https://politicalresearch.org/ The latest research related to paganism en https://religiondispatches.org/2026/02/18/blaming-paganism-trumps-violence-fails-reckon-christian-history In a recent New York Times op-ed called “Donald Trump, Pagan King,” journalist and filmmaker Leighton Woodhouse highlights the apparent contradiction between the Trump administration’s violent “might makes right” mentality and Christian ethics that prioritize protecting the weak and oppressed… Wed, 18 Feb 2026 11:55:21 EST Chance Bonar efb5659a-7f40-4077-84f7-94b2ed0a014f https://religiondispatches.org/2015/07/27/gay-christian-pagan-artist-how-matt-morris-defies-borders-spiritual-identity An interview with musician Matt Morris, millennial Christian (with a Pagan detour). Mon, 27 Jul 2015 09:37:22 EDT Jesse James DeConto d47940af-d8f9-4d8f-b9c0-8806c9e857b2 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/09/04/burning-man-fear-alternative-pagan-social-order For evangelicals like Steve Matthews, Burning Man embodies deep-seated fears which can also be seen playing out in other aspects of American culture. Many conservatives fear that America is undergoing decay, and this is taking place in the spiritual realm as well. A lingering economic malaise, coupled with our continued cultural fascination with apocalyptic scenarios, provides a context in which Burning Man functions as a Rorschach test. Tue, 04 Sep 2012 03:41:12 EDT John W. Morehead 19784243-4086-44c1-9444-782b1cd9de65 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/01/26/death-occult-crime-expert-reawakens-controversy Rimer’s passing has led to an lively online conversation among Pagan and vampire groups. Many of these groups regarded Rimer as a political enemy and some individuals expressed relief that Rimer will not be holding any more seminars. However, important leaders of these communities have called for respect. One community member invoked Proverbs 24:17, “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls.” Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:39:44 EST Joseph Laycock c6ed1b5d-fe76-4635-8400-54d5368b2b19 https://religiondispatches.org/2011/07/18/trouble-harry-potter-religious-conservatives-do-have-something-fear Harry Potter’s world would be more familiar to a scientist than to a mystic. Yes, it includes goblins, charms, and curses; but these are all basically explicable according to their own internal logic. Yet there isn’t anything that transcends human knowledge. Mon, 18 Jul 2011 10:32:11 EDT Jay Michaelson 310237f1-5c2a-4961-b5f0-d99669040a51 https://religiondispatches.org/2011/04/22/reconstructionists-celebrate-ruling-over-earth-day The earth is here for our use, they say. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:35:19 EDT Julie Ingersoll 5bda28e8-5a51-4b04-ba50-e4126f934568 https://religiondispatches.org/2010/12/23/lying-about-santa-irrelevance-proof-holiday-spirit When a serious philosophical lecture on the origin and meaning of Santa Claus is interrupted by the tinkling of bells, jovial laughter, and the mysterious delivery of a case of beer, our writer has the chance to muse on his own former Christmastime convictions. Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:37:06 EST Nathan Schneider c6fd85bb-7126-442b-b8fd-bb451e0267ed https://religiondispatches.org/2010/10/28/crying-witch-learning-odonnell-dabbling-debacle While Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell didn’t say anything about Wicca, per se, when she talked about “dabbling into witchcraft,” her more recent “kill the witch” comments will surely distance her further from pagan communities used to dealing (especially around Halloween) with this confusion between the swirling cultural tropes of “the witch” and those who embrace “witch” as a religious self-description. Thu, 28 Oct 2010 08:41:38 EDT Spencer Dew fc61eba1-dc6d-4db9-acbf-dc0fb600cebe https://religiondispatches.org/2010/04/12/god-not-interested-religion Is Easter drained of meaning if we acknowledge its borrowed practices and mixed origins? Is there a limit to how porous the boundaries between traditions should become? Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:47:16 EDT Peter Laarman 01f49b9c-1e06-4e8b-bc7d-3ac2c1229981 https://religiondispatches.org/2010/03/23/news-flash-world-net-daily-easter-pagan-holiday Why is the right launching a War on Easter? Tue, 23 Mar 2010 09:07:46 EDT Lauri Lebo ec7476bc-b949-49eb-9dba-7f51dd37c9c9 https://religiondispatches.org/2009/10/20/art-religion-museum-temple For the Greeks, museums were sacred places dedicated to the muses. How is it that the Catholic Church got into the pagan shrine business? Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:32:32 EDT Louis A. Ruprecht d953f5dd-6c8f-4899-ba17-54ee7f3e14b0 https://religiondispatches.org/2009/08/31/oh-my-goddess-feminist-spirituality-third-wave Feminists hate religion, right? Not necessarily. From Christian feminists participating in Wiccan rituals to Goddess worshipers honoring Jesus, the landscape of feminist spirituality is is not what it was in the ’60s and ’70s. Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:47:52 EDT Mandy Van Deven 28323cee-dc71-4e10-ba52-3cdb6eeabeeb https://religiondispatches.org/2009/06/19/v-day-arrow-heart The original St. Valentinus (one of at least seven with the same name, so we can’t be too sure!) was arrested for marrying Roman Christian couples. His bloody martyrdom was particularly brutal. Love and loss, romance and violence. They’ve always gone together. Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:41:28 EDT Louis A. Ruprecht bce98ce0-4bc8-473d-97e3-b3a9fd407999 https://religiondispatches.org/2009/06/15/sacredprofane-living-dead This Halloween, apart from your garden-variety ghouls, skeletons, monsters, witches, vampires and zombies, Americans will be visited by the ghosts of past presidents, the spirits of dead soldiers, and by the souls of those who endured slavery. It is a season of reckoning, both social and political. The election, on the other hand, is about life, today, now. Or is it? Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:29:56 EDT Gary Laderman 855d715e-d793-48d2-95fd-3a213277695b