. They gathered herbs, brewed potions, maybe said a short spell, as they had for generations. And they did so for all sorts of reasons – perhaps to harm someone they disliked, but more often to <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/popular-magic-cunning-folk-in-english-history-9780826442796/">heal or protect</a> others. Such practices were important in a world with only rudimentary forms of medical care.</p>
<p>Christian authorities had previously dismissed this kind of magic as empty superstition. Now they took all magic much more seriously. They began to believe simple spells worked by summoning demons, which meant anyone who performed them secretly worshiped demons. </p>
<h2>Inventing satanic witchcraft</h2>
<p>In the 1430s, a small group of writers in Central Europe – church inquisitors, theologians, lay magistrates and even one historian – began to describe horrific assemblies where witches gathered and worshiped demons, had orgies, ate murdered babies and performed other abominable acts. Whether any of these authors ever met each other is unclear, but they all described groups of witches supposedly active in a zone around the western Alps. </p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklysmart">You can get our highlights each weekend</a>.]</p>
<p>The reason for this development may have been purely practical. Church inquisitors, active against religious heretics since the 13th century, and some secular courts were looking to expand their jurisdictions. Having a new and particularly horrible crime to prosecute might have struck them as useful.</p>
<p>I just translated a number of these early texts for a <a href="https://www.academia.edu/43358448/Origins_of_the_Witches_Sabbath">forthcoming book</a> and was struck by how worried the authors were about readers not believing them. One fretted that his accounts would be “disparaged” by those who “think themselves learned.” Another feared that “simple folk” would refuse to believe the “fragile sex” would engage in such terrible practices.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520320574/european-witch-trials">Trial records</a> show it was a hard sell. Most people remained concerned with harmful magic – witches causing illness or withering crops. They didn’t much care about secret satanic gatherings.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344298/original/file-20200626-104499-4etmz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344298/original/file-20200626-104499-4etmz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344298/original/file-20200626-104499-4etmz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344298/original/file-20200626-104499-4etmz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344298/original/file-20200626-104499-4etmz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344298/original/file-20200626-104499-4etmz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344298/original/file-20200626-104499-4etmz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344298/original/file-20200626-104499-4etmz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The handbook for detecting and persecuting witches in the Middle Ages, ‘Malleus Maleficarum’ or ‘Hammer of Witches.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:J._Sprenger_and_H._Institutoris,_Malleus_maleficarum._Wellcome_L0000980.jpg">Wellcome Images/Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1486, clergyman Heinrich Kramer published the most widely circulated medieval text about organized witchcraft, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/literature/european-literature/hammer-witches-complete-translation-malleus-maleficarum?format=PB&isbn=9780521747875">Malleus Maleficarum</a> (Hammer of Witches). But many people didn’t believe him. When he tried to start a witch hunt in Innsbruck, Austria, he was kicked out by the local bishop, who accused him of <a href="https://www.dtv.de/buch/heinrich-kramer-guenter-jerouschek-wolfgang-behringer-der-hexenhammer-30780/">being senile</a>. </p>
<h2>Witch hunts</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, the fear of satanic witchcraft grew. The 15th century seems to have provided ideal soil for this new idea to take root. </p>
<p>Europe was recovering from <a href="https://cornellup.degruyter.com/view/title/568227">several crises</a>: plague, wars and a split in the church between two, and then three, competing popes. Beginning in the 1450s, the printing press made it easier for new ideas to spread. Even prior to the Protestant Reformation, religious reform was in the air. As I explored in an <a href="http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-02225-3.html">earlier book</a>, reformers used the idea of a diabolical conspiracy bent on corrupting Christianity as a boogeyman in their call for spiritual renewal.</p>
<p>Over time, more people came to accept this new idea. Church and state authorities kept telling them it was real. Still, many also kept relying on local “witches” for magical healing and protection.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344300/original/file-20200626-104484-6oipp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344300/original/file-20200626-104484-6oipp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344300/original/file-20200626-104484-6oipp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344300/original/file-20200626-104484-6oipp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344300/original/file-20200626-104484-6oipp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344300/original/file-20200626-104484-6oipp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344300/original/file-20200626-104484-6oipp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344300/original/file-20200626-104484-6oipp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The execution of alleged witches in Central Europe, 1587.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Wickiana3.jpg">Zurich Central Library/Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The history of witchcraft can be quite grim. From the 1400s through the 1700s, authorities in Western Europe <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Witch-Hunt-in-Early-Modern-Europe-4th-Edition/Levack/p/book/9781138808102?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9s_H7OuV6gIVi8DACh3paAtCEAAYASAAEgLcLvD_BwE">executed around 50,000 people, mostly women,</a> for witchcraft. The worst witch hunts could claim hundreds of victims at a time. With 20 dead, colonial America’s largest hunt at Salem was moderate by comparison. </p>
<p>Salem, in 1692, marked the end of witch hunts in New England. In Europe, too, skepticism would eventually prevail. It’s worth remembering, though, that at the beginning, authorities had to work hard to convince others such malevolence was real.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140809/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael D. Bailey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The idea of organized satanic witchcraft was invented in 15th-century Europe by church and state authorities, who at first had a hard time convincing regular folks it was real.Michael D. Bailey, Professor of History, Iowa State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1312832020-03-05T12:46:04Z2020-03-05T12:46:04ZWhat The Satanic Temple is and why it’s opening a debate about religion<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318166/original/file-20200302-18291-1n7ong7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=156%2C72%2C3869%2C2897&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Satanic Temple unveils a statue of Baphomet, a winged-goat creature, at a rally for the First Amendment in Little Rock, Arkansas, in August 2018.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Satanic-Temple/fc28a9277fc6499dab6fb9281368d0e2/1/0">AP Photo/Hannah Grabenstein</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A group called <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/speak-of-the-devil-9780190948498?cc=us&lang=en&">The Satanic Temple</a> went to court in their lawsuit against the city of Scottsdale, Arizona, for religious discrimination in January 2020.</p>
<p>The city’s attorneys argued that they could not possibly be guilty of religious discrimination because The Satanic Temple is not a religion. This argument prompted the judge in the case, Justice David Campbell, to <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/scottsdale/2020/01/23/scottsdale-v-satanic-tempe-trial-concludes-u-s-district-court/4559239002/?fbclid=IwAR1SYhUxhTHCYwLI0QoIX6koeLKou8QSyCssuVVFtqI0u7gcIHVnYvy6E7E">ask</a>, “What is religion?”</p>
<p>I am a professor of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=4EKx-aoAAAAJ">religious studies</a>, and part of my job is getting students to think critically about <a href="http://www.iupui.edu/%7Ewomrel/Rel433%20Readings/SearchableTextFiles/Smith_ReligionReligionsReligious.pdf">the definition of religion</a>. After studying The Satanic Temple for my book, “<a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/speak-of-the-devil-9780190948498?cc=us&lang=en&">Speak of the Devil</a>,” I find the most interesting thing about this group is the way it disrupts commonly held ideas about what religion is.</p>
<h2>History of the group</h2>
<p>The Satanic Temple was <a href="https://www.insider.com/what-is-the-satanic-temple-recognized-religion-2019-5">created in 2013</a> by two friends using the pseudonyms Malcolm Jarry and Lucien Greaves. Many members of The Satanic Temple use pseudonyms because of threats and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXa1up9dPWM&t=3s">hate mail</a> that they receive.</p>
<p>Members of The Satanic Temple do not believe in God or the devil. Its beliefs are articulated in “<a href="https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/tenets">the seven tenets</a>.” These tenets emphasize reason and science as well as values such as compassion and justice. </p>
<p>The first tenet states, “One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason.” Other tenets address bodily autonomy, the freedom to offend and taking responsibility for one’s mistakes.</p>
<p>It was a series of political actions invoking religious freedom that brought the group into the public eye. They demanded the same privileges for Satanists that many Christians take for granted, such as erecting religious monuments on government property and using government meetings to present sectarian prayers.</p>
<p>Today there are <a href="https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/find-chapter">24 official chapters</a> of the group throughout North America and Europe, ranging in membership from a dozen to over 100 people. Chapters can be found in coastal cities but also in the South and the Midwest. Texas is home to four chapters, more than any other state. </p>
<p>There are also thousands of supporters with individual memberships or in unofficial chapters with names like “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1997393540315299">Friends of The Satanic Temple, Arkansas</a>.”</p>
<h2>Political actions</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318388/original/file-20200303-66074-xta5pg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318388/original/file-20200303-66074-xta5pg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318388/original/file-20200303-66074-xta5pg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318388/original/file-20200303-66074-xta5pg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318388/original/file-20200303-66074-xta5pg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318388/original/file-20200303-66074-xta5pg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318388/original/file-20200303-66074-xta5pg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318388/original/file-20200303-66074-xta5pg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Attendees of a first amendment rally held by the Satanic Temple in Little Rock, Arkansas in August 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Satanic-Temple/8065a32fbf0c4517ac5a415afdc6331b/2/0">AP Photo/Hannah Grabenstein</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the group’s political goals is to advocate for the value of the separation of church and state. Their <a href="https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/the-satanic-temple-s-guidelines-for-effective-protest">strategy</a> is to remind the public that if Christians can use government resources to assert their cultural dominance, then Satanists are free to do the same.</p>
<p>After Oklahoma <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2234294/Thou-shalt-misspell-Oklahoma-Ten-Commandments-monument-installed-spelling-mistakes.html">installed</a> a monument of the Ten Commandments at its State Capitol in 2012, the group demanded that their statue of a satanic deity, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/26/satanic-temple-sculpture-detroit-oklahoma">Baphomet</a>, a winged-goat-like creature, be installed next to it. </p>
<p>The group received <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xd5gjd/heres-the-first-look-at-the-new-satanic-monument-being-built-for-oklahomas-statehouse">US$30,000</a> in donations from people around the country to build the statue.</p>
<p>The Oklahoma Supreme Court ordered the Ten Commandments monument <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/10/06/446368169/oklahoma-removes-10-commandments-monument-from-the-state-capitol">removed</a>. However, thousands of people extended their support to The Satanic Temple, leading to the creation of the group’s first few chapters. </p>
<h2>Prayer invocations</h2>
<p>The trouble in Scottsdale, Arizona, began in 2014 when the Supreme Court ruled in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2013/12-696">Greece v. Galloway</a> that city councils and other government bodies may begin meetings with “invocations” that involve sectarian prayers. </p>
<p>What this meant was that the government could <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/supreme-court-approves-sectarian-prayer-at-public-meetings/2014/05/05/62c494da-d487-11e3-8f7d-7786660fff7c_story.html">invite</a> a pastor to say, “We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” as long as they did not discriminate against religious groups who wanted to give the invocation.</p>
<p>The Satanic Temple took the Supreme Court at their word. In 2016 they asked Scottsdale to open a city council meeting with the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/abcarian/la-me-ra-abcarian-scotus-20140505-column.html">following prayer</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Let us stand now, unbowed and unfettered by arcane doctrines born of fearful minds in darkened times. Let us embrace the Luciferian impulse to eat of the Tree of Knowledge and dissipate our blissful and comforting delusions of old.</p>
<p>"Let us demand that individuals be judged for their concrete actions, not their fealty to arbitrary social norms and illusory categorizations. Let us reason our solutions with agnosticism in all things, holding fast only to that which is demonstrably true.</p>
<p>"Let us stand firm against any and all arbitrary authority that threatens the personal sovereignty of One or All. That which will not bend must break, and that which can be destroyed by truth should never be spared its demise. It is Done. Hail Satan.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Backlash against the Satanists</h2>
<p>Initially Scottsdale officials <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/scottsdale/2016/03/23/satanists-plan-scottsdale-city-council-prayer/81887466/">agreed</a>. Satanist Michelle Shortt, a member of the Arizona chapter, was scheduled to speak before a council meeting that April.</p>
<p>But then the Christian backlash began. </p>
<p>In court, attorneys <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://wp-media.patheos.com/blogs/sites/801/2020/02/2020-02-06-92-judgment.pdf">discussed</a> how one church sent over 15,000 emails demanding the Satanists be uninvited, crashing the city’s email system. Scottsdale officials <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/arizona-city-bars-satanic-temple-prayer-at-council-meeting">cancelled</a> Shortt’s invocation and declared a new policy that all invocation speakers must have “a substantial connection to the Scottsdale community.”</p>
<p>When the Satanists sued, Judge Campbell <a href="https://wp-media.patheos.com/blogs/sites/801/2020/02/2020-02-06-92-judgment.pdf">ruled</a> there was insufficient evidence to prove Scottsdale officials acted out of religious prejudice. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318390/original/file-20200303-66099-1j4a9n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318390/original/file-20200303-66099-1j4a9n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318390/original/file-20200303-66099-1j4a9n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318390/original/file-20200303-66099-1j4a9n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318390/original/file-20200303-66099-1j4a9n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318390/original/file-20200303-66099-1j4a9n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318390/original/file-20200303-66099-1j4a9n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People hold signs with Bible verses to protest The Satanic Temple’s unveiling of its statue of winged-goat creature Baphomet in Little Rock, Arkansas in August 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Satanic-Temple/7a03f273430f40a694770d925c07b6e8/4/0">AP Photo/Hannah Grabenstein</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What is religion?</h2>
<p>However, an important outcome of the case was that Campbell rejected Scottsdale’s claim that The Satanic Temple is not a “real religion” or seeks only to mock actual religions.</p>
<p>The debate over what constitutes religion is an old one. In 1961, the Supreme Court acknowledged in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1960/373">Torcaso v. Watkins</a> that there are many religions like <a href="https://www.elephantjournal.com/2012/05/buddha-a-non-theistic-religion/">Buddhism</a>, <a href="https://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Writings/Non-theistic.pdf">Confucianism</a> and even expressions of <a href="https://rlp.hds.harvard.edu/religions/judaism">Judaism</a> that are just not interested in God. Torcaso v. Watkins did not define religion; it merely ruled that religion is not synonymous with theism.</p>
<p>Scholars of religion have suggested that religion is not reducible to theism or indeed any one element. They have noted that the word religion is used differently in different contexts.</p>
<p>For example, religion scholar <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/albanese-catherine-l-1940">Catherine Albanese</a>, in her 1981 book “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/America_Religions_and_Religion.html?id=3yQvAAAAYAAJ">America: Religions and Religion</a>,” presented religions as systems consisting of “four ‘c’s.” These include creed, or a set of beliefs; code, or rules; cultus, meaning rituals; and community. In other words, religion is much more than the sum of its parts.</p>
<p>Religion can also be redefined to serve certain political interests. For example, in 2012 the state of Florida could not legally execute paranoid schizophrenic and convicted murderer <a href="https://bulletin.equinoxpub.com/2012/10/5482/">John Errol Ferguson</a> because the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the mentally ill must understand they will die when they are executed. </p>
<p>Ferguson stated he could not die because he was an immortal “prince of God.” The state circumvented this law by ruling that Ferguson’s delusions were a religious conviction and proceeded with the execution.</p>
<p>The word religion lends itself to such creative legal uses precisely because it has no set definition. As religion scholar <a href="https://religion.ua.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/mccutchmtsr2007.pdf">Russell McCutcheon</a> says, religion’s “utility is linked to its inability to be defined.” </p>
<p>The Satanic Temple is significant because it renders this sort of verbal slipperiness less tenable. If this group can no longer be dismissed as a “hoax,” people might be forced to think a bit more about what religion is.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph P. Laycock does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A group known as The Satanic Temple was started with the political goal of advocating for the value of church-state separation. This group is now challenging the traditional definition of religion.Joseph P. Laycock, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Texas State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/945602018-04-18T10:42:34Z2018-04-18T10:42:34ZWhat is hell?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214800/original/file-20180413-540-spnd4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The abyss of hell.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Sandro_Botticelli_-_The_Abyss_of_Hell_-_WGA02853.jpg">Sandro Botticelli.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent dispute over whether Pope Francis denied the existence of hell in an interview <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-francis-did-not-tell-journalist-there-is-no-hell-vatican-says/">attracted wide attention</a>. This isn’t surprising, since the belief in an afterlife, where the virtuous are rewarded with a place in heaven and the wicked are punished in hell, is a core teaching of Christianity.</p>
<p>So what is the Christian idea of hell?</p>
<h2>Origins of belief in hell</h2>
<p>The Christian belief in hell has developed over the centuries, influenced by both Jewish and Greek ideas of the afterlife. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13563-sheol">earliest</a> parts of the Hebrew Bible, around the eighth century B.C., described the afterlife as Sheol, a shadowy, silent pit where the souls of all the dead lingered in a minimal state of silent existence, forever outside of the presence of God. By the sixth century B.C., Sheol was increasingly viewed as a <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=z3LJDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT257&dq=elledge+josephus&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjv8pKZoq7aAhViS98KHWNzDtwQ6AEIMjAC#v=onepage&q=wicked%20&f=false">temporary place</a>, where all the departed awaited a bodily resurrection. The righteous would then dwell in the presence of God, and the wicked would suffer in the fiery torment that came to be called <a href="http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6558-gehenna">“Gehenna,”</a> described as a cursed place of fire and smoke.</p>
<p>Early depictions of the afterlife in ancient Greece, an underworld realm called “Hades,” are similar. There, the listless spirits of the dead <a href="http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/entries/shade.html">lingered in an underground twilight existence</a>, ruled by the god of the dead. Evildoers suffered gloomy imprisonment on an even deeper level called <a href="https://www.greekmythology.com/Other_Gods/Tartarus/tartarus.html">“Tartarus.”</a> </p>
<p>Beginning in the fourth century B.C., after the Greek King Alexander the Great conquered Judea, elements of <a href="https://clas-pages.uncc.edu/james-tabor/ancient-judaism/death-afterlife-future/">Greek culture</a> began to influence Jewish religious thought. By time of the first gospels, between 65 and 85 A.D., Jesus refers to the Jewish belief in the eternal fire of <a href="http://biblehub.com/mark/9-43.htm">Gehenna</a>. Elsewhere, he mentions evildoers’ banishment from the <a href="http://biblehub.com/luke/13-28.htm">kingdom of God</a>, and the “blazing furnace” where the <a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/13-42.htm">wicked</a> would suffer sorrow and despair and “where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Jesus also mentions the Greek Hades when describing how the forces of evil – “the <a href="http://biblehub.com/matthew/16-18.htm">gates of Hades</a>” – would not prevail against the church.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214797/original/file-20180413-127631-10km2e4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214797/original/file-20180413-127631-10km2e4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214797/original/file-20180413-127631-10km2e4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214797/original/file-20180413-127631-10km2e4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214797/original/file-20180413-127631-10km2e4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=643&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214797/original/file-20180413-127631-10km2e4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=643&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214797/original/file-20180413-127631-10km2e4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=643&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Depiction of the seven deadly sins and the four last things of man (death, judgment, heaven and hell).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hieronymus_Bosch-_The_Seven_Deadly_Sins_and_the_Four_Last_Things.JPG">Hieronymus Bosch or follower.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Medieval ideas of hell</h2>
<p>In early Christianity, the fate of those in hell was described in different ways. Some theologians taught that eventually all evil human beings and even Satan himself would be <a href="https://chs.harvard.edu/CHS/article/display/5881.15-origen-eusebius-the-doctrine-of-apokatastasis-and-its-relation-to-christology-ilaria-ramelli">restored to unity with God</a>. Other <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=rOYsSHCWV1gC&pg=PT301&lpg=PT301&dq=arnobius+annihilationism&source=bl&ots=QmIeUs0aBs&sig=ixTDP5ANuLayRXniKVZIXppn94s&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiLxaT0mbPaAhXps1kKHRjEC1c4ChDoAQg-MAU#v=onepage&q=arnobius%20annihilationism&f=false">teachers</a> held that hell was an “intermediate state,” where some souls would be purified and others annihilated. </p>
<p>The image that dominated in antiquity eventually prevailed. Hell was where the souls of the damned suffered torturous and unending punishment. Even after the resurrection of the dead at the end of the world, the wicked would be sent back to Hell for eternity. </p>
<p>By the beginning of the fifth century, this doctrine was <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=IwGePQYd4l0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=augustine+city+of+god&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjO0sz4t67aAhViiOAKHZzXC-kQ6AEIMzAC#v=onepage&q=hell%20eternal&f=false">taught throughout western Christianity</a>. It was reaffirmed officially by popes and councils throughout the Middle Ages. </p>
<p>Medieval theologians continued to stress that the worst of all these torments would be eternal separation from God, the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=kHk6edSEYZEC&pg=PA35&lpg=PA35&dq=poena+damni+theology&source=bl&ots=9Y8FYqZKZM&sig=I5MxOuv7UpCuPzpeZliTRfq1IuQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj2r4HUobPaAhWitlkKHV4eBEoQ6AEINjAB#v=onepage&q=poena%20damni%20theology&f=false">“poena damni.”</a> Medieval <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=4dzynjFfX7kC&printsec=frontcover&dq=le+goff+purgatory&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwib-ISEwK7aAhUQuVMKHeDHBu4Q6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=visions&f=false">visions of the afterlife</a> provided more explicit details: pits full of dark flames, terrible cries, gagging stench, and rivers of boiling water filled with serpents. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214796/original/file-20180413-560-1eggkaz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214796/original/file-20180413-560-1eggkaz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214796/original/file-20180413-560-1eggkaz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214796/original/file-20180413-560-1eggkaz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214796/original/file-20180413-560-1eggkaz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214796/original/file-20180413-560-1eggkaz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214796/original/file-20180413-560-1eggkaz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cerberus, with the gluttons in Dante’s third circle of hell.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerberus#/media/File:Cerberus-Blake.jpeg">William Blake</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Perhaps the most fulsome description of hell was offered by the Italian poet Dante at the beginning of the 14th century in the first section of his <a href="https://theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-dantes-divine-comedy-84603">“Divine Comedy.”</a> Here the souls of the damned are punished with tortures <a href="http://historylists.org/art/9-circles-of-hell-dantes-inferno.html">matching their sins.</a> Gluttons lie in freezing pools of garbage, while murderers thrash in a river of boiling blood. </p>
<h2>Hell is God’s absence</h2>
<p>Today, these images seem to be part of a past that the 21st century has outgrown. However, the official textbook of Catholic Christianity, the “Catechism of the Catholic Church,” reaffirms the Catholic belief in the eternal nature of hell. It omits the gory details found in earlier attempts to describe the hellish experience, but <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P2O.HTM">restates</a> that the chief pain of hell is eternal separation from God.</p>
<p>The Vatican <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/world/europe/pope-francis-hell-scalfari.html">insisted</a> that the pope was misquoted by the journalist. But theologians have pointed out that Pope Francis has stressed the <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/signs-times/pope-francis-and-hell">reality of hell</a> several times in recent years. Indeed, for today’s Catholics at least, hell still means the hopeless anguish of God’s absence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94560/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne M. Pierce is a Roman Catholic member of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Consultation in the USA, a national ecumenical dialogue group sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and The Episcopal Church.</span></em></p>The meaning of hell might have changed over the centuries, but for devout Christians it remains a core part of their faith.Joanne M. Pierce, Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/917192018-03-11T21:32:41Z2018-03-11T21:32:41ZThe unfilmable ‘Blood Meridian’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209201/original/file-20180306-146675-tod8jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Previous plans to adapt _Blood Meridian_ had envisioned casting Vincent D'Onofrio as "judge Holden."</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(You Tube)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We’re about 10 years into the much-rumoured development of a film adaptation of <em>Blood Meridian</em>, Cormac McCarthy’s most famous novel. The track record of the project <a href="https://qz.com/684131/the-many-many-cursed-attempts-to-adapt-cormac-mccarthys-blood-meridian-to-film/">has been terrible</a>. </p>
<p>Its writers and producers <a href="https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt0983189?rf=cons_tt_indev_addlinfo&ref_=cons_tt_indev_addlinfo">seem stuck</a> at the script stage. But that’s for a good reason. <em>Blood Meridian</em> is <a href="https://the-artifice.com/blood-meridian-what-makes-a-book-unfilmable/">probably unfilmable</a>. It’s not because of its vistas of gruesome violence, its historical tale of U.S. imperialism in the mid-19th century Southwest, or its narrative lyricism untranslatable to film. Rather, it’s because the novel’s religious vision is terrifying, and the casting required to capture it probably impossible.</p>
<p><em>Blood Meridian</em> tells the story of a nameless protagonist known only as “the kid.” The kid joins John Joel Glanton’s <a href="https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fgl02">real-life</a> gang of American mercenaries circa 1849-50. Although hired by the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua to combat the Apaches and Comanches with whom they struggled over territory, the notorious gang soon began killing and collecting “receipts” — that is, scalps — from other, peaceful, Indigenous peoples, and then from the very Mexican citizens they were hired to protect. </p>
<p>There have been plenty of violent films depicting historical fiction, including ones made from McCarthy’s other work like <em>No Country for Old Men</em>, so it is not impossible to imagine a film adaptation of this critically acclaimed novel following suit. But what makes the film unlikely is the dark religious vision attached to the novel’s gruesome excesses. That vision centres around “judge Holden,” a terrifying character also based in the historical record. </p>
<p>The judge is a massive, hairless, albino man who excels in shooting, languages, horsemanship, dancing, music, drawing, diplomacy, science and anything else he seems to put his mind to. He is also the chief proponent and philosopher of the Glanton gang’s lawless warfare.</p>
<p>Previous plans proposed casting <a href="https://pro-labs.imdb.com/name/nm0000352/?ref_=tt_cst_1">Vincent D'Onofrio</a> in the role of the judge, and he may plausibly have the required size and otherworldly weirdness. Still, it might be impossible to capture the character’s quality of almost supernatural evil and strangeness as depicted in the novel. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209563/original/file-20180308-30961-1q8l7ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209563/original/file-20180308-30961-1q8l7ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209563/original/file-20180308-30961-1q8l7ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209563/original/file-20180308-30961-1q8l7ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209563/original/file-20180308-30961-1q8l7ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209563/original/file-20180308-30961-1q8l7ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=864&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209563/original/file-20180308-30961-1q8l7ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=864&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209563/original/file-20180308-30961-1q8l7ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=864&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illustration of Satan in Paradise Lost.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gustave Doré, 1866</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The judge has been likened by <a href="http://muse.jhu.edu/article/630811/pdf">some critics</a> to a kind of Satan figure, who in one memorable scene brings Glanton’s gang the gift of gunpowder — reminiscent of the Satan in John Milton’s <em>Paradise Lost</em>, who likewise invents gunpowder during the angels’ rebellion from heaven. </p>
<p>But unlike Satan, the judge is no rebel; he seems, rather, to be highly attuned to the violent, material world around him. He’s not an antagonist of creation, but rather an enthusiast of the violent wickedness he finds already there. <a href="http://muse.jhu.edu/article/363646/pdf">This has led several</a> influential <a href="http://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/673332">critics to interpret</a> the judge not so much as a devilish opponent, but as a kind of sub-deity in the unusual second-century Common Era body of religious ideas known as Gnosticism. </p>
<h2>Gnostic thought: The judge as an evil god’s deputy</h2>
<p>In some sense, the Gnostic thought that briefly flourished in the ancient Mediterranean world turned Judeo-Christian theology upside down, questioning the goodness of the traditional Jewish god. It would come to be seen as a heresy by what eventually became orthodox Christian theology. </p>
<p>To get a sense of the true strangeness of Gnosticism, it’s best to think of it as having evolved out of failed Jewish and Christian apocalypticism. </p>
<p>This apocalypticism’s modern incarnation is the premillennial dispensationalism <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/12/12/16763230/raptureanxiety-calls-out-evangelicals-obsession-with-the-end-times-roy-moore-evangelical-jerusalem">animating white American evangelicals today</a> — the expectation that we’re living in the End Times, with God soon to return in judgement. </p>
<p>In the apocalyptic worldview, God had a cosmic enemy, Satan, who had been given lordship over the world temporarily. Apocalyptic Jews and Christians imagined their suffering and pain not as punishment from God, but as the consequence of this temporary dominion on Earth of Satan and his worldly servants. </p>
<p>But God would soon send a divine judge and conqueror to sweep away these powers in a cosmic battle that would institute a heavenly kingdom on Earth. Early Christians believed this divine conqueror would be a returned Jesus. </p>
<p>But Jesus didn’t come soon. Faced with the collapse of these apocalyptic expectations, some early Christians adapted their views. In this theological innovation, the suffering of God’s people — now Christians rather than Jews — wasn’t caused by the temporary rule of God’s cosmic enemy and his earthly vassals. Rather, the creator-god himself, Yahweh, was causing human suffering, or was ignorant or uncaring about it. </p>
<p>In some Gnostic cosmology, humans contained a divine spark from an immaterial, good, spiritual plane full of divine beings. Those sparks had been captured and put into base material bodies by this “evil” creator-god Yahweh. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206259/original/file-20180213-118385-a4qv4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206259/original/file-20180213-118385-a4qv4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206259/original/file-20180213-118385-a4qv4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206259/original/file-20180213-118385-a4qv4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206259/original/file-20180213-118385-a4qv4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206259/original/file-20180213-118385-a4qv4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=953&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206259/original/file-20180213-118385-a4qv4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=953&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206259/original/file-20180213-118385-a4qv4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=953&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A fan’s depiction of judge Holden.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Judge_Holden?file=Judge_Holden2.jpg">Villains Wiki</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yahweh, either deceptive or ignorant, claimed to be the only god. He kept us in ignorance of our divine, spiritual origins, but the higher spiritual plane sent messengers to alert us to our true natures. Gnostic Christians believed Jesus to be such a messenger. Meanwhile, this Yahweh, newly reconceptualized as evil, employed deputies to ensure his rule and our continued ignorance. </p>
<p>One such deputy has been interpreted as <em>Blood Meridian</em>‘s judge. He motivates the Glanton gang toward war. He tells parables that ensure their ignorance. He seems highly sympathetic to the material world and the violence he finds therein, “as if,” the novel puts it, “his counsel had been sought at its creation.” How could one cast this charismatic, evil sub-deity in a film version?</p>
<p>To early Gnostic Christians — and maybe to readers of <em>Blood Meridian</em> today — this scheme seemed to be a reasonable answer to why a good god didn’t intervene to stop human suffering, the predation of human on human violence. As the judge asks of this hypothetical good god, “If God meant to interfere in the degeneracy of mankind, would he not have done so by now?” </p>
<h2>Violence, suffering and evolution</h2>
<p>Even if we don’t buy this loopy theology when reading <em>Blood Meridian</em>, we have to somehow account for the sympathy the judge seems to have for the violence and suffering in the world. Perhaps this is why McCarthy portrays the judge as a kind of evolutionary scientist. </p>
<p>The novel takes place around the mid-19th century, a time when advances in geology and biology were leading Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace to articulate their theory of evolution through random mutation and natural selection. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206263/original/file-20180213-44657-wsa0jb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206263/original/file-20180213-44657-wsa0jb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206263/original/file-20180213-44657-wsa0jb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206263/original/file-20180213-44657-wsa0jb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206263/original/file-20180213-44657-wsa0jb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206263/original/file-20180213-44657-wsa0jb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206263/original/file-20180213-44657-wsa0jb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206263/original/file-20180213-44657-wsa0jb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Editorial Cartoon Depicting Charles Darwin As An Ape.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These ideas were in the air at the time, and McCarthy strangely portrays the judge as on the cutting edge of science. He collects and sketches dinosaur fossils. He sees in the geological record eons of past time, calling the rocks he finds the “words of God.” </p>
<p>He’s also an ornithologist, reminiscent of Darwin in the Galapagos, collecting finches. He gives lectures on the age of the Earth and the fossils of extinct species to the assembled gang, which the novel often refers to as “apes,” recalling the popular caricature of evolution.</p>
<p>And it’s likely that McCarthy had evolution on his mind when he was writing <em>Blood Meridian</em> in the early 1980s. A prohibition against teaching evolution had been struck down by the Supreme Court in 1968. In response, Christian fundamentalists had proposed a new, “scientific” version of Biblical creation that could be taught alongside evolution, as an alternative. Legal challenges to this new “creation science” were making their way through the courts across many Southern states while McCarthy was writing his novel. </p>
<p>Opponents — and eventually the Supreme Court — contended that this was mere religion dressed up as scientific method. Like another novel published in 1985, <a href="https://theconversation.com/contact-and-carl-sagans-faith-85150">Carl Sagan’s <em>Contact</em></a>, McCarthy’s <em>Blood Meridian</em> seemed to be closely attentive to the evolution versus creation science debate that was the context for its composition. And like <a href="http://religiondispatches.org/who-are-we-and-how-should-we-live-american-literature-and-the-god-gap/">other American writers</a>, McCarthy was watching the unexpected return of the nascent Christian Right to political power and social prominence.</p>
<h2>God’s dark design</h2>
<p><em>Blood Meridian</em> seems to share creation scientists’ dark views about evolution: That there’s no way a good God would choose the suffering entailed in natural selection to generate the diversity of our planet’s species. Natural selection is an intensely amoral process. But it’s absolutely immoral if it was chosen by God. </p>
<p>In natural selection, it’s not the organisms that try hard that get to successfully pass on their genes. Rather, the dice are cast before organisms are born, and a huge amount of luck is involved in whether organisms reproduce, or fall to predation or starvation. These forces of selection pressure are not the unfortunate side effect of progress. They are the critical engine for increased complexity and adaptability. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209556/original/file-20180308-30969-4sqpsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209556/original/file-20180308-30969-4sqpsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209556/original/file-20180308-30969-4sqpsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209556/original/file-20180308-30969-4sqpsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209556/original/file-20180308-30969-4sqpsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209556/original/file-20180308-30969-4sqpsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209556/original/file-20180308-30969-4sqpsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian first edition cover, April 1985.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Random House)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Any God who chooses this method really doesn’t care about animal and human suffering. Apprehending this theological problem, <a href="http://www.icr.org/article/fossil-record-commending-gnostics/">Christian fundamentalists use it</a> to try to persuade mainline and liberal Christians out of their belief in evolution. Perhaps this is why the judge, ultimately, seems to be both a philosopher and enthusiast for what Darwin would call in <em>On the Origin of Species</em> the “war of nature” that he discovers. The judge is sympathetic to the violence inherent in this creation.</p>
<p>Whether the judge is a deputy serving an “evil Yahweh” or a scientist discovering God’s dark designs in nature may not ultimately matter. <em>Blood Meridian</em> is an intensely religious novel that articulates our worst fears — about the world, about each other, about God Himself. Perhaps it’s best to let this novel lie sleeping. Let’s not awake its power for film audiences at all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91719/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Douglas receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy’s famous novel, may be unfilmable – not because of its gruesome violent tale of U.S. imperialism in the Southwest, but because its religious vision is terrifying.Christopher Douglas, Professor of American Literature and Religion, University of VictoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/832882017-09-07T01:00:25Z2017-09-07T01:00:25ZChristian faith doesn’t just say disasters are God’s retribution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184772/original/file-20170905-13726-y65mre.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/arrhakis/36116262784/in/photolist-X2thDW-XZpWjQ-XY6Gn8-8w97zs-WSwR2u-Y8r8oH-WWym2X-WSwRaA-8w86oQ-XXEydx-WSwR7j-8w8T9m-XXEyup-WUN2Bz-8w65Wc-XXdZBS-Y2uFNj-Y4ivZw-WTXhwn-8w97Ts-XwY1hG-YjEvu4-XZyR1k-Y72PmP-Yg7Vc6-XwZ5QN-X2zapo-Y368Ju-XVgS91-X2z9X1-8w661z-Y4SejL-5wynaq-X2z9NJ-X2zbsW-WNPa8k-Y1JRT1-X1uCRJ-WUN2wz-5wu3xM-8w5QGH-X2zbcq-5wyngo-8w8Tdw-8w65JP-XTqFwJ-X2za6N-XVWEAc-Y2qs8q-8w8TqL">Daniel Arrhakis</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s been a time of calamities: <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/hurricanes-harvey-irma-cost-us-economy-290-billion/story?id=49761970">Hurricanes Harvey and Irma</a>, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-08/40-million-forced-to-rebuild-lives-after-south-asia-floods/8886264">flooding in South Asia</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/14/world/africa/sierra-leone-floods-freetown.html?mcubz=0&_r=0">Africa</a> and a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/death-toll-in-mexico-quake-rises-to-95/2017/09/11/5a3a3d18-9709-11e7-af6a-6555caaeb8dc_story.html?utm_term=.ceb9b23b43fe">massive earthquake in Mexico</a> have led to widespread devastation around the globe.</p>
<p>Some people seem to think this is divine retribution for the sins of humanity: Kirk Cameron, former child actor, <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/celebrities/article172093617.html">said in a video on Facebook</a> that Hurricane Harvey and Irma were “a spectacular display of God’s immense power” and were sent so human beings could repent. Earlier, after seeing the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, conservative Christian pastor <a href="http://defendproclaimthefaith.org/blog/about-the-authors-3/">John McTernan</a> had noted that “<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/anti-gay-preacher-blames-hurricane-sandy-on-homosexuality-and-marriage-equality-fa202cecf4ac/">God is systematically destroying America</a>” out of anger over “the homosexual agenda.”</p>
<p>Others disagreed over the reasons for God’s anger, but not necessarily with the assumption that <a href="https://religionnews.com/2017/08/29/where-are-the-condemnations-of-harvey-as-gods-punishment/">God can be wrathful</a>. Jennifer Lawrence suggested that Irma was <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/hurricane-irma-harvey-donald-trump-jennifer-lawrence-mother-nature-storms-climate-change-florida-a7937691.html">“mother nature’s rage and wrath”</a> at America for electing Donald Trump.</p>
<p>It is true that many religious traditions, including Judaism and Christianity, have seen natural disasters as divine punishment. But, as a scholar of religion, I would argue that things aren’t that simple.</p>
<h2>The Genesis flood</h2>
<p>Some of the earliest narratives of divine retribution go back to 2000 B.C. The Sumerian <a href="http://www.aina.org/books/eog/eog.pdf">Epic of Gilgamesh</a> tells the story of a catastrophic flood. </p>
<p>The gods decide to bring rain down to end the “uproar” of humankind. But the god of the waters, <a href="http://www.ancient.eu/Enki/">Enki</a>, warns the righteous man, <a href="http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Tr-Wa/Utnapisht-m.html">Utnapishtim</a>, about the impending disaster. </p>
<p>Utnapishtim saves himself and his family by constructing a boat.</p>
<p>Elements of this story are later echoed in the Hebrew Bible’s <a href="http://biblehub.com/niv/genesis/6.htm">Book of Genesis</a>. God is angry because the Earth is filled with violence caused by human beings and vows to “destroy both them and the Earth.” </p>
<p>Noah is a “blameless” man, and God tells him to build an ark that would be large enough to hold his family and “two of all living creatures.” Although humanity perishes in a deluge, Noah preserves life on Earth.</p>
<p>It might seem straightforward to say that natural disasters in the Bible are associated with God’s anger, but that means missing the complexity of the text.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184774/original/file-20170905-13783-lkplyc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184774/original/file-20170905-13783-lkplyc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184774/original/file-20170905-13783-lkplyc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184774/original/file-20170905-13783-lkplyc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184774/original/file-20170905-13783-lkplyc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184774/original/file-20170905-13783-lkplyc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184774/original/file-20170905-13783-lkplyc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">God makes a covenant with Noah.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/16609221752/in/photolist-riGAYh-9iSbzC">Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the Genesis account, after the waters subside, God <a href="http://biblehub.com/niv/genesis/8.htm">makes a covenant with</a> Noah:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Never again will I destroy all living creatures.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This promise not to destroy humankind is also referred to in the <a href="http://biblehub.com/niv/isaiah/54.htm">Book of Isaiah</a>, the <a href="https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/people/main-articles/isaiah">Israelite prophet and seer</a>. In a vision, God says that just as he vowed to Noah that water “would never again cover the Earth,” so too he promises not “to be angry.” </p>
<h2>Biblical approaches to suffering</h2>
<p>The question of God’s anger is intimately connected to the problem of human suffering. After all, how can a loving God cause indiscriminate human misery?</p>
<p>We first need to look at how suffering is portrayed in the texts. For example, it is also in the Book of Isaiah that we find the story of the “<a href="https://www.theologyofwork.org/the-high-calling/daily-reflection/man-sorrows">Man of Sorrows</a>” – a man who <a href="http://biblehub.com/niv/isaiah/53.htm">takes on the sufferings of others</a> and is an image of piety.</p>
<p>While the Bible does speak of humans suffering because of their sins, some of the most moving passages speak about how innocent people suffer as well.</p>
<p>The Book of Job relates the story of a “<a href="http://biblehub.com/niv/job/1.htm">blameless and upright man</a>,” Job, whom <a href="https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/tools/ask-a-scholar/satan">Satan</a> causes to experience all sorts of calamities. The suffering becomes so intense that Job <a href="http://biblehub.com/niv/job/3.htm">wishes he had never been born</a>. God then speaks from the heavens and explains to Job <a href="http://biblehub.com/niv/job/40.htm">that God’s ways surpass human understanding</a>. </p>
<p>The Hebrew Bible recognizes that people suffer often through no fault of their own. Most famously, <a href="http://biblehub.com/niv/psalms/42.htm">Psalm 42</a> is an extended lament about suffering that nonetheless concludes by praising God. </p>
<p>The Hebrew Bible’s views on suffering cannot be encapsulated by a single message. Sometimes suffering is caused by God, sometimes by Satan and sometimes by other human beings. But sometimes the purpose behind suffering remains hidden.</p>
<p>The Christian tradition also provides diverse answers to the issue of suffering. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184788/original/file-20170905-32271-kh7pfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184788/original/file-20170905-32271-kh7pfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184788/original/file-20170905-32271-kh7pfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184788/original/file-20170905-32271-kh7pfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184788/original/file-20170905-32271-kh7pfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184788/original/file-20170905-32271-kh7pfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184788/original/file-20170905-32271-kh7pfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Christian tradition provides diverse views on suffering.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/political-pulse/os-tweet-harvey-storey-20170829-story.html">Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The New Testament does refer to the Genesis flood when talking about God punishing human beings. For example, Paul the Apostle observes that God brought the flood on “<a href="http://biblehub.com/niv/2_peter/2.htm">the ungodly</a>” people of the world. Earthquakes are also mentioned as signs of the end of time in the Bible’s <a href="http://biblehub.com/niv/revelation/6.htm">Book of Revelation</a>.</p>
<p>But the <a href="http://biblehub.com/niv/james/1.htm">Epistle of James</a>, a letter in the New Testament often <a href="https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/people/related-articles/who-wrote-the-letter-of-james">attributed to Jesus’ brother or stepbrother</a>, says that God tests no one. In fact, those who endure trials are eventually rewarded. The early Christian philosopher <a href="http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/origen_on_prayer_02_text.htm">Origen</a> argued that through suffering we can understand our own weaknesses and dependence on God. </p>
<p>In these views, suffering is not punishment but something that draws human beings to closer God and to one another.</p>
<p>Moving to more contemporary reflections, philosopher <a href="http://www.philosophyzer.com/d-z-phillips-the-wittgensteinian-view/">Dewi Zephaniah Phillips</a> argues that it is mistaken to attribute to God a human feeling like anger because <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=QDbKAgAAQBAJ&q=anger#v=snippet&q=anger&f=false">God lies beyond human reality</a>. </p>
<p>Believing that hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes are “God’s punishment” reduces the divine to human terms.</p>
<h2>God is merciful</h2>
<p>Some theologians totally reject the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=TxfVTJpfgiAC&pg=PA231&lpg=PA231&dq=kenneth+surin+suffering&source=bl&ots=TFSzk95HuS&sig=SMoHDqrDGScrUdJxQW5F1NKGhCA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi4zvqas47WAhUSgCYKHT-DCcYQ6AEIKzAB#v=onepage&q=kenneth%20surin%20suffering&f=false">idea of suffering as divine retribution</a> because such an act would be unworthy of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-true-meaning-of-mercy-72461">merciful</a> God. From a Christian perspective, God also suffered by being crucified on the cross as Jesus Christ.</p>
<p>And so, as a Roman Catholic scholar, I would argue that God suffers with people in Texas and Florida – as well as with those in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/30/mumbai-paralysed-by-floods-as-india-and-region-hit-by-worst-monsoon-rains-in-years">India,</a> <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20170825093321-6vomq">Nepal, Bangladesh</a>, <a href="https://qz.com/1068790/floods-in-africa-in-august-killed-25-times-more-people-than-hurricane-harvey-did/">parts of Africa</a> and <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/death-toll-mexico-quake-rises-95-49768115">Mexico</a>.</p>
<p>In the <a href="http://fortresspress.com/product/spirit-life-universal-affirmation">words</a> of German theologian <a href="https://www.giffordlectures.org/lecturers/j%C3%BCrgen-moltmann">Jurgen Moltmann</a>,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“God heals the sicknesses and the griefs by making the sicknesses and the griefs his suffering and his grief.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>So, instead of dwelling on God’s wrath, we need to understand God’s kindness and mercy. And that, in times of crises and distress, it is kindness and mercy that require us to reach out to those who need comfort and assistance.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of a piece originally published on Sept. 6, 2017.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83288/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mathew Schmalz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many religions see natural disasters as divine punishment. But, a scholar argues, it’s not that simple.Mathew Schmalz, Associate Professor of Religion, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/773712017-05-12T01:19:49Z2017-05-12T01:19:49ZChristian sex advice websites offer a peek into evangelical politics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168997/original/file-20170511-32588-499q6k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Adam and Eve, created by Albrecht Dürer, 1471-1528.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008678309/">Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On May 4, President Donald Trump signed <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/05/04/read-the-full-text-of-trumps-executive-order-on-religious-freedom/">an executive order</a> that allows churches and religious leaders to explicitly endorse or oppose a political candidate without penalty to their nonprofit, tax-exempt status. Responses from white conservative evangelicals showed that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/us/politics/religious-organizations-executive-order-trump.html">this wasn’t what they were looking for.</a> <a href="http://files.constantcontact.com/2438cc3e001/b3d4b1e1-6f27-4002-90d1-9a3a1fba3904.pdf?ver=2017-03-02T18:17:35+0000">What they wanted, it seems, was</a> legal protection for religious institutions and business owners to deny services to same-sex couples and transgender persons. </p>
<p>I am a <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520286337">sociologist studying contemporary evangelicalism and sexuality</a>, and my research shows that the political beliefs of white evangelicals have deftly shifted from <a href="https://kansaspress.ku.edu/series/studies-in-government-and-public-policy/978-0-7006-0868-3.html">the bully pulpits of the Moral Majority</a> in the 1980s to cultural messages that appear hip and modern. In particular, Christian sex advice caught my attention because it showcases how evangelicals can hold beliefs that are simultaneously pro- and anti-sex.</p>
<h2>Sex advice websites</h2>
<p>In my book <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520286337">“Christians under Covers: Evangelicals and Sexual Pleasure on the Internet</a>,” I conducted a virtual ethnography of online Christian websites – blogs and message boards that discuss sex from a Christian perspective and online stores that sell sex toys and intimacy products. </p>
<p>In total, I studied 36 websites and conducted 44 interviews with users of two of the most active sites as well as six interviews with creators of different sites over two years – between 2010 and 2012. I collected survey responses from nearly 800 users of seven different sites. Collectively, these sites have attracted thousands of users who believe that God wants married, heterosexual couples to have great sex. </p>
<p>Though in my work, I use pseudonyms to describe the names of websites and their users, these sites are easy to find for anyone who is searching for “Christian sex advice.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169003/original/file-20170511-32585-1pt70dz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169003/original/file-20170511-32585-1pt70dz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169003/original/file-20170511-32585-1pt70dz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169003/original/file-20170511-32585-1pt70dz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169003/original/file-20170511-32585-1pt70dz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169003/original/file-20170511-32585-1pt70dz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169003/original/file-20170511-32585-1pt70dz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Christian sexual websites present evangelism as sexy for couples.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gillpoole/263292746/in/photolist-pgrL7-2LVnZz-568bAY-2jDdat-6LYKxd-4RaKpT-563U4z-jnWM3-6M9KDV-6LUCKp-6LYMB7-6LUzLk-6MaBVg-6Me7cN-6MdSNN-6LUDhx-6M9KPV-6MeNGy-6M9W9t-6LYKN7-jo8f7-6MaBnp-2CAQHm-jo7ZN-6MdWY9-5C7XBW-6MdWKy-EatHSv-6M9TXg-6M9Us4-6LUBJx-6MeMQs-6MePT1-2M1bCK-6M9Kdv-6MdXJN-6M9HXt-2jHyEo-6MdUe3-6MePrW-7oYiTb-4Rayxe-6M9N8g-6MawVV-6LUBz2-6MdZhG-6MawmH-qPrHbV-6MePpo-4ReQb7">Gill Poole</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The problem that these websites try to solve is that many Christian couples don’t know how to achieve the great sex that God made possible, having grown up hearing a constant refrain of negative messages about sexuality. The content of these sites is a curious mix of secular and religious language that resembles both the liberal sex advice column <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/savage-love/2017/05/03/25119439/savage-love">“Savage Love”</a> and the religious fiction novel series <a href="http://leftbehind.com/">“Left Behind”</a> – aimed at reminding believers that all of their actions are a part of a larger spiritual battle between good and evil. </p>
<p>On these websites, messages abound about self-improvement and being a good, giving and game sexual partner, as well the power of Jesus, the influence of Satan and the importance of being born-again.</p>
<p>Women make up the majority of bloggers and sex toy store owners I studied. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=d_FcCwAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=christians%20under%20covers&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false">They describe</a> using vibrators and achieving orgasms; men talk about open communication with their wives about <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=d_FcCwAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=christians%20under%20covers&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false">their deepest sexual desires</a>.</p>
<p>It is a relatively recent historical phenomenon for Christians to claim sexual pleasure as part of their religious framework. As historian of religion <a href="https://hds.harvard.edu/people/mark-d-jordan">Mark Jordan</a> notes, <a href="http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo3644992.html">sexual sins have included</a> virtually every erotic action other than sex intended for conceiving children. </p>
<p>Christian sexuality websites, however, present evangelicalism as a sexy and modern representation of a religious tradition that is stereotypically the opposite. </p>
<h2>Conservative beliefs</h2>
<p>In the years I spent studying these sites, I never saw a single post endorsing or opposing a political candidate. Nonetheless, political beliefs were reflected in the implicit and explicit rules that were required of website users regarding their beliefs related to gender, sexuality and marriage. </p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=d_FcCwAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=christians%20under%20covers&pg=PA92#v=onepage&q&f=false">On one website</a>, for example, a message board where users post hundreds of comments every day, the moderators allow for “minor theological disagreements” among members, but require that “Members must be married (one man, one woman), and followers of Jesus Christ and His Word. Jesus, and Jesus alone, is the only way to salvation, and the Bible is the ultimate authority.” Off limits is “any defense of the practice of homosexuality, so-called ‘gay marriage,’ or the like.” </p>
<p>The beliefs on these websites are far from representative of American Christianity. Most Christians today <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/12/18/most-u-s-christian-groups-grow-more-accepting-of-homosexuality/">believe that homosexuality should be accepted by society</a>. A majority of <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/26/lesbian-gay-and-bisexual-americans-differ-from-general-public-in-their-religious-affiliations/">LGBT Americans have some religious affiliation</a> and there are <a href="http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?cPath=1037_1140_1141&products_id=21824">LGBT-affirming groups in many Christian denominations</a> (Matthew Vines’ <a href="http://www.reformationproject.org/about">The Reformation Project</a> is one evangelical example). </p>
<p>Yet on these websites supporting gay sex (or gay marriage), sex outside of heterosexual marriage or any relationship that is nonmonogamous is fundamentally heresy. </p>
<p>In other words, the websites present a sexual logic that combines both limits and freedoms: Christian sexuality, all of these websites adamantly claim, is one full of choice and autonomy so long as Christians follow God’s demands for who is allowed to have sex. </p>
<p>As one blogger told me <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=d_FcCwAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=christians%20under%20covers&pg=PA49#v=onepage&q=tremendous%20freedom&f=false">in an interview</a>, “I think a couple has tremendous freedom” so long as sex is consensual and between husband and wife. In my book, I refer to this as the “logic of Godly sex:” a logic that makes sexual pleasure possible for straight, married Christians but forecloses it for everyone else.</p>
<h2>Advancing conservative politics</h2>
<p>In other words, I would argue, the sexual freedom that these websites claim to offer is illusory. This illusion is also central to the arguments that proponents present in favor of religious freedom legislation. </p>
<p>These state-enacted bills provide a practical route by which individuals can use the courts to make free exercise violation claims against the state. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168995/original/file-20170511-32578-ul0wj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168995/original/file-20170511-32578-ul0wj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168995/original/file-20170511-32578-ul0wj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168995/original/file-20170511-32578-ul0wj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168995/original/file-20170511-32578-ul0wj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168995/original/file-20170511-32578-ul0wj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168995/original/file-20170511-32578-ul0wj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Christian sexuality websites do not accept homosexuality.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nathaninsandiego/4655026900/in/photolist-86meju-5kjXaE-7EoQUU-dQ6eV4-oz4VQi-o4YYhC-ej2vi4-a2NNhB-dQ43DX-7DHcoF-7Dtn4K-awrf1B-dQ578a-5kesJF-4EoTET-7nmhn9-cugFgC-dQc7F5-72DrmX-3kNgrf-of5d9o-dQ6rFp-dQ699e-iT4tSS-6Zp2C1-5YNZLo-dQ5nYp-244tva-ciJDxu-as7CDn-2TQP9w-f23Zwy-fxt8qt-8zvBsE-eu2N78-fCeKFQ-fBZvta-gZjS5M-6hZUMS-fBZyCD-z2q6b-zDFph-fCenSJ-as8awH-4BWSzU-7PqCK-7DthSP-aCMiLs-dQbKEA-pNcb5p">Nathan Rupert</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For instance, <a href="http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2016/html/HB/1500-1599/HB1523SG.htm">Mississippi HB 1523</a> (passed in April 2016 but later blocked by a federal judge) protects persons who have “the sincerely held religious belief” that marriage “should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman” to decide whether or not to provide services, including housing and employment, to LGBT people. </p>
<p>It defines “a man” and “a woman,” according to law: “an individual’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics at the time of birth.” Laws like HB 1523 offer a strategy for religious conservatives to use their religious freedom to advance an anti-gay, anti-transgender, and anti-abortion political agenda.</p>
<p>In my opinion, emphasizing freedom and choice alongside conservative ideas about gender, sexuality and marriage is how conservative Christians can adapt to a changing world while maintaining their religious distinction. </p>
<p>After researching Christian sexuality websites, I am convinced that they do as much or more to advance conservative politics as does a preacher telling his congregation to vote for a particular candidate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77371/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelsy Burke has received funding from the Association for the Sociology of Religion.</span></em></p>Christian sexuality websites present evangelicalism as a sex-positive religious tradition. At the same time, they also reinforce conservative ideas about same-sex marriages.Kelsy Burke, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Nebraska-LincolnLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/759822017-04-13T01:38:11Z2017-04-13T01:38:11ZIs temptation such a bad thing?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165136/original/image-20170412-25878-l0n283.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What is the true nature of temptation?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/eightbittony/16982298150/in/photolist-rSEHzY-rcd2Dd-EG4kp-cbs58j-aNvBKF-8sgEFs-6RAthq-8qpTBn-ga8uZa-kinw5r-DKX4X-dq2Zxv-9VCNng-4EPYTV-3nuosN-618mvK-3RUmi5-4zmZjD-ehAwD4-9eMbpq-ac5QPC-5ZRaWr-bakY1Z-bmjzX-Es8BM9-8hBfHv-9xHBkA-bo3g38-puGxN-aCnC2o-nJNviA-bo7VEX-dq39Q1-dqadpy-9pdgSb-4tuA8U-7NW6p-8ktRdY-2JbA6-dGnTka-9XanSU-8Zuf4g-8kukPq-bq4Wnf-8kqBWV-8kuyzE-8kunD3-6PGVE3-8ktN8U-8ktK9q">EightBitTony</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Washington Post recently published a profile on Karen Pence, the “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/karen-pence-is-the-vice-presidents-prayer-warrior-gut-check-and-shield/2017/03/28/3d7a26ce-0a01-11e7-8884-96e6a6713f4b_story.html?utm_term=.3e3c4df52f96">prayer-warrior wife</a>” of Vice President Mike Pence. The piece cited information on the Pences’ marriage: specifically that Mike Pence will not dine with a woman, or be present where alcohol is served, without Karen Pence beside him.</p>
<p>Since the publication of the Washington Post piece, the Pence family rule has become the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/pence-wife-billy-graham-rule/521298/">subject of much discussion</a>. For the socially liberal, this practice appears “misogynistic” or even “bizarre.” But, for many conservatives, it is “wise.” </p>
<p>The intent behind the rule is to avoid not only tempting situations but also anything that might be interpreted as sinful behavior. In the run-up to <a href="http://www.upperroom.org/en/lent101">Lent</a> many Christians strengthen themselves against temptation as they prepare to celebrate <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/history-of-easter">Easter</a>, the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. </p>
<p>Is temptation such a bad thing? </p>
<h2>Temptation is an invitation to sin</h2>
<p>Chilean Catholic priest <a href="https://evangelizadorasdelosapostoles.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/segundo-galilea-1928-2010-in-memoriam-una-espiritualidad-de-la-liberacion-primera-parte/">Segundo Galilea</a>, in his book, <a href="https://www.icspublications.org/products/temptation-and-discernment">“Temptation and Discernment,”</a> describes temptation as an “invitation” to violate God’s will or law: in other words, an invitation to <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14004b.htm">sin</a>. </p>
<p>But the idea of temptation as an “invitation” is a little more complicated: Who or what is sending the invitation and, even more basically, what is the nature of temptation itself?</p>
<p>The classic Christian story about temptation involves Christ’s 40 days in the wilderness, a period that the 40 days of Lent commemorates. As recounted in the <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+4%3A1-11">Gospel of Matthew</a>, Satan tempts Jesus as he is fasting – he invites him.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165137/original/image-20170412-25901-1e79yg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165137/original/image-20170412-25901-1e79yg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165137/original/image-20170412-25901-1e79yg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165137/original/image-20170412-25901-1e79yg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165137/original/image-20170412-25901-1e79yg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165137/original/image-20170412-25901-1e79yg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165137/original/image-20170412-25901-1e79yg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The temptation of Christ, Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester, United Kingdom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/overton_cat/6335651226/in/photolist-aDRSnY-67oRsA-snpfx8-aDRSCj-sntTUq-snnkvU-s5Renj-989k29-67jvzc-67oxHY-67oAAU-snharw-GJiHuD-snrAcD-rrvqXb-pDdn7k-94oKRf-94oJzh-ch9dXU-67j4KM-aDMYMx-67jbor-67oWeo-67orsW-9jntRW-rtA9wo-spYC2X-67oLMQ-s8cWse-67jzhc-67okC5-67p12G-oePgBY-ocX9u9-67onXb-67ojho-s854Rh-snh8LC-92faVW-rtMpqi-snrAdv-67iZx4-rrGJdF-s5Z8mM-sruZjM-64cdvC-aDMZ4B-seFrPE-8faABu-67joct">Walwyn</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The devil specifically asks him to turn stones into bread. He also dares Jesus to throw himself down from a temple while calling angels to the rescue. The most tempting offer Satan makes to Jesus is a gift of all world’s kingdoms if only the son of God will bow down to him. </p>
<p>Jesus rejects Satan’s temptations and shows that the power of God is not to be confused with human understandings of power. Jesus did not come to set up a worldly kingdom, but a heavenly one. From this perspective, temptation is an invitation from the devil not just to turn away from God, but to deny who and what God is.</p>
<p>Christians understand Jesus to be both divine and human. But the rest of us are only human. And so, along with the belief that temptation is an invitation from the devil is the understanding that temptation is an invitation that can also come from within ourselves. </p>
<h2>Temptation comes from within</h2>
<p>As human beings we are limited, and never feel completely whole. The rite of <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02258b.htm">baptism</a>, so central to Christianity, removes the “original sin” that all humans have. But nonetheless we experience suffering and death, along with constant daily challenges that show us that we are limited in our physical, emotional and intellectual capabilities. </p>
<p>As human beings, we exist in a constant state of need.</p>
<p>But Christians believe that God offers us eternal life. <a href="https://oca.org/saints/lives/2000/01/21/100249-st-maximus-the-confessor">St. Maximus the Confessor</a>, an early Christian theologian, argued that human destiny ultimately leads to becoming “like” God and an eternal life understood as unity with God. </p>
<p>Sin can be anything that distracts us on our journey to the final wholeness found in and with God.</p>
<p>But temptation is not just an invitation or a call to walk away from the path that leads toward God; temptation is also an incitement or an “invitatio” – a Latin word that can mean “invitation” as well. </p>
<p>What this means is that our own neediness “incites” or “invites” us to seek wholeness in ways different from what God intends: For example, the greed of individuals incites or invites them to cheat on their taxes. Similarly, feelings of inadequacy could incite or invite people to lie on their resume. And likewise, feelings of being unloved can often incite or invite people to sleep around. </p>
<p>In this sense, temptation comes from the inside, not the outside. </p>
<p>It then follows that God’s law isn’t simply a list of do’s and don’t’s for avoiding hell and getting into heaven. Instead, God’s law is a treasure map that leads to real riches: a wholeness that only God can provide.</p>
<h2>Why be afraid of temptation?</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165146/original/image-20170412-25888-1otsvru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165146/original/image-20170412-25888-1otsvru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165146/original/image-20170412-25888-1otsvru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165146/original/image-20170412-25888-1otsvru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165146/original/image-20170412-25888-1otsvru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165146/original/image-20170412-25888-1otsvru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165146/original/image-20170412-25888-1otsvru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mike Pence and his wife Karen, listen to a singing of ‘(Back Home Again in) Indiana’ during the opening ceremonies for the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis, on Aug. 5, 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Michael Conroy</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To return to Mike and Karen Pence, I have to say there is something both sweet and remarkable about two partners who are unapologetic about being a couple: It’s a message that we can never be completely whole if we go it alone. </p>
<p>The vice president is following what is known as the “<a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2017/03/31/the_pence_billy_graham_rule_isn_t_that_weird_in_practice.html">Billy Graham rule</a>,” a <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/march-web-only/other-billy-graham-rules.html">code of conduct</a> about money, power and sex for ministers of the Christian Gospel, developed by the well-known Christian evangelist <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/billy-graham-9317669">Billy Graham</a> and other preachers during a <a href="http://www.modbee.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/jeff-jardine/article142983274.html">conference in Modesto, California in 1948</a>. </p>
<p>For some of us, following the Billy Graham rule might be wise: not because we fear that someone else might be dangerous, but because all too often we are a danger to ourselves.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, I would offer a cautionary note about the Billy Graham rule and exercising relentless rigor in making sure that sin can’t deliver an invitation in the first place: Temptation is strongest when it comes disguised as “good.” This is a point made often by <a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-satan-seduces-by-disguising-evil-as-good-85265/">Pope Francis</a>. While some humans actually intentionally choose evil, we are more likely to give into temptation if it comes under the appearance of doing something good. And doing good can certainly bring more temptation: the temptation to overly enjoy praise, esteem and fame. </p>
<p>This can become a slippery slope that leads to pride: believing that we are good because people perceive us as good. The <a href="http://biblehub.com/proverbs/16-18.htm">Bible</a> tells us that such pride comes before “fall,” meaning that we can easily let down our guard if think that we have become immune to temptation in its hidden forms. </p>
<p>The problem comes when we become so afraid of being tempted, or receiving an invitation to violate God’s law, that we lose opportunities to experience a taste of wholeness in our everyday lives. </p>
<p>And while temptation can be an invitation to sin, experiencing temptation can be an invitation of a different kind: a “challenge” to consider more deeply our need to be made whole.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/75982/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mathew Schmalz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While temptation can be an invitation to sin, experiencing temptation can also make us consider more deeply: What is it that tempts us and why?Mathew Schmalz, Associate Professor of Religion, College of the Holy CrossLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.