cult/new religious movements

Here’s a quick quiz. Guess who wrote the following words: “Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: That his justice cannot sleep for ever: that considering numbers, nature and…

Alabama’s latest round debating yoga should come as no surprise. Earlier this week, the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee vote on whether to overturn a ban on yoga in public schools ended in a tie…

Note on spoilers, etc: This essay covers the broad outlines of the Mark Hofmann forgery and murder case, which will be highlighted in the new Netflix documentary, though it does not detail any of the…

Brother Laeo Mystwood looks at the camera, his body obscured by a 3D avatar. He is talking about the many coincidences of his life and how they led him to believe that he’s living in a computer…

By now we’ve all seen the pictures, saturating our social media landscapes with their grotesque glee. The becostumed horde, thronging through the windows, up the stairways, politely abiding by the…

Positivity and positive thinking are very often held as inherently good qualities to embody. If you think positively, so the reasoning goes, you will live a better life. Self-help gurus and guides…

New York City has the reputation of a place with absolutely zero patience for BS. This is a money-city, a global financial center driven by real estate, banking, and the stock market. Yes of course…

Christmas is nearly upon us, and for those observing this means smaller if not cancelled family gatherings. In this long and draining year, why not find consolation in the spirit of the Saturnalia as…

A number of years back, I heard something that changed my whole perspective on the gospels in the New Testament. The biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan was speaking about the narratives of the life…

Outsiders to the QAnon conspiracy system evolving over the past few years may be confused by its references to Satanic rites in which children are supposedly abused. Of course, there’s never been the…